"MAUSSA FULL COURT PRESS A WINNER" By George J. Elsasser

Caught the ESPN FNF hoe-down at Corpus Christi town... was a first peek at jr. welters Jeffrey Resto and Carlos Maussa ... expected something of an appetizer to the tonite HBO After-Dark promised entree of the tomorow heavyweights.

Resto enters the favorite ... sort of a poor man's people's choice ... undefeated at 17 wins with 11 knockouts ... Maussa arrives as "opponent" ... also undefeated after 15 trips to the office and 14 via the KO route.

First we get the usual studio speed-talk with Brian & Max battling for the air time ... worse yet, we're gifted with non-stop clips of past punch-outs over five years of doin' the club fights over ESPN2.

But wasn't a complete waste ... Maxie the hysterian tosses us a mea culpa of sorts ... apologizes for overlooking this Resto kid ... says he's on par with the other young jr. welters out there ... guys like them Cotto, Juarez types, etc.

Finally, following a mini-bio, the inevitable moment of truth - opening round Maussa cut over left eye from head butt ... the inadvertent variety ... still, the tough Colombian claims the round - short on power but muy long on energy.

Resto the better technician, has the edge in stanza two, but three and four belong to Maussa the mauler ... swarms over the mostly defensive Resto - now candle five and Resto exploding with both hands late in round.

Then number six ... with Maussa bringing the mail with both hands ... and after two episodes of Resto losing the mouthpiece, he loses something else - and waves off the mismatch to referee Laurence Cole.

Maussa goes to 16-0 with 15 KOs ... Resto drops to 17-1 and 11 KOs ... nice in seeing a 32 year-old "opponent" upsetting the proverbial apple cart.

Post-fite thoughts: Resto's sad outing removes the unearned "prospect" label ... is becoming clear that the "promising" thing has become completely out of hand ... has been tacked on fighters as early as pro debut ... and common with any new face with connections at 2-0 or better. As for Maussa, it's a whole different standard ... Colombian arrives as "opponent" and must prove he's better - maybe no title threat in a deep jr. welter division but is as game as they come.

Semi-final jr. welter prelim saw Lou Duva find Oscar Diaz squeezing by over a game Rogelio Castenada by split decision ... Diaz received much needed help from third hack in the ring Ruben Carrion ... call this one home cooking for the local fighter.

Bout was ugly at times ... both fighters cut from head butts ... but only Castenada penalized a point come critical round eight ... ironically, the alleged head-butt was a phantom action, while Diaz was clearly seen hitting on break as "infraction" was being called ... the counter-punching Rogelio rallied to claim closing stanzas of 9 & 10.

Diaz improves to 16-0, 10 KOs with Castenada dropping to 16-10-2, 6 KOs.

Semper fi,

GEL

9-27-2003

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