SHARKIE'S MACHINE JAN 7, 2002

Happy New Year Boxing Fans!

 Leonard Dorin vs. Raul Balbi may end up being the fight of the year. It felt like Morales vs. Barrera in all its intensity. For Boxing fans, it’s a great way to start the New Year. Amazingly, with all the talent out there in the world, quality match ups are rare. Between all those managers and crooked promoters seeking to protect their fighters from potential loses, we the fans usually see uncompetitive fights that are less than entertaining. They all want the big contracts and deals with the HBO’s, Showtime’s and Pay-Per-View. Then, there are the exceptional fighters who are exciting to watch, win or lose. You always get your money’s worth with Dorin, who makes every fight he’s in a memorable experience. Getting two fighters of that caliber in the same ring is a joy to see. Leonard Dorin of Romania came to win and Raul Balbi of Argentina is a warrior who came to defend his title like a true champion should.

Raul Balbi (48-4-1-33 KO’s) Vs. Leonard Dorin (19-0-0-7 KO’s)

From the opening bell, this was a vicious battle between two sluggers with complimentary Boxing styles. Dorin is a come-forward type who throws volumes of power punches that break past even the best defense due to the quantity of incoming shots. Balbi is versatile, good on the inside, good on the outside. Confidently tenacious, Balbi took the fight to Dorin as much as he got back. They brought lots of fury to the table. If you didn’t know better, you might think they were fighting for their lives. Yet, they showed good sportsmanship between rounds, as they’d often touch gloves in respect.

Dorin seemed to be getting off the more telling shots in the first round. In the second and third rounds, Balbi poured the power and speed on and won those rounds. In the fourth, Dorin delivers a clean left hook during a flurry of punches that hurt Balbi, who responded with combinations of his own which cut open Dorin’s skin above both eyes. At the end of that round, Dorin’s face was a bloody mess. Had to give that round to Balbi for inflicting the most obvious pain.

In the fifth, Dorin gets the better shots in and cuts Balbi (who’s never been cut in a fight before) above his eye. The cuts over Dorin’s eyes were dripping blood all over and the doctor visited his corner to check him out before the start of the sixth round. Luckily Dorin had Bob Miller as his cut-man, who managed the cut well enough to keep Dorin from being TKO’d. For a moment, it seemed the fight might be stopped because of Dorin’s cut eyelids. Dorin entered the sixth round with a sense of urgency I assumed although you can’t ever be sure with Dorin since he seems always urgent to win his fights. He looked about as hurried as when he was pummeling Emanuel Burton in a previous fight.

In the sixth, Balbi slipped and fell on the Miller emblem at center ring. He got up and got the better of Dorin who then got some big shots in on him. It was a very hard round to score. I called it even.

By the seventh round, HBO showed Harold Lederman’s scorecard with Balbi winning 5-1. I had it 4-3 for Balbi at that point. Balbi slipped again on the Miller logo. They exchange flurries of punches with Dorin scoring some big shots and Balbi holding his own on the inside where most of the fight was being fought.

In the eighth, Balbi seemed the more fluid and effective. Dorin was bloodied and swollen in his corner after the round. In the ninth, Dorin loses his footing on the Miller logo but doesn’t fall. Balbi comes on very strong early till the middle of the round when Dorin comes alive with some big shots that rocked Balbi. It could be said that Dorin eked out this round or even stole it at the end. In the tenth, Mario Tedesco, Balbi’s trainer, was screaming to Ramos, the referee, to stop the fight due to all the blood from Dorin’s face and especially around his eyes. Ramos paid him no mind and the fight continued. Dorin, taking advice from his trainer Stefan LaRouche, connected with a big right hand that wobbled Balbi, who leaned forward to hide his weakening. At that point, Dorin threw a low blow and after being warned previously, had a point taken…it seemed. With all the blood on his face, mixed with furious determination, Dorin looked like Rocky Balboa as he went to his corner.

Again Balbi slips on the logo, gets up and engages Dorin, who rocks Balbi, who collects himself and then with power combinations, wobbles Dorin. Balbi later tries to play the referee claiming Dorin was hitting low, but the ref looks at him and says “No”. Dorin seemed to get the better shots off in that round. In the twelfth, Dorin connects big on a few occasions. Balbi leans in often to get air during brief holds then comes on strong rocking Dorin. Balbi seemed to then connect more but with less power. I gave the last round to Balbi. Both fighters raised their arms in victory as the final bell rang.

Whew! What a battle. I could hear the theme music from the game show Jeopardy as the judge’s scorecards were read.

Duane Ford: 114-113 for Dorin. Ray Hawkins: 115-112 for Balbi.

Gale Van Toy had it: 115-112 for Dorin.

There was no loser in this fight because both gave everything they had and neither was knocked down save from the Miller High Life logo. Neither had mastered the other in their battle. A draw would have been fine by me. According to the post fight stats, Dorin landed at a higher percentage and threw more punches. I thought in Championship fights the challenger had to take it away from the Champ. In this fight, Dorin may have had the better percentages, but he obviously suffered the most physical damage and was lucky the fight was not stopped. The bleeding over his eyes was that bad. But, it was a tremendously entertaining fight and I doubt there would have been much controversy regardless of who won on the judge’s scorecards. The crowd knows a great fight when they see one since it’s so rare. In a way, both won. Dorin deserves a championship belt, now he has the WBA version. Balbi will win another belt, with his skills and tenacity. I’d love to see a rematch in a unification bout.

Dorin took a page from Bernard Hopkin’s moneymaking strategy using his back as a billboard for Golden Palace.Com. Wealthy fighters like Oscar De La Hoya, never have to do those things, but working class fighters like Hopkins and Dorin need the money more than they worry about what people might say about their using their bodies for advertising purposes.

Advertising is such a big part of all sports these days. Nothing is more important than the money it brings. No expense is spared, not even the safety of the fighters. During the Dorin vs. Balbi fight there were a few times when one or the other slipped or lost footing on the slippery Miller High Life emblem painted in the center of the ring. Such problems like that will always weigh more than the fighter’s safety.

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Too bad such great fights that happen early in the year get sort of overlooked by year’s end. My five picks for last year’s best fight included; Vargas vs. Trinidad, Barrera vs. Hamed, Morales vs. Chi, Ayala vs. Adams and Hopkins vs. Trinidad. They were the most exciting and memorable for 2001.

Jesse James Leija (42-5-2-17 KO’s) Vs. ‘Irish’ Mickey Ward (37-10-0-27 KO’s)

 Leija’s next fight should have been a rematch with Hector ‘Not So Macho’ Camacho, who he fought last June in New York where the fight was stopped due to a head butt of Camacho who elected not to continue and took advantage of biased scorecards which had Camacho ahead.

The controversy of that fight caused the NYSAC to overturn the ruling and label the fight result a ‘no contest.’ The rematch was almost made save Camacho’s people were content not to make it happen. Too scared to face Leija again, Camacho beat up on lowly unranked, unheard of Eric Jakubowski last November.

Rumor had it that Mickey Ward would fight Arturo Gatti in a big money making fight. That never materialized. In July of 2001, Ward won a unanimous decision over Emanuel Burton, which ESPN 2 claims was one of the best fights of the year. Ward is a blue-collar fighter, as is Leija. This was supposed to be a battle to the finish. Some speculated it might have been a candidate for 2002’s fight of the year.

At 36 years old for Ward and 35 for Leija, both are in the twilight of their careers. Both have solid reputations as warriors in the sport and were therefore going to draw a big audience. One drawback for Leija is that he’s had over 100 stitches from cuts. He is a bleeder.

In the first round, Ward threw an upper cut that opened an old cut on Leija’s right eye. The blood flowed heavily in little time. Referee Laurence Cole called it an accidental head butt, but upon further review, no head butt was ever shown to cause the cut. Leija looked able to continue and did. Ward won the first round.

In the second round, Ward started strong but was held off by Leija who employed quality Boxing skills and a sense of urgency. Leija is probably a bit better of a boxer than Ward, who is more of a brawler and body puncher. Ward wins second round.

In the third, Leija gets the better punches in as he outboxes Ward. After the bell, Leija’s corner man tells him, “You must win this round!” It seemed they had a strategy to let the fight go to five rounds and then by letting the cut bleed enough to scare the ref and the doctor, let them end it with Leija ahead on the scorecards. Sound familiar?

In the fourth, Leija’s desperation to win showed. With a gaping cut over his right eye, he gave just enough to win the round.

In the fifth, Ward gets off the better shots. Leija was the busier fighter but the less effective and certainly less powerful. As the round comes to an end, Leija’s face is a pool of blood. Leija’s corner is stirring as the referee and ringside doctor motion each other. Cole calls a halt to the bout, saying they were going to the judge’s scorecards. With the notion that the cut was the result of a head butt, Mickey ward loses on the scorecards and Leija gets the judge’s nod.

The scores were: Duane Ford: 48-47 for Ward Ray Hawkins: 48-47 for Leija Gale Van Toy: 49-46 for Leija

Saying all the right things afterwards, both fighters claimed the fight to be incomplete. They praised each other respectfully and insisted that the fight was just starting to build up when it was stopped.

A no contest or even a draw would have been fair. If Boxing employed instant replay, Ward would have won by TKO since the cut was the result of a punch and not a head butt at all. So what should have been a fight to remember turned out to be a miserable decision to forget. A rematch between these two would make for great entertainment.

--- Gonzalez Frank ---