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Malignaggi, Berto, Powell come up big in Prime Time By Ryan Songalia PhilBoxing.com Mon, 19 Feb 2007  Ideally, promoter Lou Dibella hoped that his Boxing After Dark triple-header would produce a series of water-cooler fights under the spector of HBO's summit platform. What the chief principles came up with ranged from the spectacular, the predictable, to the controversial. In the end, Dibella walked away a 3-0 winner, a decent return on a calculated gamble. The main event, and indeed the main attraction, was a celebration of Paulie Malignaggi as a drawing power in New York City. Throughout the crowd, Italian-Americans, such as Chuck Zito, Arturo Gatti, and Vito Antuofermo flocked out to see the missing "Growing up Gotti" co-star in his first fight following the rough loss to Miguel Cotto. Kids wearing gel and headbands like the man they came to see were spotted throughout the crowd, a testament to Malignaggi's growing appeal. With the business at hand in his first appearance on an HBO telecast facing off with rugged Floridian Edner "Cherry Bomb" Cherry, "The Magic Man" did not disappoint. Sporting a blue-spiked hair style that could make a 25 year old feel aged, Malignaggi made it clear from the opening bell who was the blue chips prospect in the ring. Throwing punches in bunches in a disciplined envelope, Paulie was too much for the unimaginative Cherry to handle throughout the ten round contest. Paulie performed beautifully with his jab, landing his three and four punch combinations off the jab, then finishing with another series of jabs to secure distance and restart his bicycle routine. It appeared that his work with James "Buddy" McGirt Sr. was paying dividends, as he was fighting more like a boxer who understands his technical advantages than a slugger with 5 knockouts to his credit. Cherry found few answers throughout the evening, walking into combinations all night from the feather-fisted Malignaggi. Cherry had his moments, particularly in the fifth and tenth rounds, but when you don't knock your opponent out or win enough rounds, it's hard to get the decision. When the decision was announced, the predictably lop-sided scores of 100-90 on one card and 98-92 on the other two were met by elation from the partisan crowd. Head trainer Buddy McGirt was impressed with Malignaggi's performance. "I think he looked good coming off the Cotto fight," analyzed McGirt. "That was more mental than anything. It was putting alot of things on his mind in training camp. "During the fight, every round he was asking was he winning the round. It was a good fight for him, a guy who put pressure on him and made him work," concluded McGirt. It was rumored by one source that there are plans to match Malignaggi with Lovemore N'Dou in the near future. Malignaggi of Brooklyn raises his record to 22-1 (5 KO), while Edner Cherry continues to fail in the big fights, dropping to 21-5-2 (10 KO). For Andre Berto, it was business as usual. The 2004 Haitian Olympian looked sensational in blowing out overmatched journeyman Norberto Bravo in 2:28 of the first round. Exhibiting a disciplined sense of strategy, Berto felt his man out with jabs that ricocheted off The Contender season 1 contestant's face. Realizing that Bravo, who was a late replacement for Ben Tackie, had nothing to offer this night, Berto proceeded to bomb Norberto to the canvas for the first time with a dynamite left hook. That would become a persistent theme in this mismatch. Instead of becoming over-aggressive, Berto allowed fate to unfold as he patiently exploded another perfectly placed left hook off of Bravo's chin, resulting in a second knockdown. By this time, Bravo was clearly showing signs of discouragement. Those feelings weren't helped much when Berto opened up another combination, the final punch being a right hand that drilled Bravo into the canvas for the third time, and ending the fight with half a minute left in the opening stanza. It was an impressive performance, however Berto was simply solidifying what we already knew: A)That Berto is a dangerous, serious welterweight contender, B) That he needs to step up in competition, and C) That Norberto's checkered record is an accurate measuring stick for his skills. One credible source discussed the possibility of matching Berto with Cosme Rivera, a top 20 contender who has faced Zab Judah and Joel Julio. When asked if the result was what he expected, Berto responded "Pretty much. As soon as I saw I was alot faster than he was, I knew I could basically get off quicker." "I think I showed something different. I used my jab and just worked off combinations. I think it was a pretty good performance for the crowd." "I think he's a beast," stated the proud promoter of the potential gold mine prospect. "I want to get him more of a fight. I want him to go rounds with somebody." Andre Berto raises his record to an unbeaten 17-0 (15 KO), while Norberto Bravo falls to 23-13-3 (12 KO). This fight was initially discussed for last October, but the only difference would have been which year they filed this payday under on their taxes. In a clash between junior middleweight contenders looking to stamp themselves as real threats, Sechew Powell won a unanimous decision over former Contender contenstant Ishe Smith by too-wide scores of 97-92 on all three cards. If you only know the tallies of the fight, then you don't know the real story. It was a competitive fight that could've gone either way. Well, maybe not in Manhattan. Powell, of Brooklyn, NY, took the initiative early against the Las Vegas native Smith, piling up points with smooth boxing technique and appearing to sweep the first three rounds. A first round miscall by the referee ruled out what would've been a legitimate first round knockdown for Powell that came on a clean right hook. The fight took a change of momentum when Smith landed a looping right hand as Powell crossed his legs and thudded to the canvas off-balance, resulting in the only official knockdown of the fight. Smith stole command of the fight in the middle rounds after making effective adjustments that had Sechew looking for answers and eating right hands in the interim. Switching to a Montell Griffin-esque defensive posture, Smith was able to confuse Powell with angles after he saw that Powell for the most part was only interested in landing 1-2 combinations. They traded rounds down the stretch, but Smith's inability to keep up the pace he set in the middle of the rounds was his ultimate undoing. The judges turned in their scorecards to a chorus of boos, but when you're fighting in your opponent's hometown on a card promoted by his promoter, you have to do more than just outpoint your guy. When asked whether he would be interested in a return bout with "Sugar Shay", Powell responded definitively. "No, why? Why? If you can tell me why, then I'll tell you yes. There's no reason for it, so no." "I thought it was the right decision," stated relieved promoter Lou Dibella. "I thought he won easily, but honestly I think he's got to pick up the pace in the future to be more pleasing. I would've liked to have seen Sechew be more aggressive. It was a good fight coming back from Ouma." "He was just awkward," explained Powell of his opponent. "He didn't want to throw any punches. I was ushering him to come on and he wouldn't. So I took the initiative with my jab and won the fight." Powell moves on with the W against a solid fighter, helping to restore his appeal following the disheartening loss to Kassim Ouma last Summer. Powell raises his record to 21-1 (12 KO), while Ishe suffers his second defeat, moving his record to 18-2 (8 KO). James McGirt Jr. continued his development as a prospect with a solid victory over a less than solid foe named Anthony Little. Trained by his father and future Hall of Famer James McGirt Sr., McGirt Jr., took control of the fight from the opening bell from his southpaw stance, bouncing violent combos off the skull of his opponent and busting him in half with world-rocking body blows. McGirt suffered a cut from an accidental headbutt in round two, and as the rounds progressed the blood began to become a serious issue visually as the crimson matter cascaded into the eyes of the young prospect. It didn't change anything about about the outcome, as McGirt finally overwhelmed his opponent at 2:46 of the fourth with a volley of shots against the ropes. After the bout, McGirt Sr. stated that he felt his son looked "better" than the last time out against Dennis Sharpe, when he openly expressed his displeasure in his son's performance. "We just got to work on a few minor things and work on him getting his distance. James McGirt Jr. of Vero Beach, FL raises his mark to 14-0 (8 KO), while the overmatched Little drops to 7-6 (1 KO). In other action, tough and exciting Pawel Wolek forced Luis Hodge to fold in between rounds after the fourth following a brutally exciting war. Wolek moves to 13-0 (8 KO), Hodge drops to 5-3 (3 KO). In a slight upset, Noriko Kariya lost a split-decision to upstart Eileen Olszewski. Olszewski raises her unblemished mark to 2-0, while Kariya slips to 6-2-1 (1 KO). The most impressive fighter on the untelevised portion of the card was unbeaten prospect Argenis Mendez of San Juan de la Maguana, Dominican Republic. Mendez outclassed and punished Rubin Jacoby over four rounds to secure a unanimous decision. Mendez moves to 2-0, Jacoby drops to 0-3. Any questions or comments? Send them to me at mc_rson@yahoo.com . My website URL is http://www.boxingscene.com/ryansongalia . My Myspace address is http://www.myspace.com/asian_sensation201 . Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ryan Songalia.  |
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