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SPADAFORA-DORIN BRAWL TO A
DRAW!
Ringside
report by Gero von Dehn
Photos
by Joe Bada
The IBF/WBA
Lightweight unification clash on Saturday night in Pittsburgh,
PA proved to be a riveting throwback bout between two champions.
From the
opening bell this fight exceeded all expectations. It was billed
as the biggest test both fighters had ever faced and it brought
out the best in the two combatants.
"The
Pittsburgh Kid" Paul Spadafora and Leonard "The Lion" Dorin went
toe to toe for 12 rounds and bloodied each other in boxing to a
draw in front of 5,200 delighted fans at the Peterson Events
Center. Two ringside judges split the scoring 115-113 and the
third card read 114-114.
From the
outset WBA titleholder Leonard Dorin found success throwing
straight right hands to the face of the IBF champion Spadafora
and landed frequently. Spadafora's four inch reach advantage
didn't matter to the Romanian who kept moving forward. Spadafora
looked to go to the body more and began to connect with the
right hook to the head of Dorin.
Somewhat
surprisingly, the southpaw didn't seem interested in staying
away from Dorin, instead choosing to box inside and trade
punches near the center of the ring. In the third round both
fighters were cut near the eyes by punches and Dorin appeared to
wobble Spadafora with a big right hand to the face.
Dorin landed
the bigger punches for most of the fight but Spadafora was able
to score with combinations and body shots.
Dorin appeared
to lead the fight early and might have relinquished that
advantage in the latter rounds. Spadafora, who often starts
slowly, was on the offensive quickly but didn't seem to find his
defensive rhythm until the fifth round.
As the fight
wore on Spadafora gained confidence and made Dorin miss more
while landing right hooks and continue to work the body. Still,
never before has someone landed more power punches to the face
of Spadafora the
way Dorin did on Saturday night. Each time Spadafora would start
to gain the upper hand, Dorin would snap his head back on the
counter.
Spadafora was
stunned again in the eighth round by that stinging right hand of
Dorin but he responded with his best round of the night in the
ninth. From that point on Spadafora looked to hook and move and
might well have fought back to earn the draw in those last few
rounds.
Afterwards
both boxers sported battered faces and both immediately spoke of
a rematch.
"I take my hat
off to Leonard Dorin," said Paul. "I feel that it was a great
fight. I asked (Dorin) to get another chance to fight. Wherever
it will be it doesn't matter. I just want to prove to myself
that I can come out unanimous."
After fighting
in his hometown of Pittsburgh, Spadafora even expressed his
desire to return the favor. "I'd like to fight Leonard Dorin in
Romania because he came into my hometown so I want to go into
his," he stated. "The world will see the fight and the people
will see who the world champion is at the end of the night."
The fighters
applauded each other's efforts in what truly was a tremendous
fight that had observers measuring it against the legendary
Gatti-Ward bouts.
Spadafora
indicated his desire to prove something to observers in this
fight. "I just wanted to show the people that I've got a lot
more dimensions than people think," he said. "I can do a lot of
things that no one's ever seen me do."
Naturally, the
participants each were confident they had won the fight but both
were gracious in the non-victory. "I thought I won the fight by
at least one or two rounds but maybe I took off a couple of
rounds in the middle of the fight," said Paul.
Likewise Dorin
responded, "I feel like I won the fight but I respect the
decision and that's it."
With the draw
both fighters remain unbeaten as Spadafora goes to 36-0-1 with
14 KO and Dorin moves to 21-0-1 with 7 KO.
It was a
boxing match that nobody won on the scorecards but both fighters
earned high praise and found new respect as a result of their
impressive battle.
Promoter Lou
DiBella said, "These two fighters deserve a lot more money for a
rematch. This was a special fight we saw tonight."
"We're gonna
do a rematch," confirmed promoter Mike Acri. "There's no
question about it."
We can only
hope the rematch, wherever it is, comes soon.
# # #
Taylor jabs his way to prominence
By Chad Skolny
Nicolas Cervera has been fighting as a
professional since 1991, but on Saturday night, he saw the future.
That futuristic vision was Jermain Taylor, who knocked down Cervera
three times in the fourth round of their bout at the University of
Pittsburgh before referee Rick Steigerwald stopped the fight at the
2:37 mark of the fourth. Taylor (16-0) had made a statement to the
world that he is evolving into a prominent Middleweight.
"This was the right opponent for
Jermain," said trainer Pat Burns. "He was a tough guy to fight, and
Jermain had to step up. He had to be cautious because (Cervera) had
knockout power."
For that matter, so did Taylor. The
former Olympian battered Cervera (33-4-1) with stinging jabs until
he followed with a right cross early in the fourth round to drop
Cervera for the first time.
"My jab always comes first. I
establish my jab, then I go from there," Taylor said. In some cases,
though, the jab also comes last. Two hard jabs dropped Cervera a
second and third time, propelling Taylor to a victory and another
level in his young career.
"The jab is probably Jermain's No. 1
weapon," Burns said. "He combines that with speed and power. If a
fighter throws it well enough, he can win without throwing any other
punches. Now, I'm trying to teach Jermain to throw more punches off
the jabs."
Cervera did have his moments as, for
the first three rounds, the fighters randomly landed hard punches.
Taylor connected with a straight right-left hood combination in the
closing moments of the first round, but Cervera answered with
several right hands in the second. By the end of the second frame,
however, Taylor had begun to take control of the fight with his
lengthy jab, keeping Cervera on the outside while inflicting
punishment the Colombian seemed helpless to defend.
"I think Jermain learned a little bit
tonight," Burns stated. "He learned not to drop his hands. But
overall, for the few fights he's had, I think he did quite well."
The bout marked the first time Cervera
had been knocked out in his 38-fight career, and fittingly it came
by way of a Taylor jab. Now, the undefeated prospect will look
toward an Aug. 8 date on ESPN2 against a competitor yet to be named.
The opponent matters little to Taylor, who said before the match -
and proved during the match - "I always come to fight."
# # #
Undercard filled with action
By Chad Skolny
Little could match Saturday's main
event between Paul Spadafora and Leonard Dorin at the University of
Pittsburgh, but an exciting undercard paved the way for the 12-round
superfight.
With much of the crowd yet to arrive,
a group of about 50 Romanian natives, now living in New York, had
made the trip to the Steel City to pull for WBA champion Leonard
Dorin. They were already in rare form during an undercard
bout between Adrian Diaconu (12-0), a fellow Romanian, and Light
Heavyweight Ron Cobbs (5-5). The raucous section 6-F, adorned with a
larger banner reading "New York Loves Leonard," chanted and cheered
as Diaconu wore down Cobbs before stopping him in the fifth round.
The undercard's most competitive
action came when Junior Middleweight Joachim Alcine battled Leonard
Townsend (37-13-1) for six rounds before earning a unanimous 60-54
decision to remain unbeaten at 16-0. Pittsburgh native Joe Wyatt
also stayed perfect in his professional career, stopping Rudy
Lansford in Junior Welterweight action. After being cut in the first
round and sustaining more punishment in the second, Lansford
couldn't answer the third-round bell, and Wyatt (14-0) was awarded a
TKO victory.
Heavyweight Sergei Liakhovich used a
series of body punches to TKO Sione Asipeli (17-6-2) in the 5th
round of their matchup. Liakhovich has just one blemish on his
record, a ninth-round TKO loss to Maurice Harris on June 1,
2002, as he improved to 18-1. Youngstown, Ohio native Chris Koval
took another step in his young career by claiming a unanimous
decision over Heavyweight Scott Dixon (1-3-1). The 40-33, 40-34,
40-33 score lifted Koval
to 4-0 as a professional.
# # # |
