Oliver wants Molitor not De Leon next
Hartford’s Mike "Machine Gun" Oliver won a unanimous twelve-round decision at Mohegan Sun Casino Thursday night with over Al "The Quiet" Storm" Seeger. Oliver got off to less than machine-gun like start but eventually his bullets started flying. Seeger, who entered the ring sporting a 27-2 record with 21 KOs, had solid overall boxing skills and good hand speed. He began the bout throwing a lot of punches and often used educated feet to get out of harm’s way. However, more often than Oliver and the crowd would have liked, Seeger used a grab and hold strategy to nullify Oliver’s offense. Seeger was warned numerous times for holding but never had a point taken away, which infuriated Rich Cappiello, Oliver’s promoter. Oliver is now 21-0 with 7 KOs.
Over the first six rounds, Oliver’s best moment was a rapid-fire flurry in the final 10 seconds of the fourth round with Seeger trapped in a neutral corner. Over the final six rounds, Oliver would have many more crowd-pleasing moments. Comparing both halves of the fight, it was as if Oliver’s machine gun was stuck on "safety" mode in the initial six stanzas. In rounds seven through 12, the gun was off safety and Oliver seemed to have an endless supply of bullets.
The turnaround actually got off to an early start at the very end of the sixth round, when Olive landed a pair of right hooks that could be heard from the cheap seats. Although Seeger had looked good early on - he won as many as four of six rounds on one scorecard, and five on another - Oliver proved his dominance over the long haul.
With this victory, Oliver claimed the vacant IBO super bantamweight title, but hecalled out IBF champion Steve Molitor. Someone asked Oliver about the possibility of facing WBO title-holder Daniel Ponce de Leon, who scored a first-round knockout of Rey Bautista on HBO’s "Boxing After Dark" series back in August.
"Forget Ponce de Leon. I want Steve Molitor. He’s ducking me," said Oliver, who added that he would fly to wherever Molitor is fighting to put pressure on Molitor to face him. Oliver earned a #2 IBF ranking after winning a one-sided decision over Cruz Carvajal on a July telecast of ESPN2's "Wednesday Night Fights." Oliver holds the highest ranking in the IBF, as no one is rated at #1, according to the boxing organization’s most current ratings, which were released in mid-October.Â
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