Bengal Bouts: 165-pounds — 170-pounds: Matassa reaches finals
By: BRIAN BURKE
Sports Writer
Matt "The Meat Hook" Seidler proved to be every bit the athlete that Chris "Stay Outta My Business" Matassa was, but in the end, Matassa's boxing skill won out.
In their 165-pound semifinal bout Wednesday night, Matassa picked his spots well enough to earn a decisive unanimous decision victory over Seidler. What probably made the difference was Matassa's very quick delivery. When Seidler would wind up to deliver hooks inside, Matassa would stun him with a precise left jab, right cross combination. Seidler worked inside and successfully landed some combinations, especially in the second round, but Matassa was never in serious trouble and always managed to punch out of it. By the third round, Seidler had tired and Matassa held him off to earn a trip to the finals.
Facing him in the finals will be Clay "The Mouth of The South" Cosse, who earned a unanimous decision victory over Mark "The Holy Ghost" Yost. Cosse, the stronger of the fighters, controlled most of the fight, consistently landing right hooks that kept Yost from getting inside. Yost was able to land some good jabs in the second round, but when he did land he was unable to do as much damage as Cosse. By the third round, Yost had a great deal of trouble scoring points and was never really a threat.
"I've got a pretty tough face, a pretty tough head, and also I throw pretty strong punches, so when people hit me I try to keep coming, and I tend to wear them down," Cosse said.
170-pounds
The only thing missing in the semifinal bout between Domingo "Lunes" Maynes and Evan "Dysfunctional" Oliver were some bar stools and pool cues.
An all-out brawl from start to finish, the two fighters stood toe-to-toe for most of the fight, shoving and swinging wildly at each others' heads. In the first round, the inside action became so intense that Maynes knocked Oliver to the canvas, although it was ruled a push. Then, in the second round, as the two became tangled on the ropes, Maynes came dangerously close to throwing Evans out of the ring and onto the photographers near the scorer's table.
Maynes got the best of most exchanges in the first round, and looked as if he might have the edge.
Oliver let Maynes come to him more in the second, and landed some hooks when the charging Maynes opened himself up. In the third round the fighters still fought in close, but threw more jabs, probably because they were so exhausted from the melee that was rounds one and two. A tired Oliver let his hands down a bit and Maynes was able to connect on some jabs, which might have been the difference in a close split decision victory for Maynes.
In the other semifinal bout, Ryan "The Rhino" Hernandez had early trouble landing combinations against Matt "The Booster" Knust but did establish a presence inside, and was usually on the offensive. Knust came back in the second and did some charging of his own, connecting on some solid hooks when Hernandez opened himself up.
Eventually though, Hernandez became more accurate with his punches when the two slugged it out and turned in a solid third round to secure the unanimous victory and trip to the finals.
All Sports Stories for Thursday, February 28, 2002
