Williams Secures Top Spot/Khurtsidze Ploughs Through Douglas/Harrison Defeats Guerrero
By Jason Pribila, live from ringside: A Special Edition of ShoBox took place at the Sands Casino and Resort in Bethlehem, USA on Saturday Night. The main event was a showcase fight in which we all expected Julian “J Rock” Williams to defeat little known Marcello Matano to secure a mandatory title shot. What we did not expect was for that fight to feel like a walk-out bout after fans witnessed the brutal slug-fest between Antoine Douglas and late replacement Avtandil Khurtzidze.
In the main event of the evening, Williams entered the ring with the luxury of knowing that his opponent was the only thing between him and the world title shot he so dearly covets. If there were any thoughts that “J Rock” may be over-looking his opponent they should have been erased if he was made aware of the results of the previous bout.
At Thursday’s press conference Matano expressed how happy he was to display his skills in America. He fought as if he wanted to stick around for a while. He entered the ring as an underdog who was giving up a big height and reach advantage, but that did not deter him in the early going.
Williams seemed to be a little stiff from the opening bell. He was having trouble shutting off the ring, and he was caught by some of the punches that were coming at him from awkward angles.
The fight was at its midway point and just when it felt like we were going to have to pay closer attention to the scoring of each round, Williams had seemed to figure out his opponent. He began deflating Matano’s tires by landing stiff jabs to his midsection.
A suddenly stationary Matano proved to be no match. Williams stepped on the gas and closed the show with style. He landed an outstanding 38 of 50 power punches (78%) in the final round. With Matano unable to protect himself, referee Gary Rosato called an end to the bout at 2:24 in Round 7.
Following the bout Williams called out Jermall Charlo, who currently holds the belt that Williams is in position to fight for next. Willliams, however, has his doubts. He said Charlo is already using the excuse of making the 154 lb. limit.
At a time when the lineal middleweight championship is being contested 1 lb. north of junior middleweight, Williams will no doubt be headlining a card with a lot at stake his next time in the ring.
When this fight card was announced Antoine Douglas (19-1-1, 13 KO) was supposed to face former world titlist Sam Soliman. When Soliman withdrew, Avtandil Khurtsidze (32-2-2, 21 KO) stepped in as a late replacement. That twist of fate drastically impacted Douglas’ short term goal of fighting for a title at the end of the year, however, only time will tell how the punishment Douglas absorbed will impact his longevity in the sport.
When I saw both fighters up close at Thursday’s press conference it appeared as if a boy was about to fight a man. However, when they stood next to each other it appeared as if the height and reach advantage owned by Douglas would be enough to keep him out of harm’s way.
From the opening bell Khurtsidze seemed determined to walk thru whatever Douglas would throw at him in order to get on the inside. Wearing black shorts and black boots, Khurtsidze fought behind high guard as if he learned his technique from studying Mike Tyson’s approach in “Punchout”.
Khurtsidze was doing nothing short of bullying Douglas over the first three frames. Douglas was cut in the second round (headbutt) and found himself draped over the second rope in the third round courtesy of a left hook. Douglas appeared to be in over his head, and he was about to get blown out.
Douglas found himself down by four points after three rounds. However, he began round four with what seemed to be a clear head and a newfound mindset of what he had to do.
Suddenly he was catching Khurtsidze on his way in. Douglas was landing lead hooks off Khurtisidze’s forehead and using his legs to avoid getting trapped. Khurtsidze continued to come forward, but he was walking in a straight line. Douglas’ shots were lifting his foe’s feet off the ground, but nothing would deter him from coming forward.
Round six began with the best two way action of the fight. Douglas was landing the cleaner punches, but again Khurtsidze was content to eat two to land one. The fact he was still there after being hit cleanly again seemed to sap some confidence from Douglas.
Lightning struck again in round seven when a left hook sent Douglas down to the canvas. This time Khurtsidze seemed determined to get a stoppage. He threw a barrage of punches reminiscent of Mike Jones vs Soto-Karass I. Khurtsidze looked at Benji Estevez to intervene, but the action continued. Douglas remained on his feet long enough to absorb another flurry at the end of a brutal round.
At that point, I felt it was time for Douglas’ team to save Douglas from himself. The fight had been beaten from him. He had taken a lot of punishment and seemed to be behind on the cards. Sometimes cornermen need to look at the demeanor of a fighter, and if they would have they would have seen a fighter who had been brave enough on this evening.
The pace slowed in the eighth as each fighter needed a breather. However, Douglas was unable to mount any type of rally.
In round 9 Khurtsidze again cornered Douglas against the ropes. At this point he was not only beating Douglas, but he began talking to him while he was doing it. Douglas walked to his corner with nothing left. Yet again, his brave corner sent him back out for more.
When Douglas’ first move in the round was to step back toward the ropes, it was a signal to Khurtsidze that the kid had nothing left. Another left hook caused Douglas’ arms to drop. The final flurry was finally enough for Estevez to step in and stop the bout at 0:33 or Round 10.
Douglas sat on a stool and did not move for several moments, however, this did not deter Showtime from sticking a microphone in front of him. I felt that this was tasteless, as at best Douglas was concussed. Why not seek out the fighter who had a career best win. This would buy Douglas more time to see if he was at least able to stand up prior to being interviewed.
Khurtsizde did not leave the ring unscathed. He absorbed 173 power punches, many of which landed to his skull. These were punches throw by a taller fighter who had leverage on many of those blows.
This was as violent of a fight that I’ve ever witnessed from ringside. Khurtsizde landed 841 punches of which 813 were considered power punches. Many of those punches landed during and after a 7th round that should have been the final round of the fight.
The action was breath-taking. In a perfect world, each fighter will be in store for big money fights in the future. However, the boxing world is often cruel, and we will have to wait to see how much each fighter left inside of the Bethlehem ring this evening.
In the televised opener Tony Harrison (23-1, 19 KO) started fast and sent Fernando Guerrero (28-4, 20 KO) to the canvas three times before stopping him in a cross-roads bout contested at junior middleweight.
Harrison stalked Guerrero from the opening bell. He walked forward with his guard held high and firing one-twos at a mobile Guerrero. When Guerrero would run out of real estate he found that he had no answer for Harrison’s power.
Harrison scored a knockdown in the second round and looked to finish Guerrero early in the third. Guerrero escaped with a bloody nose an used his legs to avoid more punishment.
At that point in the fight I began to write Guerrero’s obituary. Suddenly he began coming forward landing straight lefts to Harrison’s body. Harrison’s offense was suddenly in neutral and Guerrero won a round on al three judges’ cards.
Harrison regained momentum at the end of a hotly contested fifth round. Each fighter had their moments, but when they traded Harrison’s straight punches beat Guerrero’s wide punches to the mark.
The sand began to run out of the hour glass for Guerrero when he again found himself pinned against the ropes. Harrison punished Guerrero behind a flurry of punches, the last of which was a straight left that sent Guerrero to the canvas. Guerrero rose and tried to continue, but when he found himself trapped in the neutral corner he squatted to the canvas to avoid taking any more punishment.
Referee Gary Rosato waved off the bout at 1:34 of Round 6.
At the time of the stoppage Harrison landed 109 of 314 punches (35%) of which 57 of 146 (39%) were Power Punches. Guerrero landed only 51 of 188 (27%) of which 33 of 89 (37%) were power punches.
Jason Pribila is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He could be reached for questions or comments at pribs2000@gmail.com or followed on twitter.com @PribsBoxing
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