The
Ruslin Provodnikov-David Torres main event mismatch saw the favored Russian
tossing a shutout entering stanza six when it was stopped at 2:53 mark with
Torres down for second time in the round.
The
proverbial handwriting on the wall was evident during opening stanza uno,
when late in the round Torres hit the deck courtesy of Provodnikov right
hand/left hook combination.
Torres
then hung tough albeit on short end over stanzas two through five - then
came finis with Provodnikov dropping his prey twice - first a right hand
capping a flurry and again with right hand/ left hook.
Post
Scripts: Provodnikov: (21-1, 14 KOs) ~ age 28 - entertaining action club
fighter but short of title timber material if stepping up another level.
Torres:
(21-3-2, 13 KO) ~ age 33 - transplanted Mexican gave it an early shot but
age clearly slowed him to a walk - was never once competitive.
.....................................................................................................
Ji-Hoon Kim bests Yakabu Amido in thriller...
The Kim-Amidu
semi-final thriller stole the show in fistic action that never once lost a
step over ten stanzas of give and take.
The South
Korean with the "Volcano" sobriquet had the edge in volume while the
transplanted Ghanian, with the "Black Mamba" handle caught the eye with a
more disciplined counter punching approach.
The back
and forth exchanges without a single knockdown, reminded all, those in
attendance and us watching over the magic lantern that a knockdown here and
there is merely icing on the cake.
Official
scoring went unanimous Kim 96-94, 98-92, 97-93 - my unofficial had it Kim
96-95 in points and 5-4-1 under round by round method.
Post
Scripts: Ji-Hoon Kim (23-7, 18 KOs) ~ age 25 - exciting fighter as is - but
would help if working on technical skills before the popularity finds him
dancing with the next step talent.
Yakabu
Amidu (20-4-1, 18 KOs) - age 27 - fought the other guy's fight instead of
using stick, move, counter approach more than battling in the trenches ala
crowd pleaser.
GEL -
