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Old Fashioned New York Rivalry Delivers
Dec 10, 2007 - Joe DeGuardia's Star Boxing
presented the seventh installment of the popular "Punchin At The Paradise"
series at The Utopia Paradise Theatre in the Bronx, NY last night and in
what has become a tradition of the Paradise shows, those in attendance were
treated to a memorable night of boxing.
Andre Tsurkan (25-3 16KOs) and Yuri Foreman (24-0 8 KOs) hooked up in an
inter-borough battle which left those in the large crowd debating who won
the fight. Tsurkan put his NABF Jr. Middleweight title on the line as he
battled the undefeated Foreman over the course of ten rounds.
The pattern of the fight was clear from the opening bell, Tsurkan was the
bull and Foreman was the matador. The question was who was more effective at
their style. Foreman moved smartly in the opening frame while Tsurkan tried
to apply pressure throughout the round. The second round saw Tsurkan get
closer to Foreman and start to land effective jabs and hooks to the head of
Foreman.
Round three was a big round for Tsurkan as was able to land numerous power
shots eventually opening up a cut over the right eye of Foreman. Foreman
seemed to gain back some composure in round four but Tsurkan's attack was
relentless. Tsurkan's non-stop pressure continued through seven rounds with
Tsurkan clearly the more effective fighter. Foreman won rounds eight and
nine as Tsurkan's aggressive attack finally slowed down. The fight was very
close entering round ten. Each fighter took turns having their moments in
the round and it appeared Tsurkan finished the stronger of the two and walk
away with his NABF title intact. The crowd anxiously awaited the decision.
The scores were given, 96-94 on two cards for Yuri Foreman and 96-94 on the
third card for Andre Tsurkan, thus making Foreman a split decision winner
and the new NABF champion.
Understandably, Tsurkan's corner became irate and after a polling of the
ringside media one could understand why. Most had Tsurkan the winner. In
addition, the sentiment was that Foreman did not do enough to take away the
title from champion, and Tsurkan clearly made the fight. There has been an
old adage in boxing that says the challenger must win the title from the
champion. Most onlookers felt that Foreman did not do this. Nonetheless, the
clocked was turned back to the glory days when two New York fighters went at
tooth and nail and gave it their all.
Joe DeGuardia of Star Boxing said "It was thrilling to hear the crowd
cheering for Tsurkan and Foreman, as both had enthusiastic and supportive
fans. I was disappointed with the decision as I felt Tsurkan won the fight.
Certainly Tsurkan is a crowd favorite and deserves another big fight. I wish
Foreman the best, and he showed that he came to the fight in tremendous
shape as Tsurkan's pressure was relentless."
The semi-final saw Argentina's WBC #3 Jr. Middleweight Sergio Martinez
improve to (41-1-1 22 KOs) with a 4th round TKO over late sub Russell Jordan
(14-5 9KOs). Heavyweight Monte Barrett (32-6 18 KOs) avenged a July loss by
knocking out Cliff Couser (26-14-2 14 KOs) in the second round of a
scheduled 6 round bout.
Other notable undercard results saw rising Welterweight prospect Ray
Robinson remain undefeated (6-0 2 KOs) scoring an impressive 2nd round
knockout of Oscar Rodriguez (9-10-1 3 KOs). Heavyweight Andre Purlette (40-2
35 KOs) pounded out a hard fought 6 round decision win over Andrew Greeley
(13-19-2 7 KOs). Edgar Santana (22-3 14 KOs) returned to winning form by
defeating Mike Gonzalez (10-3-1 9 KOs) via 3rd TKO in a Jr. Welterweight
bout scheduled for 6 rounds. Joe Hanks (1-0 1 KO) scored a 2nd round KO of
Joe Rabotte (0- 2) in a Heavyweight bout scheduled for 4 rounds.
The show was promoted by Joe DeGuardia's Star Boxing, DiBella Entertainment,
and Top Rank and televised live on the Versus network. |
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