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Maddalone KOs Hunt!
October 23, 2003
By Lisa Scott
Photos by Lisa Scott
 Wednesday night, the
Crowne Plaza Hotel in New York City
was packed to the gills with 800+ enthusiastic fight fans. Cadres of
supporters waved flags from the Dominican Republic, Ireland and Italy, all
in a passionate effort to cheer their fighters on towards victory. This was
the latest in promoter Joe DeGuardia's Star Boxing's extravaganza entitled
'Boxing on Broadway.'
In the main event, heavyweight prospect and local hero Vinny
Maddalone (21-1; 14 KO's) knocked out Marvin Hunt (9-9; 3 KO's) of Tennessee in the first
round of what was to be an eight round match-up. However, things got off to a
bumpy start for Maddalone when Hunt threw a lead left hook at the opening
bell. That punch landed squarely on Maddalone's jaw and stunned him. Hunt
continued to land and connect his left with much success, until a foggy
headed Maddalone threw a wild left hook which clearly landed way below the
belt. With his right glove clutching his cup, Hunt dropped to the canvas on
his backside and grimaced in agony. Yet, referee Eddie Cotton saw it as a
knockdown and began to count. Hunt managed to rise at the count of eight,
but his momentum appeared to dwindle. Looking composed, Maddalone attacked
Hunt with a flurry of punches. As Hunt attempted to clinch, Maddalone launch
a vicious right uppercut to Hunt's chin, which snapped his head back before
he collapsed to the canvas. Hunt laid motionless while flat on his stomach.
Cotton began to count, but the ringside physician immediately jumped into
the ring and signaled that the fight should not continue. The fight was
stopped at 2:50 of the first round. After several minutes, Hunt rose to his
feet and appeared fine as he walked out of the ring.
After his fight, Maddalone told FightNews: "The guy came right at me and
surprised me coming out. I didn't get to see much video tape of him and his
previous fights, so he was able to surprise me. I got hit with a couple of
punches, but I answered back and that was it. He was throwing a lot of wide
punches and he left himself open for my uppercut. So, I did what I had to
do."
In a somewhat controversial decision, super middleweight prospect Tarvis
Simms (17-0; 9 KO's) remained undefeated in his six round bout against
Philadelphia's Ronald Boddie (12-19-4; 5 KO's). After feeling each out in the first round, Boddie's stiff
jabs and sharp right hands caused Simms' nose to bleed heavily in the
second. Boddie kept up the pressure as Tarvis appeared frustrated in not
being able to land his shots and complained to the referee that he was being
head butted. In the fourth round, Tarvis came out swinging and missing,
giving Boddie the opportunity to counter with crisp shots and bloody Simms'
nose even further. Looking to surprise Boddie, Simms came out in the fifth
in a southpaw stance, which allowed him to land his shots and draw Boddie
into a slugfest in the last moments of the round. Fighting as if he needed
to win by knockout, Simms went all out in round six and stunned Boddie with
a right uppercut as he was coming in. As ring announcer Joe Antonacci read
the judges scoring (Dick Flaherty 57-57, Frank Lombardi 58-56 for Simms and
Tony Paolillo 59-55 for Simms), the crowd began booing their disapproval.
Boddie then raised his hands and the audience cheered, letting him know that
they felt he was the winner. FightNews scored this bout 59-55 for Boddie.
Boddie stated "When you're fighting in a guys hometown and he's an
undefeated top ranked fighter, you just can't get a fair decision. Before I
took this fight, I signed a contract to go eight rounds with Tarvis. But,
when I got to the weigh-in, it somehow got changed to a six-rounder. If this
fight went eight rounds, I would have knocked him out. That's just the way
this business goes, especially when you fight a guy in his hometown. I can
only thank the crowd for enjoying themselves and letting me know that I was
the winner of this fight."
Jr. Middleweight, Robert Kamya (13-4; 4 KO's) whose trainer is Johnny
Bumphus, lost a split decision to the gusty Ukrainian Andrey Tsurkan (19-3;
12 KO's) of the Bronx. Kamya came out hesitant and timid of Tsurkan in the first round,
flinching and wincing before he was even hit. As the rounds progressed,
Kamya became more confident and assured as he stepped in with his punches
and became exceedingly accurate while landing his combinations. Showing
impressive heart and a solid chin, Tsurkan pressed forward throughout the
fight. Tsurkan shook his head 'no' in the sixth, when he got rocked by a
left right combination, yet continued to fight on. In the following round,
Tsurkan was off balance when a glancing right hand to the chest knocked him
down. Referee Danny Schivonne gave a standing eight count and Tsurkan
continued his pressured assault. Judge Flaherty scored it 76-75 for Kamya
while Lombardi and Lederman scored it 76-75 for Tsurkan.
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For his second pro win, jr. middleweight John Duddy (2-0;
2 KO's) of County Derry, Ireland scored a first
round TKO over Jesse Gomez (1-2). The audience went wild as Duddy entered
the ring to the boisterous chants and cheering of his supporters as they
waved the Irish flag; so much so that no one seemed to notice Gomez enter
the ring. Looking steely and composed, Duddy bore straight ahead and tracked
Gomez down, who was able to land a combination of his own before getting
dropped by Duddy's fierce left hook to the temple. Seconds later, Gomez was
dropped again by that same left hook, but was able to make it out of the
round and back to his corner. The ringside Physician went to Gomez's corner
to examine him between rounds and signaled to referee Eddie Cotton that
Gomez could not continue.
Duddy trains out of Gleason's Gym, where he often spars with WBC cruiser
champ Wayne Braithwaite and others. During his 13 years as an amateur, Duddy
earned a record of 130-30 and looks to have a very promising pro career.
Duddy told FightNews: "I really wasn't impressed with the way I fought
tonight. I usually don't fight like that because I'm a boxer. I let the
atmosphere take over and I didn't use my head. But, I kept my composure,
landed the right shots and got the job done. Jesse was very wild and
aggressive coming out. I was trying to stick to my boxing and pick the shots
as they came. I saw that he was open for a clean right hand and I landed
them a few times, but I was getting ahead of myself. I was looking forward
to the second round, but I was glad that the referee stopped it. In my
amateur career, it was always my left hook. But, when I came over here
(America) my coaches (Dexter Emanuel and Neil Ferrara) started to develop it
more. So, it's not the same punch and it has become the main arsenal in my
repertoire. In the future, you will see a more calmer and calculated boxer.
"Boxing is always what I've wanted to do and I'm glad that I've had the
chance to come here to America. I still have a lot of things to work on and
have a lot to learn. Hopefully, I will get a lot of results like I got
tonight. Of course, I've always been a fan of Barry McGuigan, Steve Collins
and Wayne McCullough. But, I am a great Mohammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard
fan. But, I'll never base myself on anyone, because I like being myself and
that's just the way I'm going to be. But, if I were ever half the man of
McGuigan, Collins or the others that I mentioned, I will be happy enough."
In a very competitive 6 round middleweight match up, Giovanni Lorenzo (10-0;
4 KOs) of the Dominican Republic
scored a unanimous decision over Oriel Martinez (2-3) of Havana, Cuba.
Judges Lederman, Lombardi and Flaherty all had it 60-54 for Lorenzo.
Lightweight's Julio Cardenas (4-0) and Jose Ramon Disla (5-15-1; 3 KO's),
both from Dominican Republic, fought a four round action packed dual, much
to the delight of their supporters in attendance. However, Cardenas was able
to sweep all four rounds on the judges cards. Lederman, Lombardi and
Flaherty all scored the bout 40-36 for Cardenas.
Brooklyn's own super middleweight, Tim O'Neill (4-1-2; 3 KO's) knocked out
Israel Felix (1-3-2) at 2:34 of the first round.
A short right hand by O'Neill sent Felix to the canvas in the early moments
of the opening round and referee Danny Schivonne gave an eight count.
Seconds later, Felix was dropped hard with a left hook (which sent his
mouthpiece sailing) and forced the referee to stop the fight. The ringside
Physician quickly jumped in to check on Felix.
Among the notables in attendance were heavyweight contender, Jameel McCline
along with his wife Tina and newborn, Savannah; as well as Renaldo Snipes,
Iran Barkley and Vivian Harris.
Overall, it was a great evening of boxing. As the sport is attempting to
regain it's footing in New York
and reclaim the title 'Mecca of Boxing', NYSAC Athletic Chairman, Ron Scott
Stevens stated to FightNews: "There were a lot of great fights tonight. I
enjoyed the card and I thought it was very competitive. The promoters did a
wonderful job and Louis Fugazy did a nice job as a matchmaker. Overall, it
was a great night of boxing. I look forward to more of these events." |
