by Kevin Blatt/Photo by Teddy Blackburn DBE | Mon. March 14, 2011

Rabbit Punches – 26 Shots While The Ref Isn't Looking!

1. Coming to you live (OK, maybe not live anymore) from the beautiful Foxwoods Resort and Casino at the HBO World Championship Boxing middleweight battle between Sergio Martinez and Sergiy Dzinziruk, for the “coveted” WBC Diamond Belt. Boy that thing is SHINY!

2. I got one quick question about that though. There are so many WBC belts nowadays, can we get one just for us writers? What do you say Sulaiman, can I go for the WBC Cruiserweight Cubic Zirconium Press Championship OF THE WORLD (yeah, I said CZ…I’m not picky)! Just make sure Rabbit Punches are alright with the ref, OK? Cool!

3. Our MC for the untelevised undercard? None other than your favorite dread-locked announcer/strip club DJ, David Diamante! It always adds a hop to my step when I can see someone with hair longer than Ivan Calderon!

4. For the first fight of the night we were treated to one of those, “Why is this fight happening?” type of bouts, when Abraham Lopez (1-1-0) took on Andrew Jones (0-2-1). Surprisingly, it ended up being quite entertaining and set the tone for the entire card. Although it was one-sided affair; with Lopez outworking, outgunning and outclassing Jones with some nice combination punching over 4 rounds.

5. Up next, young Irish prospect Seanie Monaghan (5-0-0 4KO) came into the ring to a huge ovation from his many fans who came out strong in support. They were so loud some of us in press row were wondering who has more fans…this young kid or Berto and Bradley combined (as a Bradley fan, I died a little just typing that)?

6. After watching just the first round of Monaghan’s fight with the game but overmatched Billy Cunningham (5-8-0 4KO), I understood his appeal. This kid has that classic mix of a good workrate, great bodywork and not quite enough defense. He is going to have some exciting fights in his future!

7. Speaking of exciting, I’m not sure what had me more pumped…the female heavyweight bout (yes, you read that correctly) between the wildly popular Sonya Lamanokis (3-1-0 1KO) and Tanzee Daniel (4-0-0 1KO), or the fact that Lamanokis might be more skilled than 90% of the heavyweights either Klitschko has faced within the past 5 years or so.

8. After 5, again exciting rounds (a common theme throughout the night) of Lamanokis in control, Daniel came out strong sensing the need for a KO in the 6th and gave the crowd a show. Both fighters threw bombs and fought in a phone booth for the entire round. Lamanokis survived the onslaught and gave almost as much as she got over the final 3 minutes to secure the win in a great fight!

9. In the next fight we all were treated to Puerto Rico’s young prospect, Thomas Dulorme (9-0-0 8KO). I will keep this short and sweet, much like his 2nd round TKO over Guillermo Valdez (12-2-0 2KO). The consensus between everyone I spoke to in attendance was that this kid has the goods…speed, power, explosiveness, footwork, balance, etc. Time will tell if it pays off, but to echo both Lou Dibella and Gary Shaw during the post-fight press conference, “By 2012, Thomas Dulorme will be a champion and a star!” I completely concur.

10. In the final untelevised undercard match of the night, power-punching prospect Javier Fortuna (13-0-0 10KO) faced Derrick Wilson (8-1-2 2KO) in what looked on paper to be a short night for Mr. Wilson. I fully expected to see a devastating early KO by powerful Fortuna followed by a long intermission until the televised bouts. I was right, and wrong.

11. After 7 rounds of back and forth action, the extremely wild, but clearly hard-hitting Fortuna had dropped Wilson twice, but could not help but fall prey to Wilson’s shorter more compact punches. Wilson was more than game until the 8th when he got dropped hard. Fortuna then came in for the kill and finished him with a highlight reel left hook.

12. Fortuna definitely has the power and stamina to compete at the higher levels, but I can't help but think that against someone strong enough to take his onslaught and with decent skills, he is going to get out-boxed pretty clearly. It was a great KO and an impressive win, but there is still some things to work on in camp.

13. We have an OtG Irish Correspondent Paddy Cronin sighting folks! Andy Lee must be close…

14. Ireland’s Lee (24-1-0 18KO) came to the ring with a haircut looking more like he should be dancing in the sequel to Disney’s “The Newsies,” than fighting in this “Celtic War” with Scotland’s Craig McEwan (19-0-0 18KO). But what a WAR it turned out to be!

15. McEwan proved to be the high level prospect he's been advertised as. Using his workrate and varied offense, McEwan not only kept Lee off balance, but actually hurt the big middleweight on a few occasions. Lee on the other hand, wasn’t as busy but was extremely accurate with his lead right hook, which he used almost like a jab for most of the fight.

16. By the ninth round, McEwan looked to be in control and was up on almost everyone’s card at ringside, when Lee landed a perfectly placed rocket of a straight left hand that put McEwan on the seat of his trunks in the far corner. Lee had been playing catch-up to this point, and boy did he catch up quickly!

17. Right from the outset of the 10th and final round two things were clear, Lee was coming on like he knew he needed the KO, and McEwan was starting to gas. Suddenly and violently, the inevitable happened. Lee landed a thunderous left hook that sent McEwan crumbling to the ground, clearly out. Definitely the early favorite for KO of the year!

18. I think I speak for everyone in attendance when I say we all hope Craig McEwan can come back strong from this. He was one tough fighter for all of 9 rounds last night, and I would love to see him fight again. He showed a great chin throughout, but unfortunately, there is only so long you can show a great chin against an equally great puncher. Hats off to both fighters for giving the fans the fight of the night!

19. Is it Maravilla time? Of course it's Maravilla time! Martinez (46-2-2 26KO) and Dzinziruk (37-0-0 23KO) entered into the ring and the place was absolutely electric! Argentine flags flying, Dzinziruk fans chanting. The entire arena still a buzz from the previous fight. You couldn’t dream of a better atmosphere for a big fight!

20. Prior to the fight, on the media conference call I asked Dzinziruk and trainer Buddy McGirt if they had done anything different in preparation for the speed and awkwardness of Martinez? Their answer was that Dzinziruk had a fantastic jab, and they would use it to negate anything Martinez brought to the table. That sounded like a solid plan. Well, a funny thing happened along the way…Martinez turned out to have a better, more accurate and more dangerous jab than that of Dzinziruk. The biggest story of the first part of the fight wasn’t that Sergio was winning, it’s that he was winning by out-jabbing the big Ukrainian. No one, including this report saw that coming at all!

21. The second biggest story of the fight would easily be the small things that Martinez does so well, things you don’t always pick up on video but are on full display in a live environment. His perfect feints, coupled with his wonderful lateral movement make him so difficult to read and time. On this night, that equated to Dzinziruk spending most of the fight completely off balance and not throwing any punches at all.

22. Unfortunately for Dzinziruk, Martinez had an ample supply of offense coming from his gloves. Over the first 6 rounds Sergio was in complete control; varying his offense from jabbing and moving laterally, to jumping in and out ,unleashing blazingly fast combinations. 

23. In the 7th round, Dzinziruk started to find a small rhythm using a similar lead right hook to what Lee utilized in the previous fight. Just when you thought we might start to see a different fight, Maravilla takes over. Sensing that Dzinziruk may be getting in a rhythm, Martinez jumped on him in the 8th round ferociously. Midway through, in the span of about a minute, Martinez drops Dzinziruk spectacularly 3 times before referee Arthur Mercante Jr. waved the bout to a close.

24. Honestly, to witness Martinez fight live is a thing of beauty. The best way to describe it is to say it’s like a controlled demolition. It’s dangerous, unpredictable, exciting and an awesome visual sight, but most important of all is that he is in complete control of the chaos the entire time! Hats off to him and his team on a spectacular win over a very good opponent!

25. Now I could end this by giving Martinez much deserved praise for his work with bullied children, one of which he had in his corner for the fight, and something he should be truly commended for. I could end it with his comments about whom he wants next, be it Cotto, Pacquiao or Mayweather. I will go with my personal favorite rant of the night though, and that is Lou Dibella sharing his thoughts on fellow promoter Bob Arum. Check out my video to follow ONTHEGRiND!

26. Until next time, may all of your hair flow as beautifully as David Diamante’s!