If you ever happen to find yourself in a fight with Cleothia Rice, don’t get him excited. The Natchez native said Saturday he was too excited to talk about the fact that the Adams County Boxing Club was finally hosting an amateur event after four years of traveling the South to find fights.

Rice’s excitement was bad news for Shreveport, La.’s Mark Cole, who lost the fight by knock-out in under 30 seconds.

If Rice was excited before the fight, imagine his elation at scoring his first career K.O. in his home town.

&uot;This is the most wonderful feeling I’ve had in a long time,&uot; Rice said. &uot;It couldn’t have happened at a better time than tonight.&uot;

The brief fight began with the usual trading of jabs before Rice stunned Cole with a left. Cole tried to grab his opponent to catch his breath, but 154-pound Rice grabbed back and threw Cole into the ropes, meeting him with a hard right on the rebound.

Two blows to the right side of Cole’s head floored him for eight seconds, and the fight was stopped when the referee ruled Cole should not continue.

The fight improved Rice’s record to 5-6, and strengthened his rather lofty boxing goals.

&uot;I plan to win the national Golden Gloves and make the 2004 Olympic team,&uot; he said with the confidence he radiated when staring down his opponent before the fight.

That confidence is also evident when he speaks of his role model.

&uot;I’ve always said I’m my own hero,&uot; he said. &uot;I had a lot of challenges in boxing and a lot of personal problems outside of boxing, but I was able to overcome them and change my life around.

&uot;I’m proud of who I am now,&uot; he added.

The 25-year-old plans to enroll at Copiah-Lincoln Community College, he said, &uot;so I can just be a working citizen,&uot; — when not boxing, of course.