Williams Rises to Win State Boxing Title

Rollin Williams of Campo, Calif., came back from a seventh-round knockdown to knock out Angel Armando Rodriguez 26 seconds into the eighth round and win the California junior middleweight championship Tuesday at the Country Club in Reseda.

Williams, 153 1/2, went down early in the seventh round of the scheduled 12-rounder from a series of body punches. However, near the close of that round he dropped Rodriguez with a hard right to the jaw. He continued the attack to open the eighth round and landed three solid punches to the jaw of Rodriguez to end the fight.

Williams is 19-9-1 with eight knockouts. Rodriguez, 154, of Los Angeles, is 18-3-1.

In an earlier bout, Billy Mitris of Melbourne, Australia, knocked out Brad Powell of San Diego 57 seconds into the first round. Mitris, 174, is 6-2. Powell, 180, is 3-4.

In a preliminary fight, Joe Hipp, 237, of Yakima, Wash., ran his record to 13-1 with a unanimous six-round decision over Danny Wofford of Charlotte, N.C. Wofford, 224, fell to 8-9-1.

Richard Evans, 159 3/4, of Campo, (2-0) scored a unanimous four-round decision over Mike Serr, 159, of Phoenix in another fight. Serr fell to 1-8. Also, Damon Franklin, 147, Los Angeles (2-3) scored a fourth-round knockout over Curtis Hall, 147, of Campo.