Friday night at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas,
Heavyweights Dominic “Southern Disaster” Guinn (25-2-1-18 KO’s) and Friday
“The 13th” Ahunanya (20-3-2-11 KO’s) faced each other in what may have been
one of the least entertaining fights I’ve seen on FNF—and I’ve seen a few.
Neither fighter did enough to win a single round convincingly. In the end,
after ten boring rounds, the Judges scored 97-93 and 95-95 twice,
rendering it a Majority Draw.
After rubbing my eyes and several yawns, I tallied up my scorecard. Forget
about the ten-point-must system in scoring, I had six of ten rounds even
at 9-9, because I didn’t think either guy won those rounds. Guinn won the
second and third rounds and Ahunanya won the fourth and eighth rounds. I
also had it a Draw, but by a score of 92-92.
Dominic Guinn gave the impression that he would rather be doing something
else for a living.
Guinn didn’t throw many punches, forget about combinations, he was quick
to clinch and he was falling forward after jabbing and never showed any
sign of a killer instinct. THIS is the guy we were all so high on just two
short years ago.
Guinn rose to fame in June of 2003, when he came out of nowhere and TKO’d
Michael Grant in the seventh round. Grant was 38-2 at the time and looked
like a man who didn’t want to fight anymore. Guinn proved too much for the
gigantic Grant to handle and became a household name among hardcore fight
fans with an open eye to ANY new blood at HW who could put on a good show.
Guinn was not very big for a HW but he showed good fundamentals and a
desire to win.
Exactly three months later, Guinn returned to the ring and faced fellow
Prospect, Duncan Dokiwari (22-1). Guinn gave a spirited performance
against a game opponent and won the fight by Unanimous Decision.
Afterwards, fans were speaking highly about Guinn, the new sliver of
excitement in an otherwise dull division.
Two months later, instead of moving up, Guinn moved backwards and took on
a soft opponent in Derrick Banks, who had lost four of his last five and
had a record of 20-10 coming into the fight. Banks was floored in the
first round but lasted the full ten rounds and though Guinn won by UD, his
stock was
going down. It was not an exciting fight.
In March of 2004, Guinn stepped up and faced Monte Barrett (29-3) in front
of his hometown fans in Arkansas. He lost by Split Decision. Barrett
landed the cleaner punches and outworked Guinn all night. The most obvious
thing in that fight was Guinn’s reluctance to mix it up. He had the look
of a guy who wasn’t sure of himself.
With wilting self-esteem, Guinn took on Phil Jackson (not the Basketball
coach) in July 2004, who was 44-12 coming in. Guinn won by KO in the first
round. That result may have helped Guinn’s ego but the fight did nothing
to prepare him for his next bout.
In December of 2004, Guinn faced Serguei Lyakhovich (21-10) and lost by UD
in a fight dominated by Lyakhovich, who outworked Guinn all night. Fading
was the notion that Guinn was going to be a major player in the HW division.
Guinn’s lackluster performance reminded me of Michael Grant’s efforts in
their fight back in 2003.
Flash forward to the present, April 22nd of 2005. Guinn faced Friday
Ahunanya , a very limited opponent that does almost everything wrong, does
not jab, never goes to the body, is slow, plodding and generally a lousy
fighter that must’ve beaten up on the dregs of the division to get his 20
wins. All Guinn had to do was be busy and he’d have won the fight easily
but—Guinn was about as lethargic as a sloth, never throwing more than
around 30 punches per round and only landing a fraction of that.
Guinn looked like he forgot how to fight. He would jab and fall forward,
allowing himself to get locked up in clinches every time they got close.
It was painful to watch. The best part of this fight was when it was over.
Considering his last performance, it’s clear that Dominic Guinn no longer
has the desire to fight for a living. He talked a good game before the
fight but never translated any of that talk into action when it was time
to fight. His last performance was a “Disaster.” He seems like a nice guy
though and I wish him well and hope he finds an occupation that suits him.
