TVP Sport: Patryk Szymański vs. Karol Welter & Kamil Łaszczyk vs. Ismail Issack Galiatano RBR

Łukasz Wierzbicki vs. Edmond Zefi, 6 rounds @ welterweight

 

"Pretty Boy" Wierzbicki walks out to Hell's Bells by AC/DC to face the Kosovar.

There is then a very strange and long delay after the introductions and opening bell, where after some chatter with the away fighter the referee interrupts Pretty Boy's leaving his corner and then confers with some officials at ringside about...something.

Zefi's team now removes his gloves. Is he...changing his mind and just forfeiting, last-minute?

Wtf is this?

 

So...does that go down as being a No Contest or a KO1 then, I wonder? Since the bell had rung, but Zefi apparently quit before answering it, without a punch being thrown.

Shades of Efe Ajagba vs. Curtis Harper, here..

 

Wierzbicki still jogging in place in his corner, keeping the blood flowing, gloves still on, in case they end up giving the green light to fight on as planned. What a trooper.

 

Holy crap, they're gonna scrap!

Apparently there was a "technical issue" preventing Zefi from starting - problem with his wraps, laces, something? Eh, resolved now, here we go...

 

10-9 Wierzbicki, using a nice southpaw 1-2 down the pipe into the guard to freeze Zefi and set up quick doubled-up right hooks sneaking around it.

 

Edmond doesn't actually seem like that bad a fighter, but he is cursed with stubby little T-rex arms. Łukasz is already taller by 3½″, and his much superior ape index makes it so that connected shots are very lopsided for him even when their work rate is similar.

 

Getting a little messy. Ref letting them...not clinch exactly, but come together and bump chests while swatting each other with tons of rabbit punches. Each man's fist just wraps around the back of the other's head repeatedly as the almost inevitable result of the range they're firing at with both stubbornly insisting on remaining at hooking range but neither willing or able to shorten up their arcs.

 

Clean sweep halfway for Wierzbicki, but this match-up isn't quite making him shine thus far.

 

Things haven't gotten any prettier in there, but Pretty Boy still cruising toward a shutout.

Crowd getting a bit bored with this, though. They're stomping the floor and echoing a Wierzbicki chant hoping to see him kick it up a gear and give them some drama.

 

60-54...you could maybe give Zefi the last round. I'd be shocked if a judge turned in anything closer than 59-55.

 

According to Google Translate, "pięćdziesiąt cztery" is "54" in Polish, and the ring announcer said what sounded very much like it thrice during the scorecard reading ...so yeah, there you go.

UD for Pretty Boy

 

Tomasz Nowicki vs. Juan José Ruiz Prado, 8 rounds @ super welterweight

 

Round 1

Nowicki stays in a low crouch and pesters Ruiz with a series of alternating jabs and high elbow-thrust parries. He is quite noticeably shorter than Ruiz, even when straightened to full height, by a good couple of inches. BoxRec lists him at 5′ 9½″ and Ruiz at 5'9", however, so either one is bull-honky or the other is. Or both. Tame and boring opener, both feeling out and not committing. The crowd is restless from Wierzbicki vs. Zefi and immediately launches into a similar chant as the one they used to egg on the home fighter last time...stomping in a rhythmic "boom-boom, boom-boom-boom" punctuated with "O-lé No-Wick-i!" but he just stays the course.

10-9 Nowicki

 

Round 2

Nowicki may be starting to let the crowd noise get under his skin, as he presses in on Ruiz with a series of shoeshines and backs him onto the ropes. Nowicki hitting virtually all guard, but the ref having an inordinately close look nonetheless, maybe precipitating a Calzaghe vs. Manfredo type of homer stoppage. Moot point, as Nowicki manages to drop Ruiz with a left cross in the neck from an unexpected angle. I'm not sure that actually hurt Ruiz much, but either way he is down and done.

KO2!!