The heavyweight boxing match is stopped abruptly amid jeers, catcalls and profanity-laden epithets.

It is the eighth round of a 10-round bout and the fans are revved up. They want to see a battle that ends all battles, to see the victor pound his opponent into oblivion -- and finally answer the much-awaited question about who is the best heavyweight boxer in the Pacific Northwest.

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But it was not to be on Saturday night, Nov. 5, before a sell-out crowd of 1,800 fans in the Battle of the Boat 84 main event at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma.

Tacoma fighter Jonte Willis, stunned by an apparent rabbit punch connecting behind his right ear, pulls up lame, shaking his right leg and grimacing from pain. Apparently the Vincent Thompson hook to the head had rung Willis' bell down to his toes.

Willis can't shake it off. He can't put weight on his leg. The fight is called at 2:01 of the eighth round, and the outcome will be decided on judge's cards. Several minutes go by and the impatient crowd is getting restless.

A decision is reached. The busier fighter in the bout, "Vicious" Vincent Thompson, wins unanimously, 78-72 on all cards (despite being penalized two points for an illegal punch in the last round) and remains unbeaten as a pro at 10-0-0 (2 KOs).

With the win, the Federal Way fighter secured the first pro belt in his short career, as Northwest Boxing heavyweight champion.

The decision, however, was bittersweet for local fight fans. It left some wondering why Jonte "Rock Steady" Willis, a former national Golden Gloves champion in 2006 and an up-and-coming pro, would quit a fight, a boxer who still looked fresh in the eighth round.

"Jonte is a warrior, and anyone out there saying he was looking for a way to quit, that's a bunch of ...," said Willis' trainer Bill McDonald after the fight. "Jonte wanted to continue to fight, but it was the doctor's choice (to stop it)."

Willis' other trainer, former Seattle pro boxer Kenny Ellis (known as the "Emerald City Assassin" as a pro), said his fighter was exposed to at least nine similar illegal punches during the course of the fight.

Action was often at close quarters, a lot of it in clinches, in which Thompson, a strong 237-pounder, took advantage by being the more active puncher of the two.

"It was clearly a foul punch (that ended the fight), everyone saw that, those things (rabbit punches) are cumulative (grow in pain)," added McDonald.

The 216-pound Willis (8-2-1, 3 KOs) had this to say about what led to his untimely exit.

"We were going inside towards the ropes and he tried to come with a hook, where he was trying to throw it I'm not sure," said Willis, who is the cousin of NFL Pro Bowl linebacker Patrick Willis. "It landed on my ear and the back of my head.

"I thought, 'uh-oh, I don't feel right in my right leg.' I was dazed a little bit. I didn't know if should keep going on. I didn't want to take a chance on something stupid happening."

Boxing, known as "the sweet science," is a brutal, unforgiving sport. It is not played with helmets and pads. Its fans expect blood and guts -- and for their boxing heroes to try to win at all costs, even at the cost of their lives.

"As far as business-wise and my personal own, I felt it necessary for something to happen and they decided to stop the fight," said Willis, who has a muscular, compact physique like Mike Tyson.

After the fight, Thompson was asked about the controversial finish.

"First and foremost, I'd like to thank God for this win," said Thompson.

"About the controversy, it was sad to see him do that. He did a few things in certain situations, too, like the head butt in the second round when we did our little fight thing.

"But he knew I was dominating every round. I was upset I didn't give the fans more of a finish-out-strong effort."

Thompson was able to show off his hand speed at times during of the fight, despite Willis' defensive strategies. His crisp jab was effective, especially in the middle rounds. And he threw some effective rat-tat-tat combos of hooks to the body and head, too.

Early on, Willis' corner men pleaded with their fighter to cut off the ring more and move Thompson to the ropes, where they thought Willis could do some damage. But Willis had trouble doing that. His jab wasn't working, and he couldn't get his power game going either, with the hooks and uppercuts that are such a lethal part of his repertoire. Thompson was just too wily and quick.

"I was watching him, seeing if he was trying to leap in with his left hooks and uppercuts, I was trying to not be too close where he could spring it and kept my distance like my dad (coach Calvin Thompson) has told me to do in any fight," said Thompson.

"In the clinches, I try to always work and not just stand in front of my opponent and just let him hit me."

Willis, on the other hand, admitted he let Thompson work him in the clinches.

"A few times I let him hold me, instead of me going inside, and I let him walk me a little bit," he said. "In the later rounds I started feeling good. I feel good right now. I'm not tired. Not breathing hard.

"I wasn't frustrated (by Thompson's style)," Willis added. "I kept composed, knowing that sooner or later, in the latter rounds I would get more comfortable (Thompson had never gone longer than six rounds in his career)."

Of his opponent, Willis said, "The dude'll fight anyone. I take my hat off to Vince for him taking this fight. He was a warrior in the ring, he gave it his all. I gave it my all. Unfortunately it just didn't work for me."

Thompson said similar things about his opponent after the fight.

"Jonte was good," he said. "He fought his heart out. I respect him. He did what he had to do, but I knew I was going to win."

Thompson will fight again at the Emerald Queen in January next year.

"Vincent is the best heavyweight prospect in the Northwest since Joe Hipp," said Thompson's promoter Brian Halquist, on Monday night, Nov. 7.

"I will go on record now and say Vincent has the fastest hand speed of any heavyweight in the United States. We have something special in Vincent Thompson.

"Heavyweights of this caliber only come along once every generation and Vincent is that kid. The sky is the limit for Vincent Thompson."

Thompson is coached by Sam Ditusa of Normandy Park, and Jack Stafford, Renton, and his dad Cal, of Federal Way.

Results on the six-bout card put on by Brian Halquist Productions: Sylvestor "Doc" Barron (5-1-0) beats Everado Garcia (1-1-0) in five-round heavyweight semi-main event; Corben Page (4-2-0) won a majority decision over Alonso Barandila (0-1-0); Randell Corpuz (2-1) won on a unanimous decision over Dave Petryk (2-3-1); Adrian Herrmann (2-2-1) and Ronald Simmons (3-4-1) fought to a majority draw; and Ralph Prescott (2-5-0) beat Mike Joy (0-1-0).

Guests of honor included Tacoma civic icon Stan Naccarato, who has been locally involved in Golden Gloves boxing activities for 60 years, and Olympic women's boxing hopeful Queen Underwood, of Seattle. Underwood, a Garfield High grad, is a five-time USA boxing champion at 132 pounds. She is coached by Tom Mustin of the Tacoma Boxing Club. Mustin was head boxing coach for Team USA at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Queen Underwood is requesting donations to help her fulfill her dream to become an Olympic gold medalist (queenunderwood1@yahoo.com) at the London Games next summer.

Correction made on Nov. 11: Brian Halquist was originally identified as Thompson's manager. Halquist is his promoter.