Maddalone wins thriller!

August 20, 2005

By Dave Spencer, FightNews Canada

This time Vinny didn't let it slip away. A pair of first round knockdowns didn't faze local product Shannon Miller who had big Vinny Maddalone hurt, tired and cut; but it wasn't enough as a big left hook put Miller down and out at: 45 seconds of the fifth round. You knew this one wasn't going to last as there were momentum changes on almost each and every punch with the pendulum swinging as far and wide as the blows from the increasingly popular Queens Slugger.

Maddalone picked up where he left off at about this time last year giving local fight fans and those watching on ESPN an epic battle as Pugnacious Promotions and Joe DeGuardia's Star Boxing returned fighting to the City Center in Saratoga Springs New York. A full house of 1500 enthusiastic fans were on hand to lend support to Miller who hails from nearby Troy New York and were on their feet for the duration. Miller came charging from the opening bell and seemed to have Maddalone hurt early on but a giant right hand equalized things in a hurry, dropping Miller to the canvas in the middle of the ring (11-1) for the first time in his career. Miller recovered well but was dropped again to end the round.

The second round had Miller digging deep and battling back cutting Maddalone under the right eye and badly on. "I was surprised how he came out for the second round," said Maddalone after the fight, "This kid showed a lot of heart, he just kept coming." For Maddalone, it seemed like his Brian Minto all over again. Knocking his opponent down in the first round but and gradually having it slip away from him. By the third, both fighters were showing the effects of the blistering pace. Miller not being able to counter Maddalone's wide shots and losing steam on his own bombs. "Shannon never saw that final punch coming," Maddalone said of the decisive blow.

Junior-middleweight Andrey Tsurkan simply overwhelmed opponent Julian Burford of Cleveland with the fight being stopped at 1:06 of the 5th round in the co-feature bout. Originally from the Ukraine and now fighting out of the Bronx New York, Tsurkan was averaging over a hundred punches a round and delivering his power connects at a 41% clip over a largely stationary Burford. A good right hand and deadly combinations proved to be too much for Burford who falls to 12-2.

Hometown favorite Gary Wilcox made a triumphant return to the ring after a three year absence with an easy decision over Harold Rodriguez, with the scorecards reading 60-52, 60-54, 59-54. Rodriguez was penalized a point for a low-blow in the fourth round after two separate warnings the round previous. Wilcox who campaigned at heavyweight for the first time fought much like he did as a cruiserweight, well paced and controlling the action with his jab.

"I didn't want to play into the crowd and go for the knockout" Wilcox said afterwards, "Just keep your composure, box and do your job." Wilcox managed to avoid the wild looping shots of his shorter opponent and landed solidly with his jab and solid body shots. "He takes a good shot, but we knew that going in, I managed to hurt him good once in the fourth round. The power is coming and so is the stamina."

Welterweight Maximino Cuevas (5-1) assured everybody he wanted the fight to go on when his opponent Sheldon Rudolph came in a pound-and-a-half heavy at the weigh-in. He quickly showed why when a left-hook to the body ended proceeding at 1:19 of the opening round. Rudolph managed to get up at about nine and three-quarters but the referee quickly stepped in and stopped the action.

Junior-middleweight Jorge Teron moved his record to a perfect 5-0 with a unanimous decision, 40-36, 40-36, 40-35 over Eduardo Torres. Teron staggered Torres early in the first round and landed effectively throughout. There was no backing up Torres though as he moved forward throughout, more often than not into the right hand of Teron.

In the walk-out bout of the night Wayland Willingham moved to 7-0 with a unanimous 39-37 decision over Shakha Moore.
 

Questions? Comments? Email Dave Spencer