Top-seed Fishburne wins unanimously over Dixey
By BRIAN BURKE
Sports Writer
The lightweight fighters came into the Joyce Center for Tuesday's Bengal Bouts semifinals looking to secure a shot at a championship. Many of the top seeds moved on, but the finals will feature a pair of surprises.
120-pound division
James "Piranha" Fishburne had no difficulty overcoming Michael "Mr. Bubbles" Dixey in the first bout at 120 pounds, securing a win by unanimous decision.
Fishburne had the smaller Dixey backpedaling throughout the fight, and when Dixey dropped his hands, the top seed landed multiple hooks to the head. By the third round, Fishburne landed enough open hooks for Dixey to be given a standing-eight count.
In the other 120-pound semifinal, Shawn "Knockout The Old And Bring In The" Newberg also earned a unanimous decision by employing an effective strategy. For most of the first two rounds, Newberg allowed Sam "The Dan" Buonadonna to chase him around the ring and hit Newburg in the hands. When Buonadonna tired, Newberg capitalized with jab and straight combinations to the head.
130-pound division
It was all about momentum when top-ranked Jason "The Sweet Sensation" McMahon clashed with Matt "The Don" Fumagalli in the first 130-pound bout.
At different points in the explosive first round, each fighter almost knocked out the other with wide-open hooks to the face. McMahon first landed a stunning blow that sent Fumagalli backwards, but Fumagalli soon answered.
The second and third rounds were much of the same. Each time McMahon seemed to do damage, Fumagalli responded and controlled the end of each round. In the end it was Matt Fumagalli coming away with the upset-split decision.
"I knew his hooks were awesome at the beginning," Fumagalli said, "I was dropping my right hand, he kept hitting me with those hooks, but I kept concentrating on keeping my punches straight."
Fumagalli will face the second seed, Camilo "Rollin'" Rueda, in the finals. Rueda notched a split-decision victory over Michael Kontz in his semifinal fight.
The contest started off slowly with neither fighter able to land anything substantial as both moved in and out. Eventually Kontz became more aggressive, throwing hooks and uppercuts, but Rueda was able to work inside, staying low and using a stiff jab.
140-pound division
Mike "The Motor City Madman" Waldo did not plan to out-box second-seeded Anton "Ton of Bricks Poundin' Down On Yo Face" Kemps in the 140-pound semifinals. Instead, he prevailed with brute force.
Setting the tone from the start, Waldo came out swinging furiously, landing plenty of hooks as the two fighters stood toe to toe. The fight soon turned into a slugfest that Waldo needed to win.
Kemps connected on his share of hooks and jabs, but Waldo got the best of most exchanges, as well as the surprising victory by unanimous decision.
Top seed Kurt Wilson put an end to the surprise run of freshman Josh Coleman in the other semifinal bout of the division with a split decision.
Coleman moved around a lot, sticking and moving, but unlike his quarterfinal win, he had trouble landing combinations. Wilson backed up Coleman and landed a few more hard shots, which made the difference.
150-pound division
Senior captain J.R. "Maddog" Mellin continued his march to the finals with a unanimous decision over Tom "T.K" Owens at 150 pounds.
Mellin adopted a more aggressive approach in the semifinals, moving in and out less, and trading hooks with Owens. Although he controlled the fight enough to win, Mellin did take more shots than in his quarterfinal bout.
"I wanted to try out my power a little bit, too," Mellin said. "I kept seeing these bruisers in my weight bracket. It's sort of like playing chicken out there, you just keep hoping he's got less than you do, and he's gonna fall through before you do."
Owens was able to answer some of Mellin's hooks when the two stood in close, but the captain never got into serious trouble.
Presenting a formidable challenge for Mellin in the finals will be Dennis "The Natural Disaster" Abdelnour. Abdelnour turned in a dominating performance, knocking out "Cool Hand" Luke Stanton.
Abdelnour backed up Stanton in the first round, landing continuous hooks to the head leading to a standing-eight count. By the second round Abdelnour had scrapped technique and proceeded to hammer the head of Stanton, resulting in another eight-count.
Stanton was unable to work through the barrage from Abdelnour and in the third round was finally knocked down, stopping the fight at 56 seconds.
Abdelnour now has two knockouts in as many fights.
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, March 1, 2000
