Local fighters split on Mississippi card

Dean Juipe

Monday, Oct. 14, 2002 | 10:06 a.m.

Charles Shufford salvaged a split for the Las Vegas heavyweights who were showcased in separate events on a nationally televised boxing card Sunday night from Choctaw, Miss.

Shufford, 29, gained a 12-round decision over Eliecer Castillo at the Silverstar Casino, while Cliff Couser, 31, was stopped in the fifth round of a scheduled 10-round fight by Lance Whitaker.

Couser vs. Whitaker was the more entertaining of the fights and the participants' combative nature led to a pair of after-the-bell incidents, one resulting in Couser being docked a point by the referee.

Whitaker, of Grenada Hills, Calif., won the fight at 2:45 of Round 5 when he caught Couser with a right hand and then landed a blow to the top of Couser's head as he slumped down. Couser then went to a knee and was counted out by referee Tommy Kimmons.

"I go up, I go down," Couser said. "I'll bounce back up again."

The loss dropped Couser to 24-8-2.

Whitaker, 30, improved to 25-2-1 with 21 knockouts.

"I give him an 'A,' " said his trainer, Joe Goossen. "Couser's only been knocked out once and with the exception of one punch in the second round, Lance never got tagged again."

Whitaker graded his own performance a 'C' and called the victory "a step back" toward the heavyweight title picture.

In the Shufford vs. Castillo fight on the Fox Sports Net telecast, many of the rounds were virtually identical. But Shufford, 19-2, got the judges' nod on scores of 116-112 (twice) and 115-113.

Castillo fell to 23-3-2.