Two county firefighters join in annual Guns 'N' Hoses fight night
Bolen, Jones fall by decisions in charity boxing event
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| Andrew Jansen photo - Rob Bolen, left, and Ryan Cousins sqared off in one of the highlight bouts of Wednesday's Guns 'N Hoses event at Scottrade Center. |
For the 20th time, the fight night banged out in the boxing ring at Scottrade Center on Thanksgiving eve. The firefighters started with a victory by the gloves of Caseyville's (Ill.) Dale Minner, but the police officers rang up the 11-6 team win by night's end.
Two Jefferson County firefighters - Rob Bolen of Arnold and Jacob Jones of Cedar Hill - donned red trunks for the Hoses team. Bolen, a veteran of three Guns 'N Hoses events, and Jones, a 20-year-old newcomer to the big stage, both fell by decisions. But both tout the reason for the punching as something much more crucial than boxing glory.The night is an annual charity event to raise funds for the St. Louis Backstoppers, an organization that supports the families of police officers and firefighters who've fallen in the line of duty. Since the boxing showcase started in the late 1980s, it's drawn more than $2 million for the cause.
In the larger scheme of life, Guns 'N Hoses is a win-win, feel-good scene built around competition.
"That's what I like most," "Tasty Cake Jake" Jones said. "Win, lose or draw, it's for Backstoppers. People don't realize how much that helps us out."
Overall, the 17 bouts put up a show of prowess that exceeded events in recent memory. There were no knockdowns and only one technical knockout- when St Charles firefighter Kelly Hunsel defeated Berkeley officer Jackie Jones the only women's bout of the night - in the four-hour event
"Boom Boom" Bolen, who works at Rock Community Fire Protection District, helped mark, arguably, the most skillful matchup of the night against St. Louis cop Ryan Cousins. Each served as the boxing ace for his team. Some disputed the unanimous decision in favor of Cousins, a seven-time Guns 'N Hoses participant with a considerable amount of previous boxing experience.
Bolen, who has developed a reputation for being a tough customer in these amateur events, considered himself the underdog in this bout. While the other participants in the event trained for months, Bolen and Cousins didn't get word of their involvement until two weeks prior. Each stepped up for the challenge - and the Backstoppers.
"I didn't care if I won or lost. I just wanted to give them a good show," the 30-year-old Bolen said. "If it wouldn't have been for the charity, it would have been easier to call it off. But even if I get in there and lose, it's still not as big a loss as someone who's lost a loved one."
Jones, a volunteer at Cedar Hill Fire Protection District, anchored the to-do, slugging for the final three rounds of the night in a super-heavyweight bout against the SLPD's Christopher Nash. Jones, at 6-foot-3 and 315 pounds, traded heavy rights and lefts with the 290-pound Nash, looking confident, aggressive and convincingly in the lead. But, as boxing fans know, the best way to lock in victory is to knock out an opponent, removing judges' opinions from making a decision that could fall either way.
Losing the fight hasn't discouraged Jones. He got his first dose of charity boxing in the Main Event in Arnold this summer. Now he's put his skills in front of the 16,000-plus crowd at Scottrade. He has no doubt he'll keep punching.
"As long as they'll give me a fight, I plan on fighting," Jones said.
