The ESPN FNF tour touched down at the boardwalk of beauties and bag ladies of Atlantic City, N.J. for an evening of rock-‘em-sock-’em club fight heavyweight action. Semi-final bout featured willing but limited in skills undefeated Brain Minto (17-0, 10 KO) facing "tough man" talent Vinny Maddalone (21-1-1, 15 KO) … and when the smoke cleared at 32 seconds of round ten it was Minto standing and Maddalone resting. But for the rest of the story, what we got was a swing and sway affair with the walk-in Maddalone the stronger of the two early on and he drops Minto in opening stanza … luckily for the Pennsylvania fighter it was late in the round. Then candle two and Minto showing good movement behind the jab and counter left hooks … then Maddalone time in round three … and that is how it went for the most part. Come stanza seven it’s Minto busting Maddalone up while scoring with both hands that saw the Queens, N.Y. mauler cut around both eyes … Then the "championship" rounds of 8-9 belonged to Maddalone who entered candle 10 leading on all cards. But surprise of surprises comes at 32 seconds mark with both firing right hands that miss … but it was Minto backing the missed right with a text-book short but explosive left hook that left Maddalone for the sweeper. Poist Scripts: Minto continues unbeaten with 15 wins and 11 scalps … game enough, showed heart and good condition in a very active duel … decent movement but also available when becoming careless on occasion. Chin questionable. Good ESPN heavyweight in talent.                       Maddalone strong, willing, tough … translates to "tough man contest" level in skills department. No straps with trinkets out there if he continues but will always entertain them beer-guzzling fans in attendance.                       Referee Allan Huggins was refreshing pleasure when compared to most recent third man theme types. ………………………………..........................................................................         An old sitcom once went "Welcome Back Kotter" … and last noche could well have been titled "Welcome Back Oleg" when Oleg Maskaev returned from the pugilistic stud pasture with a strong winning performance over an unbeaten Nigerian Olympian David Defiagbon. Opening four candles were closely contested although Maskaev was a bit more aggressive … then the halfway mark of stanza six … a solid counter right hand and Defiagbon is down … beats the count but is all Oleg from then on. Final tallies went Maskaev 98-92, 96-93 and Defiagbon 95-94 … and you got to wonder about that ballot. Post Scripts: Maskaev ~ Yes, he turned in a superb performance … the body looked solid at 240 and the performance was silky smooth. Still, at age 35, and the memory of past KO losses linger … the rest of the story is still on hold.                     Defiagbon ~ A tall one at 6’ 5" … uses the jab and tries with the right hand but still has look of amateur in technique. Not a big puncher and while he displayed courage he also showed questionable chin construction.                    Referee for the main event was "yesterday" annoyance Frank Cappuccino. Question here is a simple "Why?" GEL   7-23-2004   Brought to you by Saratogamist copyright 2001-2004