Middleweight Kelly Pavlik entertained the hometown
folks of Youngstown, Ohio as he battered outgunned
Lenord Pierre over three stanzas before turning out
the lights in candle four.
The undefeated Pavlik enjoyed a stacked deck in
size, reach advantage, and punching power over a
game Pierre that repeatedly walked into punishing
counters from the opening bell.
The handwriting on the proverbial wall quickly
surfaced in stanza one with Pierre wobbled from a
left hook and later in the round is dropped courtesy
of a right hand.
Then, stanza two with my scratch pad scribble noting
the Haitian gamer not being long for the fight -
while he survives, he’s visibly hurt and on wobbly
underpinnings - the beat continues into stanza three
- and only question left is when to pull the plug
before life support enters the picture.
Now round four with both at close quarters and
Pierre trying to pull a rabbit out of the hat -
starts a left-hook but is beaten by the quicker
Pavlik and down again - referee in charge Randy
Jarvis waves it off without a count at 46 seconds
mark.
Post scripts: Pavlik (29-0, 26 KO) ~ Paperwork quite
impressive; tall middle-super middle at 6-3 and
young at age 24. Toss in holder of NABF bauble, and
it gets better with the Bob Arum property currently
intact. Flip side: Most scalps taken from some
pugilistic Potter’s field of no-names. Not exactly a
sharpshooter with the physical advantages - and the
chinny-chin-chin not as yet tested. For now, we’re
talking caveat emptor until the rest of the story.
Pierre (18-3, 13 KO) ~ find
it unsettling when an import is relocated up at
Catskill Mountain country, and once the early
promise fades is treated more as pugilistic cannon
fodder. Think the brain trust should lighten up the
load a bit. The age 27 Pierre can still produce, but
only if facing club fight foes of similar skills.
Referee Randy Jarvis ~ Have
seen worse … best move was in timely stoppage when
reacting to the Pierre body language before CPR
became an issue.
………………………………..........................................................................
Co-feature an eight round affair with past
"Contender" sitcom junior middleweight Ahmed
Kaddour earning split decision win over veteran club
fight level Jesus Valverde.
Kaddour opened the quicker in stanza one with short
right hands finding the target - problem was
Valverde handled the incoming without ill effects -
and so it went the full eight candles.
Official ballots saw Kaddour up 77-75 on two entries
and Valverde 77-75 on the other - my unofficial saw
it Valverde 5-3 in rounds and 77-75 using points
system.
Referee Jim Villers ~ A single word sums up this
buffoon: Boring.
Commentators: The Versus duo of Bob Papa and Wally
Mathews is simple enough to describe; Papa easy on
the ears, Mathews minor leaguer - post fight ring
interview with Pavlik included unneeded invite to
Bob Arum for a what’s next for winner Pavlik. Ugh!
GEL -
