Boxing News : Dunne : Bell Crushes Harmon in Eight

Bell Crushes Harmon in Eight
by Jack Dunne (December 20, 2003)

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Chicago, Illinois -- O'Neil Bell of Atlanta, Georgia improved to 22-1-1 (21 KO's) after stopping Derrick Harmon in the eighth frame of a scheduled twelve round Cruiserweight contest for Bell's NABF title in the main event of ESPN2's Friday Night Fights. Bell, who is scheduled to face WBC champion Wayne Braithwaite early next year, opted to face Harmon in the interim, winning a contest somewhat comparable to an alley mugging. Harmon, fighting out of Las Vegas Nevada, suffered a second loss in a row in a career that stands at 23-5 (11).

It wasn't the Derrick Harmon that the boxing world had come to know during
his career as a light heavyweight title challenger. Harmon, who had built
both a reputation and impressive record as a defensive oriented fighter
spent most of the contest at close quarters against Bell within the confines
of a noticeably small ring, a turn of events that would greatly favor the
bigger and stronger Bell.

After an opening frame that saw Bell landing the more telling shots upstairs
and to the body, Harmon established a pace and rhythm more favorable his
style in rounds two and three. Harmon used the southpaw jab to set up left
hands while effectively moving in and out of range of Bell. The start of
round four saw Bell establish a tempo and distance of primarily infighting
and from that point on Harmon never regained traction.

Midway into round four, after being softened up by several telling right
hands and pined into a corner, Harmon would taste the canvas for the first
time following a series of Bell overhand rights. Bell controlled the flow of
rounds five and six as he bullied Harmon into corners and up against the
ropes before unloading with hooking body shots and uppercuts.

Action in round seven would see Harmon mistakenly drop his guard and take
his attention off of Bell as he complained to referee Gerald Scott about
Bell's excessive use of the elbow. Harmon's complaint had merit, however it
resulted in Bell stepping in with two crushing right hands that floored the
off-guard Harmon for a second time.

One minute would elapse into round eight before Bell had Harmon against the
ropes again. Seconds later a two-punch combination put Harmon down for a
third and final time as his corner threw in the towel and stopped the
contest at 1:41 of round eight.

At the time of the stoppage MaxBoxing had the contest scored 68-63 in favor
of Bell.

Kopitko Mauls Coleman in Mismatch

Vitaliy Kopitko improved to 23-5 (9) after dominating Pat Coleman in a
grotesquely lopsided ten round contest. What was presented as a super
middleweight affair actually took place with Kopitko tipping the scales at
166 lb. and enjoying a ten lb. advantage over Coleman, a career welterweight
who weighed in at 156. Such an advantage that is illegal in most states and
should be illegal in those it currently is not showcased exactly why. With
the loss Coleman's record now stands at 29-10 (20).

Koptitko, fighting out of Kiev in the Ukraine would outland Coleman by a
consistent four to one margin throughout a contest that saw the former
welterweight contender on the canvas in round two, the result of a strait
left hand off the southpaw jab. Kopitko bullied Coleman across the ring in
rounds three and four as the Rockford, Illinois native spent prolonged
periods of each frame covering up to avoid the relentless assaults.

The end of round five would see Coleman enjoy his only success of the
contest as he closed out the frame with a series of right handed counters to
the chin of Kopitko. After a brief stemming of the tide, things went from
bad to worse for Coleman.

Kopitko spent rounds six through ten battering Coleman pillar to post.
Kopitko controlled the action on both the inside and outside while dictating
the pace and distance, dominating Coleman in exchanges upstairs and to the
body. The lopsided affair ended with Kopitko pounding away at the body and
head of a covering Coleman.

Scores and Punchstats:

Kopitko landed 202 of his 866 attempts, connecting at 23 percent. Coleman
connected on just 54 of 293 attempts, landing at an 18 percent clip. All
three judges scored the contest 99-89 in favor of Kopitko, MaxBoxing had it
99-90.