Spattern of the fight had become clear: Gonzalez and Montiel met each other in the center of the ring; they tossed out jabs and hooks upstairs that were mostly blocked by the gloves of the recipient; the crowd booed for more action; and then with the time keeper banging his stick on the canvas to give the ten second warning, the two fighters let their fists go in an attempt to steal the round. The crowd was momentarily appeased by these short spurts of action, but to show their dissatisfaction for the fight, they cheered even louder for the scantily-clad girl moving about the ring in her high heels and black bikini for the half-minute as she displayed the card showing the next round.
With neither fighter willing to throw anything more than a two-punch combination before moving out of the way for the next two rounds, the ninth frame saw some good action. Just as the bell sounded to end the round, Montiel threw a monstrous left hook that landed to the side of his opponent’s face, but not to be outdone, Gonzalez threw and landed a huge left hook of his own upstairs, causing Montiel’s mouthpiece to fly out of place until it came to a rest on the canvas.
Gonzalez got the best of the brief exchanges in the tenth round by pushing Montiel against the ropes and landing quick left and right hooks upstairs. Gonzalez continued to throw his fists so that Montiel was forced to cover up instead of firing back. However, since the leather did not start flying until the round neared its close, Gonzalez was not able to capitalize on his aggressive attack.
As the fight entered into the championship rounds, there seemed to be no sense of urgency by either fighter. When the final bell sounded to end the twelve-round bout, both Gonzalez and Montiel fired off quick combinations of hooks and uppercuts that were mostly blocked by their gloves instead of the desired target. When the “experts” had their say, one judge saw it 115-113 for Montiel, but was overruled by scores of 118-111 and 116-112 for Gonzalez. Jhonny Gonzalez retains his WBO Bantamweight Title and improves his record to 33-4 (28 KO’s), while Montiel drops to 32-2-1 (24 KO’s).
Williams Keeps His "O" by Knocking Out Mathysse
Before he entered his fight on Saturday night as part of the co-featured bout on HBO’s Boxing After Dark, the undefeated Paul Williams said he would fight anyone…anywhere…anytime. The previously undefeated Walter Mathysse had shown that he was equally powerful and dangerous with his fist as his opponent was, proving that Williams was a man of his word. Prior to the sound of the first bell, and with the vacant NABO Welterweight Championship on the line, both warriors wanted to show the boxing world that they were the one who deserved to take the title home.
The taller Williams came out as the more aggressive fighter, firing off right jabs allowing him to set up head-snapping left crosses to his opponent. Mathysse countered successfully by landing left and right hooks upstairs, momentarily stunning Williams as the round drew to a close. When the bell sounded to end the first frame, both fighters were landing great head shots, with Mathyyse getting the better of the exchange. As the two warriors went to their respective corners they gave each other a nod of respect for giving the fans a great first round.
Even though Mathysse appeared to be the more tired fighter, he was the one landing the more telling blows, stunning Williams with hard right and left hooks upstairs. At one point Williams was forced to grab his opponent in order to keep him from landing any more of his leather.
Since Mathysse had been so successful with his aim in the previous round, Williams used more head movement in round three, deciding it would be better to box his opponent rather than try to take him out early. Mathysse kept the pressure on Williams throughout the round, allowing Mathysse to get under the radar of Williams’ longer reach, and to land his short right hooks upstairs. Williams finished off the round by landing two consecutive lefts to the head of his opponent, and possibly the round on the judges’ scorecards.
With Williams using the stick-and-move approach in round four, Mathysse was forced to leap off his feet in order to punish Williams with his leather. On more than one occasion, Williams attempted to hold his opponent, who was landing crushing right hooks and left uppercuts to his head. In the fifth frame, Williams turned the tables on Mathysse, pressing the action, and forcing Mathysse to fight backwards. A monstrous right hook by Williams in the center of the ring twisted the head of Mathysse and put him in the corner for Williams to land more leather on his opponent’s face. However, the Argentine used his experience to dodge Williams’ oncoming onslaught, and countered with scoring blows to the head of his opponent to finish off the round.
A left uppercut by Williams in the first minute of round six landed flush on the side of Mathysse’s head, giving Williams the confidence to become more aggressive, and land consecutive uppercuts to the head of Mathysse before the round came to a close. In the seventh inning, the southpaw Williams became the boxer once again, tossing out two right jabs followed up by a straight left to the head of his opponent. Using the ring to his advantage, Williams wisely moved about the four corners landing right hooks and uppercuts to the head of his opponent before Mathysse could move in close enough to counter.
As the fresher looking fighter, Williams used his momentum from the previous rounds to stalk the Argentine in the eighth round and land crushing right hooks and uppercuts. This forced Mathysse’s midsection open, allowing Williams to followed up his head shots with rib-cracking hooks to Mathysse. As the bell sounded to end the round, Williams landed a two-hook combination, one for his head, and one for his ribs.
The two combatants came out firing to get round nine underway, and each of them landed head-twisting hooks in the center of the ring. As the round progressed, both Mathysse and Williams spent more time than they should had against the ropes, allowing their opponent to land scoring blows upstairs. A toe-to-toe war ensued for the last half of the round, with each fighter landing more than one shot that would have put down any lesser fighter.
Continuing where they left off from the previous round, both fighters came out aggressive, tossing out more punishment to their sides and head. A huge right hook by Williams buckled the knees of Mathysse, but having the heart of a true warrior, Mathysse stayed on his feet and fired back with a swinging left hook which missed his desired target. Sensing the end was near for Mathysse, who was now covering up in the neutral corner, Williams landed four consecutive and crushing hooks to the left side of his opponent’s body. A huge right hook upstairs was the final shot that referee Jack Reese allowed Williams to land, and he stepped in at 1:56 of round ten to save Mathyyse from any further punishment by Williams. Mathysse loses his first professional fight dropping to a record of 25-1 (24 KO’s), while Williams captures the NABO 147-pound title and improves his record to 29-0 (21 KO’s). Afterwards, promoter Dan Goossen told reporters that fellow welterweight Antonio Margarito is a fight both Goossen and Williams are interested in making.
M
Send questions and comments to: DNick@BoxingTalk.com
