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Griffin Outpoints Harmon by Peter Mooney (July 22, 2002)  Send this page to friend Give us your feedbackIn a meeting between light heavyweight contenders, Montell Griffin dominated Derrick Harmon through twelve rounds earning a unanimous decision Sunday night at the Table Mountain Casino in Friant, California. The official judges scored the fight 117-111, 118-110, 117-112 for the former WBC titlist, the only man to have defeated undisputed champ Roy Jones Jr. Although Harmon was never an unwilling fighter, Griffin continuously drained his spirit with superior movement and initiative. Neither fighter was seriously hurt during the fight that was shown on Sunday Night Fights on Fox Sports Net (in the U.S.). Despite having a significant height and reach disadvantage, Griffin (now 43-3, 28 KOs) featured a sneaky jab that beat Harmon to the punch and kept him offguard. The jab and movement allowed Griffin to control the tempo of the fight. After a fast start to the action, Griffin became more lethargic in the second half of the fight, but still Harmon followed his lead. The tenth round epitomized the fight as Harmon, told by his corner that he was losing by a wide margin, came out fiercely and determined. But by the middle of the round, Griffin had regained control and briefly had Harmon in trouble. Even when Harmon (now 22-3, 10 KOs) outworked Griffin, such as in the seventh round, the eventual winner landed the harder, cleaner shots. Only when Griffin coasted through the twelfth and final round did Harmon give the type of effort that indicated that he had finally conceded. Two former notable foes of Jones, Griffin and Harmon had a lot to fight for following Antonio Tarver's knockout victory over Eric Harding on the undercard of Saturday night's Vernon Forrest-Shane Moseley matchup. After the fight, Griffin was wishful, if not optimistic. "I hope to fight Tarver," he said. "He looked good last night and it'd be a good fight. But he'd be crazy to fight me because he's the no. 1 contender." In the preliminary bout, fringe lightweight contender Steve Quinonez won a technical decision over Jose Luis Juarez after a head butt stopped the fight at the end of round seven. Quinonez made sure that the stoppage did not create any controversy by dominating Juarez and pitching a shutout on two of the judges' scorecards. The decision was unanimous upping the record of Quinonez to 26-6-1. For Questions or Comments E-Mail Peter Mooney at pb_mooney@hotmail.com Peter Mooney's Archives - Click Here |
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