Dominick Gunn vs. Junior Fa tangle in Temecula

It’s the ‘ol classic up and coming contender vs. the experienced veteran. If there was ever a matchup between a blast from the past and the prospect looking to make some noise then this fight is it.

Undefeated, Zew Zealand heavyweight prospect Junior Fa (17-0, 10 KO’s) will face longtime heavyweight contender Dominick Guinn (37-12-1, 26 KO’s). The two big boys will face each other on the undercard of the Top Rank Boxing promoted IBF world lightweight fight between champion Richard Commey and former champion Ray Beltran on Friday, June 28 in Temecula, California on ESPN.

One glaring fact is that Guinn comes up short in many categories used to measure a fighter. Compared to Fa, Guinn is shorter, has less reach, has a dozen losses and is 15 years older. However, he does have some significant stats in the asset column. Despite being 44-years old in a young man’s game, Guinn brings a wealth of experience compared to the relatively untested Fa. Guinn, who goes by the moniker “The Southern Disaster”, has 20 more wins than Fa and has 9 more knockouts than Fa has had fights. Experience? 1-0 Guinn!

It should be noted that Guinn, in almost 2-decades of facing some very good fighters, contenders and champions, has never been stopped and sports an impressive list of opponents on his resume.

While Guinn will the first name of note on Fa’s ledger, Guinn has faced the likes of James Toney, Monte Barrett, Eddie Chambers, Audley Harrison, Hughie Fury, Tomasz Adamek and Siahei Liakovich, among others. Fa may have Guinn beat in a lot of categories but experience isn’t one of them and the Hot Springs, Arkansas-born Guinn hopes that will be the difference in the fight.

While Guinn has lost 6 of his last 10, to be fair, 4 of them were undefeated prospects, 1 was a former world champion and 1 was a world title contender; he isn’t losing soft here. And, he comes into the bout off 2 straight wins. Guinn also knows that losses at his age are a huge roadblock to continuing, but a win sets up some interesting opportunities. Whatever Guinn has left, he’ll be bringing it on fight night and we could have an interesting tussle on our hands here.

For Fa, he doesn’t have the name checks on his record that Guinn does, but he hasn’t learned how to lose yet and he sees this fight as a step towards some big things down the line. ESPN? A former contender who has faced some very good fighters? On the big ESPN/Top Rank stage? One might day this is Fa’s audition for the big dance.

In a recent interview, Fa made it clear that he plans to keep it simple, stay on point and show that he is indeed ready for Guinn and beyond.

“I just need to keep myself tidy and do all the small things right”, said Fa. “He is very experienced”, he said, “he brings a lot of experience because he has seen a lot of different styles”.

And, while Fa isn’t looking past Guinn, he also spoke of moving on to bigger and better things down the road so one gets the impression he is pretty sure Guinn won’t be mounting any comebacks off of his name.

“I’ve got myself physically fit and mentally fit to go 10 rounds”, he said. “In a couple of years there will be much more exciting fights and I can’t wait for that”, he said. “I’m ready for whoever”.