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Boxing

Youngest pro boxer starts career with win

By FRANK PASTOR
Published October 11, 2005

NEW PORT RICHEY - Joe Linenfelser's first professional fight was everything he had hoped for and nothing he expected.

Linenfelser, the youngest licensed pro boxer in the United States, knocked out Donnie Penelton of Milwaukee, Wis., 2 minutes, 55 seconds into the first round of their scheduled four-round bout Saturday in Oskaloosa, Iowa.

Linenfelser, 17, of New Port Richey, lived up to his nickname of "Bazooka Joe" by knocking down the 41-year-old Penelton four times, though the first was ruled a slip.

"It was pretty cool," said Linenfelser, who was licensed by the Iowa Athletic Commission on Sept.1. "It was exciting. It was a little challenging. I had to feel him out in the first round, then I took him apart towards the end."

Penelton, a veteran of 182 pro fights (13 wins, 164 losses, 5 draws), was a late replacement for Linenfelser's scheduled opponent, Marquette Penelton, 31, of Milwaukee. Marquette Penelton, who had not won in seven pro bouts, was arrested on an outstanding warrant (he had failed to pay a fine for fishing without a license) three days before the fight.

"I was preparing more for a different style; The other guy was a southpaw," said the 5-foot-9, 160-pound Linenfelser. "(Donnie Penelton) was experienced, but I figured I was in better shape. I'd been training every day and I heard his body wasn't that good, so I knew I could take him out with body shots."

Linenfelser, a Ridgewood senior, was so excited at the beginning, he walked through Penelton's quick jabs instead of slipping them. The fighters exchanged punches from close range for about 45 seconds before a right hook to Penelton's body dropped the veteran to one knee. Thinking he had scored a knockdown, Linenfelser ran to his corner and raised a glove, but the referee ruled it a slip.

Penelton twice beat eight-counts after Linenfelser knocked him down with a right hook to the body and then a left-hook, straight-right combination to the head. The referee stopped the fight after Linenfelser dropped Penelton with a right hook to the body, where Linenfelser had badly bruised Penelton's ribs.

"The key weapon was the right hook to the body," Linenfelser said. "I could just tell it took everything out of him. It took all of his wind away, basically."

The fight heated up at the weigh-in, where Linenfelser said Penelton told him, "I'm gonna break you in properly, punk," and the two had to be separated. The gamesmanship carried into the fight, when Penelton purposely went to Linenfelser's corner.

"He was kind of playing around," Linenfelser said. "I think he underestimated me."

Though pleased with the outcome, Linenfelser's father and former coach, Jeff, said his son needs to work on improving his power before his next fight, tentatively scheduled for Nov.12 in Milwaukee.

"He's still a baby, and you've got to start out like you do with a kid," Jeff Linenfelser said. "When they're born, they get a bottle of formula. He was supposed to be on formula, but he got a little bit of solid food for his first fight and he digested it well.

"We're going to go back to formula here. We didn't mean for him to have any sort of test for his first fight, just to get the ring rust out. But he came out, took the change in fighter in stride and came out and he battled and he won."

[Last modified October 11, 2005, 01:58:15]