Tomasz Adamek vs. Vinny Maddalone RBR

Sadam Ali vs. Manuel Guzman has just started, and is scheduled for 8.

 

Round 1

Ali controls the distance with a quick jab on the slide-step. He flurries whenever Guzman covers up, which is often. Guzman's offense comes in spurts but gets Ali scrambling every time despite consisting of leaping left hooks and wild haymakers with the right that don't even come near the intended target of Ali's head, and leave Guzman off balance. One of the leaping hooks does clip his chin, but otherwise Ali is landing the much sharper (if not particularly damaging) blows.

10-9 Ali

 

Round 2

Ali is using constant movement, quick on his feet and able to tilt his upper body away from the telegraphed bombs of Guzman. Ali is squandering a bit too much energy with lunging stiff jabs and flurries as he turns Guzman, but doesn't seem to be dipping into his gas tank too much and only has to keep it up another six rounds and change (at most). Guzman starts winging overhand rights at Ali and one grazes his chin. Ali drops his hands and stands still, allowing Guzman to try a few more whacks. Guzman can still barely touch him with only minimal slipping attempt by Ali (with his feet planted).

20-18 Ali

 

Round 3

Guzman is slowly lumbering forward behind a high guard (with what looks to be a very long wingspan completely gone to waste folded up with his elbows at his trunks) and repeatedly throwing a 1-2 that Paul Revere already rode through town to warn Ali about. Ali is getting a bit confident now, and escalating his flurries on the move to protracted power combos while tiptoeing his way inside past the cruising right hand of Guzman. Someone in the crowd starts a chant of "A-LI! A-LI! A-LI!". Guzman's body language show that he's basically resigned to losing a decision here as he continues to follow lackadaisically and throw a few meaningless punches while getting lit up. He has an enormous cut on his left cheek.

30-27 Ali

 

Round 4

Ali swipes at Guzman with a malicious hook thrown with textbook form (knuckles perpendicular to the floor, elbow crooked, power generated from below the hips). Guzman clumsily steps out of the way of the first one but proceeds to get nailed with the punch as Ali backs him up. Ali mixes in some right hands and seems to have Guzman in a spot of trouble. Guzman seems to have decent whiskers as he shakes the stars out of his vision and goes back to spending 85% of his time "pressuring" with his big arms wrapped tightly and protectively against his face and chest, and the other 15% throwing slooooow punches. Ali is just toying with him.

40-36

 

Round 5

Guzman goes down after slipping, trying to follow Ali more quickly than he can coordinate his feet. As soon as he gets up Ali is waiting for him with some vicious body punches that nearly double him over. Guzman is now moving side to side clearly trying to think about his best angle of attack. Every one he tries just winds up with Ali chasing him back out of range with counter flurries. Ali throws in combination almost 99% of the time. He is barely breathing heavy after almost 5 complete rounds now of combos. Ali snakes his body around a right hand, and simply twists around it as Guzman tries to double-pump it...like a manatee maneuvering through unmoving coral reef. Hard right hand over the top by Ali.

50-45

 

Nope. There is one more lead-in.

Next is Patrick Majewski vs. my boy Eddie "Thunder" Caminero.

Majewski is probably well out of his league and this could be every bit as much as a mismatch as the one that's currently on...but Caminero is a local boy (with a very hot wife) and an incredibly nice guy. He brings the action, too. Ever since seeing him fight and meeting him in Boston a couple of years back I've had a soft spot for him.

 

Round 6

Guzman is increasing his efficiency, if not his # of landed shots. He's following and pressuring a bit more intelligently now, showing Ali different looks with a bounce in his knees, feinting a bit, and not throwing as many hopeless stray punches. Ali is still able to defend pretty effortlessly and pick him off with quick little blasts, but seems to meet Guzman halfway with the intensity level and doesn't bother filling in the gaps with his own aggression.

Still a shutout.

 

Round 7

Ali jabs to the body from a low-left stance. Guzman keeps following and weaving with his gloves pinned to his head, basically sacrificing his body and living with the jabs Ali is landing on him. Ali puts his dukes back up as Guzman nearly traps him against the ropes but is able to use his agility and slickness to spin them back out to the middle of the ring where he again starts playing around with his hands at his hips, launching right hands at a 45 degree angle to land between Guzman's eyes and hooking to the body beneath the elbows. Guzman is just a punching bag on a towing line for Ali. He does partially land a big hook near the end of the round, but Ali is not phased.

 

Round 8

Ali pumps out several jabs in a row as Guzman tries to confuse him by faking lurches in from the outside and then pulling back at the last moment to reset and come back from another angle. Ali is pretty easily able to track him and displays some good hand-eye coordination in continuing to accurately whack with the jab no matter which hole the mole pops out of. Guzman is just winging lead power punches to little effect...especially with the right hand. His best moments are when he switches up to the leaping lead left hook (probably because Ali isn't expecting it) but it doesn't have the power to really get Ali's attention. Guzman needs a KO and has just about no chance of scoring one. Realizing this, he starts to shut down and languish on the outside. Ali seems a bit disappointed and tries to taunt him with a string of pecking jabs in the face, and nails him with a hard cross to boot. Guzman wants no part of his embarrassing evening ending with getting KTFO.

80-72 Ali