After losing two of his last three and coming with a coming within a hair?s breadth of winning both, super-lightweight Guislain ?Mani? Maduma (18-2-11KO) got exactly what he was looking for Friday night at Club Metropolis in Montreal. Most importantly, the 31 year-old got back into the win column with a 80-71, 80-71, 80-70 decision over rugged Argentine Cesar Inalef (20-6-2 6KO) scoring a knockdown along the way.
?It was phenomenal effort,? promoter Camille Estephan told Fightnews. He was very calm in the ring, it?s the best I?ve seen him fight.?
?I needed rounds,? Maduma told Fightnews after the contest feeling that lack thereof may have cost him in his last contest, a split decision loss to the hands of Maurice Hooker for the NABO title on the undercard of Glolovkin-Lemieux last October.
Since that time Maduma has travelled to California to help Manny Pacquiao prepare for Timothy Bradley and never really left the Wildcard Gym becoming part of Freddie Roach?s stable of fighters. ?The last two years I was off so long, I had about two rounds in two years before I fought Hooker and that wasn?t enough. When you?re fighting a world class guy like that you need to be active and it cost me in that fight. I was so slow in the first two rounds and that was the difference, in the end he won by one point.
?I need rounds, not knockouts, that was my thinking today. I probably could of had the knockout if I pushed it a little more but that wasn?t my main focus. My main focus was to work on some of the little things that Freddie had taught me in training. I think I did pretty well, but I still have work to do.?
Roach wasn?t by his side Friday but Maduma knows tapes of the effort will make their way back to seven-time trainer of the year.?He was the perfect opponent for me to work on a couple things,? said the Congo-born fighter. ?stay calm, I knew at some point he was going to put pressure on me; I think overall I controlled things very well. I?m my own toughest critic, I still have work to do We?ll review the tape and probably find even more things to work on, but even a legend like Manny Pacquiao is still working on things.?
After losing a IBF elimination fight and NABO belt, Maduma refuses to speculate on future fights or opponents knowing he still has work to do. ?I need rounds, that?s all. I need rounds to see how I feel. I tell everybody, knockouts grow your confidence but rounds give you the tools to be a world class fighter.
?We moved him fast,? said promoter Estephan. He only has twenty fights and we came out on the short end and were unlucky. In New York, I thought we won and in England it was very controversial, hopefully the third time will be a charm.
One possible future opponent for Maduma would be Ricky Sismundo of Japan who gave Dierry Jean all he could handle, scoring two knockdowns and was unfortunate to only come away with a draw. ?That would be a great fight to do,? said Estephan, ?I would love to do that fight. That probably will be his next fight.?
