BOXING'S HALL OF FAN FAVORITES

Nickname: "Binwa" Sande battles Colorado's undefeated Earl "The New Generation" Jackson    After winning the bronze medal at the 1988 olympic games Kenya native Chris Sande moved to the United States and began hir professional boxing career.    October 10, 1989 was the night of his first pro fight which he won via 4 round unanimous decision over John Tunstall at Bally's in Las Vegas, Nevada. Sande battles James Patterson.    After 3 more wins, Sande at 4-0 was pitted against another unbeaten prospect in 5-0 Willie Kemp of New York.  It was a good fight that ended in a split decision win for Sande, that win moved his record to 5-0.    Two more nice wins for Sande (7-0) found him in another face-off with a fellow undefeated prospect. This time it was South Carolina's Lamar "Kidfire" Parks who was 9-0 with 8 by knockout. It was a very interesting battle, but the pure power of Parks was too much and Sande tasted his first profession...

Nickname: TIGER   Albuquerque's Richard "Tiger" Fowler started his pro boxing career with back-to-back losses, being stopped in 2 rounds by a very skilled Jerry Martinez, and then losing a 4 round decision to Randy McNurlin.    Fowler didn't give up on his dreams and put together a 3 fight win streak on local undercards in Albuquerque.  At 3-2 he was put in against an undefeated hot prospect out of San Diego, California named "Sweet" Irving Mitchell who was 12-0 with 11 KOs.  Fowler lost a unanimous decision, but he proved his toughness going the full 8 rounds against an undefeated fighter who would go on to challenge for the USBA and WBA titles.    Richard's showing against Irving Mitchell earned him a reputation as a tough guy who could test a prospect, and he was then put in against another undefeated prospect - Fort Worth TX's Steve Cruz - who was 6-0 winning all 6 by knockout. Fowler was stopped in 2 rounds by the young...