ABELL ICES WHEELER AT THE BLUE HORIZON IN PHILADELPHIA.

4/12/08  Jared Shelly

It’s one thing to knock a guy out. It’s quite another to knock him out of the ring.

Throwing quick combinations of jab-straight left, Joey “Minnesota Ice” Abell landed clean, square shots that drove his opponent, Maurice Wheeler, backward. A thunderous left hand from the southpaw put the 230-pound Wheeler through the ropes, forcing his trainers and others to ease the big man to the canvas.

Wheeler never recovered. He laid there – outside the ropes but on the edge of the ring – for several moments after the fight ended.

After scoring a knockout during the heavyweight battle at the Legendary Blue Horizon in Philadelphia, Abell improved his record to 20-1. In the locker room after the fight, the 6 feet, 5 inch, 238-pounder from Coon Rapids, Minn. remained modest about his performance.

“I knew he could take a punch,” said Abell, 26, noting that his strategy was to throw punches up the middle to get by Wheeler’s defense.

It worked.

Throughout the short fight, Abell’s jab proved to be a particularly effective weapon in setting up his powerful straight left hand.

With the loss, the 37-year-old Wheeler saw his record fall to 10-12-1. Although he has gotten the opportunity to fight the likes of David Tua and DaVarryl Williamson, he has lost his last eight fights.

Abell, a star football player who turned to boxing after he finished playing, appeared in top shape for the bout, while Wheeler sported a lose belly, indicative of someone who may not have trained quite as hard.

After the fight, matchmaker Don Elbaum said that Abell is not only an up-and-coming heavyweight, he’s “the hardest punching heavyweight. Period.”

“By next year, he’ll be fighting for the title,” said Elbaum of the WBC title currently held by Wladimir Klitschko.

“By next summer the biggest fight in the world’s going to be him and Klitschko,” said Elbaum.

Really Don? Is Abell ready to make the jump from fighting an out-of-shape 37-year-old to going against the best in the world?

“This guy’s going to bring heavyweight boxing back to his country, there’s nothing like him, nothing,” said Elbaum of the division that boxing fans love to hate.

For now, Abell plans to give his hometown fans a thrill with an April 26 fight in Minnesota against Andrew Greeley, a 27-year-old from Louisiana with a record of 13-20-2.

“I have a lot of improving to do,” said Abell. “After this fight, I’ll do as much sparring as I can.”

Culmer Escapes Scare from Johnson

In other action, Philadelphia native Gee Culmer narrowly won a battle of speed and quick hands when he quarreled with Mustapha Johnson from Indianapolis. While most of the six rounds could have been scored for either super middleweight, Culmer emerged with a majority decision by scores of 58-56, 58-56 and 57-57.

After the fight, Johnson was visibly livid with the decision, and even grabbed the score card to make sure there wasn’t some kind of mistake. His record dropped to 5-3-1 while Culmer improved to 14-1.

What a Way to Make an Entrance

Perhaps the most exciting fight of the night did not come from the experienced fighters, but from two middleweights entering the ring as professionals for the very first time. Mario Mina from the Bronx, NY faced off against Pedro Calla who hails from Peru.

After an exciting, back-and-forth first round, both men answered the bell with ferocious intensity to start the second. With both guys throwing rapid combinations, it appeared as if Calla had the upper hand, landing a right that briefly threw Mina back. Seconds later, however, Calla was stunned by Mina’s stiff right hand, and looked for a moment like he might fall, but the Peruvian regained his composure.

During rounds three and four, it was evident that Mina had more energy but although Calla appeared exhausted – and was cut above both eyes, he continued to throw – and land – his share of hard shots. Toward the end of the fourth and final round, Mina finally knocked the stubborn Calla to the canvas to end the fight.

While Mina got a nice ovation from the Blue Horizon crowd, it was nothing compared to the howling they gave to Calla when he finally rose to his feet