| |
|
|
John Duddy Defeats Jorge Munoz
And Other Results From Island
Warriors Undercard
By Tim Donaldson
John Duddy had a lot to prove at Madison Square Garden after
his loss last April to Billy Lyell. To be honest, I thought
they would give him an easy opponent, someone who would do
just enough to make Duddy look good. However, Jorge Munoz
did not come to simply make Duddy look good. Although Munoz
barely won a round, he still proved to be competition for
Duddy.
Duddy and Munoz looked to be closely matched in the first
round. Duddy managed to land more than Munoz, and even
knocked Munoz off balance. The second round saw Duddy
controlling the round. He was doing a better job of taking
advantage of openings than Munoz. But in the third round,
Munoz became more aggressive. He landed a shot on the nose
of Duddy, causing it to bleed. Duddy still stayed patient,
sticking to his fight plan and winning the round.
Munoz tried to adjust his strategy in the fourth, and he was
doing better with counter punching. Even when being hit,
Munoz just kept coming. It looked like there might be a
change in the momentum of the fight. Duddy was slowing down.
But again, Duddy won the round. Duddy was still looking
tired in the fifth, but he was landing more than Munoz.
Munoz never backed away the entire fight. In the sixth,
Duddy looked much more aggressive than he had. Even still,
Munoz kept coming. The seventh and eighth rounds looked much
the same. Munoz proved that he can take a hit. Duddy won by
unanimous decision, only losing one round according to Judge
Larry Hazzard and Judge Ron McNair. It looks as thought
Duddy’s career is back on track.
The one surprise of the evening came from Lightweight Martin
Tucker who defeated Michael Torres in a six round fight.
Unfortunately, the Garden was less than 25% full for this
fight. It was the fans who were the unfortunate ones. I say
it was the one surprise because Torres was undefeated, and
Tucker had a record of 6-4. In the first round, Torres even
looked like the better fighter, moving more and ducking to
avoid Tucker’s shots.
But in the second round, Tucker was able to catch Torres in
the corner and then chased him to the far corner. Tucker’s
punches also seemed to have more power behind them. Tucker
kept improving, and even though Torres was throwing more
punches, few of them were connecting. Although the judges
don’t agree with me, I think Tucker easily won the fourth
round. Tucker controlled the round. But what sealed the
fight for Tucker was knocking down Torres in the fifth
round. Although, again according to the judges, they split
the rounds, Tucker now had a one point advantage. Torres
looked as though he was trying to knock out Tucker in the
sixth, but his arms looked tired and his punches were slow.
Tucker won what was by far one of the most entertaining
fights of the night.
Omar Chavez kept his winning record in tact against James
Ventry, a fighter with more losses than wins. The fight
started out with Ventry throwing more punches than Chavez.
His one fault may have been that he backed off too quickly.
Half way through the round, Chavez threw his first
combination and put Ventry down. The rest of the round saw a
much more aggressive Chavez.
Ventry tried to change the direction of the fight. In the
third, he was chasing Chavez, pressing him back. Chavez did
not seem to be throwing enough punches. In the fourth, both
fighters were looking weaker. Chavez still was not throwing
enough. However, Chavez looked much more aggressive in the
fifth. Chavez won the fight by unanimous decision.
Cruiserweight Carlos Negron easily defeated Larry Pryor.
Pryor, who stands at 6’3”, was still at a height
disadvantage against the 6’6” Negron. There was little
chance of Negron being hit unless Pryor could get inside,
something he was unable to do throughout the fight. Negron
easily won the first three rounds, then knowing in the
fourth and final round that the fight would be his, chose to
simply avoid Pryor in the fourth round.
Super Bantamweight Jorge Diaz knocked out his opponent, Yan
Barthelemy. Like the Tucker, Torres fight, this was one of
the better fights of the evening. Every time I have seen
Diaz fight, he has been far superior to his opponents. Not
this time. Barthelemy was a true challenge for Diaz.
Barthelemy spent the first round chasing Diaz. Diaz was
landing punches, but with each one, he seemed to be getting
hit too. The second round Diaz was doing the chasing.
Barthelemy was fighting a little more defensively in the
third and fourth rounds, doing a lot of holding to stop the
attacks from Diaz. The fifth round was a true slug fest
between the two fighters. Surprisingly, Barthelemy stayed up
when most fighters would have gone down. Barthelemy even
seemed to have the advantage in the beginning of the sixth
round, but Diaz knocked him out with a left then a right.
The fight was over 1:07 into the sixth round. But while Diaz
had reason to celebrate, the next few minutes seemed rather
tense. Barthelemy was not moving. He finally did get up and
exit the ring under his own power. This was a real test for
Diaz, and he passed.
I find it unfortunate that all of the fights are not
televised on the pay-per-view. The Tucker, Torres fight and
the Diaz, Barthelemy fight were definitely fights to
remember.
|
|
|
