~(L) Zsolt Erdei and
Sergiy Dzinziruk~
With most of the sports
world focused on the NFL Draft, it’s safe to assume that
little or no attention was given to boxing this past weekend.
Unless you looked really hard, the fact that two title fights
took place on Saturday is probably a bit of a surprise. And
while the fight card didn’t have the star power that typically
attracts media attention, I’ve got to admit that both title
bouts were decent fights.
I was personally
motivated to watch the fight between undefeated Zsolt Erdei
(29-0, 17 KOs) and DeAndrey Abron because Erdei is one of
those fighters with a lot of hype overseas and little fandom
in the States. When all was said and done, he retained his WBO
light heavyweight title by means of a very one-sided unanimous
decision.
Erdei dominated this
fight in a similar fashion to Miguel Cotto a few weeks back.
Abron, who was facing an uphill battle in his first fight
against a name opponent, was only able to land a few punches
that actually had the appearance of being effective. On the
other hand, Erdei’s left jab was on target from the moment
that round one started.
Unfortunately for fans,
it was a fight that completely lacked the typical exchanges
that make boxing fun to watch. And for as one-sided as it may
have been, Erdei couldn’t land a knockout blow or even put
together a combination that resulted in a KO; ultimately
winning the fight by a unanimous decision, with all three
judges scoring it 119-109.
It’ll be interesting to
see what path the 33-year-old Erdei takes from this point
forward. He’ll continue to be a relative unknown until
stepping up to the competition that awaits him in the States.
Although he’s held his light heavyweight belt longer than
anyone else in his weight class, people criticize him for
failing to leave Germany, where legitimate competition is
lacking.
Should the individual
title holders come together for a unification of the light
heavyweight division, Erdei could find himself going up
against the likes of Antonio Tarver or Chad Dawson. Either of
the two would be the toughest competition that he’s faced in
his career, and given his lack of big time fights, it’s
somewhat difficult to project how he’d fare against stiffer
competition.
Aside from that, the card
also featured a bout between Sergiy Dzinziruk (35-0, 22 KOs)
and Lukas Konecny (36-3, 18 KO’s). While not as one-sided as
the Erdei affair, Dzinziruk also retained his WBO light
middleweight title by decision.
All in all, it was a
somewhat uneventful boxing card that ultimately left one
giant, unanswered question; that being can Zsolt Erdei conquer
his fear of a legitimate fight?
Post Fight Press Conference Quotes:
WBO light heavyweight champion Zsolt Erdei: "I saved
my energy in this fight. In the twelfth round I stepped on the
gas again because I wanted to finish the fight early but it
didn't work out. I didn't take any risks because my opponent
could hit really hard. This was Zsolt Erdei at 80 percent. I
still could have done a little bit more, but I'm a careful
person. I'm satisfied. This was a technically good
performance."
Erdei's trainer Fritz Sdunek: "Zsolt didn't take
many punches. This is the decisive. All's well that ends well.
Of course, a KO is more spectacular, but unfortunately we
didn't see it. However, Zsolt also shouldn't take any
unnecessary risks."
Challenger DeAndrey Abron: "Zsolt is a great
champion. His Jab is quick and effective. He imposed his
tactics and fought intelligently. He did what a champion must
do."
