Malignaggi Outclasses Diaz In Rematch

Paulie Malignaggi stayed true to his word. He said he had a "magic trick" in store for Juan Diaz. It seemed that the game plan was to provide Diaz with a target he thought he could hit. Then, hit Diaz with the jab, keep him turning and do not fight as much in close quarters like the first encounter. Paulie executed the strategy perfectly. He successfully utilized his boxing skills more this time around and the judges scored the fight fairly. All three official ringside judges scored the bout 116-111 for Malignaggi. I had it scored slightly better for Malignaggi at 117-110.

From the 1st round, Malignaggi's hand and foot speed bothered Diaz. Malignaggi used his superior boxing skills and jabbed Diaz repeatedly. Then, Malignaggi connected with a clean overhand right. Diaz landed a left hook to the head in the 2nd round, but Malignaggi was doing an excellent job of controlling distance. His feints got Diaz off his game, and he connected again with a clean right. Malignaggi was boxing beautifully, but Diaz hurt himself by not throwing the jab enough to work his way into close range. However, Diaz did a better job during the exchanges in the 3rd round, connecting with left hooks and an overhand right. Yet, Malignaggi was getting his punches off first. Diaz did not move his head well and Malignaggi continued to strike him with his quick, accurate jab.

In the 5th round, Diaz did manage to get close and land some body shots. Diaz hit Malignaggi with an overhand right and left hook. At this point, it was Diaz's best round. Diaz started to work his jab in the 6th round. He was able to nail Malignaggi with a left hook to the body and follow it with a right to the head. Malignaggi fired back. He hit Diaz with a right uppercut in close quarters and followed it with a left hook. Subsequently, Diaz was stunned when Malignaggi unleashed another right uppercut. Malignaggi went back to boxing more in the 7th round, while Diaz's punch output dropped. Diaz appeared to suffer a cut above his left eye in the 8th round. Malignaggi was unrelenting and connected with right uppercuts and overhand rights.

In the 9th round, Malignaggi really worked his jab efficiently. Diaz could not get his punches off. Malignaggi kept snapping the jab and in the 10th round, landed an overhand right that knocked Diaz off balance. Apparently, Diaz's glove touched the canvas and the referee ruled it a knockdown. In the 11th round, Malignaggi was still effectively using the jab to control range, but Diaz started to land his jab and some left hooks.

Diaz got much closer in the 12th round and landed an overhand right. Diaz was aggressive and outworked Malignaggi in the last round. Diaz got the better of the exchanges when Malignaggi chose to battle more. However, Malignaggi did enough to win the fight.

When Malignaggi boxed on the outside, Diaz could not touch him. With little head movement and a lack of an operative jab, Diaz was thoroughly outclassed. At times, Diaz was successful in close range when Malignaggi selected to stand and trade with him. Still, Malignaggi fought well in close quarters.

After the fight, Malignaggi called out Juan Manuel Marquez and stated that the winner could fight Ricky Hatton. Malignaggi also said that he is willing to travel to England for a rematch with Hatton. Malignaggi is a very slick boxer, who would be a favorite against Marquez should the fight take place. Marquez has shown problems when he's faced boxers in the past, most notably against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in his previous fight. Freddie Norwood and Chris John were also able to outbox Marquez easily. Malignaggi could be victorious in a rematch with Hatton, if he executes his fight strategy the way he did against Diaz. Diaz left the ring and did not conduct an interview with HBO's Max Kellerman.

Bradley Impressively Outpoints Peterson; Darchinyan KO's Rojas

In what may have been his best performance as a professional fighter, Timothy "Desert Storm" Bradley (25-0, 11 KO's) fought a sensational fight and took a 12 round unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Lamont Peterson (27-1, 13 KO's). With the victory, Bradley retained his WBO Junior Welterweight title. The official judges scored the bout 118-110, 119-108 and 120-107. I had the fight scored 119-108 for Bradley as well.

In the 1st round, Peterson displayed a strong body attack and backed Bradley up with an effective jab. Bradley got better as the round went on, and connected with a hard left hook to the body. Then, Bradley landed a solid right on Peterson's chin. Bradley timed the punch perfectly because he threw it right over Peterson's jab as he was bringing his left hand back.

In round two, Bradley started where he left off in the first round. He was timing Peterson and connected with a big right hand. Then, Bradley scored with a hard left hook to the body and landed a vicious left uppercut. Bradley was throwing and landing his combinations beautifully. All of the punches that hit Peterson were coming off his jab. When he finished throwing a combination, Bradley fired the jab again to make sure Peterson was not in range to hit him.

Peterson was not moving well laterally in the 3rd round and Bradley made him pay. He hit Peterson with a volume of rights and lefts to the body. After that, Bradley dropped Peterson with a solid overhand right that landed above Peterson's left ear. However, Peterson would come back strong. As they were exchanging a series of blows, Peterson started to hurt Bradley with his body punches. Bradley was momentarily stunned by a left hook to the body. In a very competitive 4th round, both fighters continued to attack the body furiously. Bradley backed up Peterson when he landed a sharp, right uppercut. As the bell sounded to end round four, Bradley connected with a left hook.

Bradley is a very durable junior welterweight, and showed it when he absorbed a flush right hand from Peterson in the 5th round. However, Bradley landed more meaningful punches and was able to place his shots more efficiently than Peterson. In round six, Peterson continued to fight bravely, but Bradley was hitting him with some real crisp combinations.

Bradley proved that he was the more technically sound fighter as he continued to beat Peterson to the punch in the 7th and 8th rounds. Bradley repeatedly utilized a well-timed jab and skillfully moved around the ring. He continued to finish his combinations with jabs or hooks. When Peterson was in close range, Bradley would catch him with overhand rights. Bradley kept Peterson turning, and rarely stayed in his range to be countered. Peterson wanted to turn the fight into a brawl, but Bradley was smart. He just kept boxing Peterson, and would not let him get set to land meaningful punches.

As the fight moved into the 10th round, Bradley had the higher and more thriving work rate. When Peterson's punch output dropped, it enabled Bradley to connect with a vicious left hook. Bradley did a nice job of mixing up his combinations to the body, and then attacking Peterson's head. Bradley preferred to box, but when he was hit, he aggressively fought back. Showing no fear when exchanging blows, Bradley just kept punching and slowed Peterson with body shots.

Peterson came out ferociously in the 12th round, but Bradley remained poised and a step ahead of him. As he did for most of the fight, Bradley unleashed his punches when he was at a safe distance from Peterson. However, knowing it was his last opportunity to pull out a win, Peterson applied enormous pressure, which resulted in both men slugging it out until the bell rang to end the fight.

After his dominating performance, Bradley has some options at 140 lbs. Bradley could face Amir Khan, who just kayoed Dmitriy Salita in the 1st round. Another opponent could be Paulie Malignaggi, since he outpointed Juan Diaz over 12 rounds convincingly in their rematch. Juan Urango, Devon Alexander, Marcos Maidana and even Ricky Hatton present more possibilities. Timothy Bradley has clearly improved with each fight and would be a handful for any future challenger.



Also, on the undercard, 33 year old Vic "The Raging Bull" Darchinyan (33-2-1, 27 KO's) scored a devastating 2nd round knockout over Tomas Rojas (32-12-1, 22 KO's). With the victory, Darchinyan retained his WBA & WBC super flyweight titles.

Again, Darchinyan appeared to have some trouble with a tall, rangy fighter. In the 1st round, Darchinyan started a bit slow. Rojas connected with a solid overhand left that surprised Darchinyan. Rojas, a southpaw as well, was trying to control range with his right jab. Darchinyan answered with a lunging right hook to Rojas' head. Darchinyan also hit Rojas with a left uppercut and followed it with a strong left to the body. Then, in the 2nd round, Darchinyan missed a left uppercut, but landed a clean overhand left to Rojas' face. Next, Rojas made a gesture with his gloves, signaling Darchinyan to keep bringing it. Well, with the very next punch, Darchinyan delivered the knockout blow. Rojas got nailed with a crushing left that snapped his head back and dropped him to the canvas. The time of the knockout was 2:54.

After the fight, Darchinyan noted that he would like to avenge his only professional losses to Nonito Donaire and Joseph Agbeko. First, he would like a bout with Donaire, but Donaire needs to win his upcoming bout in February against Gerson Guerrero. If Donaire is successful, expect a possible match up in the middle-end of 2010.

Klitschko Continues Dominance

Vitali Klitschko has emerged victorious again, as he took a one-sided, 12 round unanimous decision victory over Kevin Johnson. The official judges scored the bout 120-108 twice and 119-109. With the win, Klitschko improved to 39-2, 37 KO's. Since 2000, Klitschko has won 12 of 13 bouts, with the only loss coming against Lennox Lewis (TKO 6), when he suffered a severe cut above his left eye and the bout was stopped. Kevin Johnson falls to (22-1-1, 9 KO's).

In the 1st round, Klitschko pressed forward and threw a blinding left jab. For the duration of the fight, Johnson was hesistant to let his hands go. Johnson is known to be a defensive fighter, but Klitschko still imposed his will on him. Klitschko connected with a right hand lead as Johnson was leaning back against the ropes. In the 2nd round, Johnson caught Klitschko with a right, but Klitschko continued to pop his jab. Then, Klitschko landed a right hand and followed it with left hook leads. He also hit Johnson with right hands behind the jab.

Moving ahead to the 6th round, Klitschko landed a hard right to the body and continued to get his punches off first. Johnson was trying to dodge many of Klitschko's punches, and could not land many of his own. In the 9th round, Klitschko caught Johnson again with the overhand right. Heading into the 11th round, Klitschko was in total control of the fight. He was dominating Johnson with the jab and firing rights. Klitschko's height and reach advantage was too much for Johnson to overcome. Johnson lacked a solid offensive output, which led Klitschko to dominate the fight.

Who will challenge Vitali next? Will he ever be defeated again? Is there anyone out there, who poses a dangerous risk to him? Fans and sports betting entities alike are dying to find out. Odlanier Solis could be Vitali Klitschko's next opponent. Solis is 15-0, 11 KO's and has 231 amateur fights to his credit. Solis is a six-time Cuban National Champion (1999-2004). In 2004, Solis won Olympic gold in the heavyweight division in Athens, Greece. Solis is listed at 6' 1" inches tall with a 73" inch reach. However, Klitschko is 6' 7 1/2" inches tall with an 80" inch reach advantage. How would Solis plan to battle Klitschko?