Bolo Punch Boxing Hour News

As always, Dominic Pesoli’s 8COUNT PROMOTIONS brought a real scorcher of a night of fights.  These were broadcast LIVE on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights, and the flood of proud Polish flags informed all of us in attendance that this night would be truly memorable.  It did not disappoint.

Piotr Wilczewski TKO2 Thomas Reid

Wilczewski’s jab was the deciding factor of this fight. He simply couldn’t miss, and Reid couldn’t do anything to stop it. It was so accurate and so fast, it was just a matter of time until Wilczewski would use it to land the proper punch. It happened right at the end of the second round, as Reid eats a big right hand, and referee Gerald Scott calls the fight at 2:59 of round 2.

SUPERMAN KO’s FONFARA!Derrick Findley TKO2 Andrezej Fonfara

Talk about a fight with a lot riding on it! Both of these fighters have already “ruled the roost” on a local level, and both came into this fight looking to break out of that mold and move to a national level with exposure on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights. Well, Findley did just that, and in a big way.

The first round was actually going Fonfara’s way, as the Polish warrior used his superior jab to keep Findley away from him, actually forcing Findley to stumble backwards on one occasion.

But the second round was very different than the first. Findley realized that Fonfara’s shots couldn’t hurt him. And that’s when the big bombs started landing for the Gary, IN native. Rights and lefts, from all angles, to the body and to the head. . . it seemed like everything the heavily-muscled Findley threw ended up landing. Towards the end of the round, Findley landed a huge right hand that sent Fonfara onto the seat of his pants, warranting a count by the referee. Fonfara got up in time, but Findley was already on to bigger, better things in his mind. A barrage of unanswered shots sent Fonfara down a second time, but it happened AS the bell rang to end the round. Well, we just learned two weeks ago from Chazz Witherspoon’s fight with Chris Arreolla that the cornermen are not to climb up onto the mat until the referee ends the round, regardless of whether or not the bell has rung. Findley’s handlers are lucky they weren’t disqualified, as the referee rightly waved off the fight, declaring Derrick Findley the winner.

With all the Polish flags being waved everywhere in the packed Chicago Aragon Ballroom, One in a Million promoter and manager, Octavious James said, “Well, it’s sorta like fighting Fonfara in Poland. But we’ve been here before. Findley’s last fight was against Hernandez in Cicero, which is pretty much all Latino. The scary thing about Derrick is that he’s only 24 years old. We don’t even know what he’s capable of yet. One thing is sure, though. . . he’s ready. You all say that tonight.”

It happened. Amidst a sea of Chicago Polish flags, and with Andrew Golota sitting ringside, Derrick Findley knocked out the taller, faster Fonfara at the end of the second round. For those who may have thought that Findley was merely a muscle-bound journeyman, just ask Fonfara what HE thinks about Findley’s abilties.

WACH IS ONE TO WATCH!

Mariusz Wach TKO7 Eric Boose

Now THIS is a big man worth watching! His name is Mariusz Wach, and all I can ask is, where has he been? For seven rounds, he moved like a spry lightheavyweight, not like a man who is 261 lbs, 6 ft 7in. But that’s exactly how big he is. And Eric Boose, while he held in there as long as he could, was simply overmatched. For six rounds, Boose did all he could to stay away from the big man’s power right hand, but in round seven, Wach lowered the boom on his opponent, landing an unofficial ringside count of 30 unanswered shots to the head and body of Boose, forcing the referee to stop the action at 1:53 of round seven. Wach is really more than just another big man. He’s able to adapt to his opponent, and still score thrilling knockouts. We’ll be watching the giant Pole, and the heavyweight division officially, now, gets a true warning from Mariusz Wach. He’s coming.

ADAMEK WINS, BUT DOESN’T THRILLTomasz Adamek TKO 0:01 RD8 Gary GomezAdamek was the main event on this ESPN2 Friday Night Fights event, but his fight was far from the most exciting. He was simply in there with a man who couldn’t possibly beat him. Adamek is responsible for some thrilling victories in fights with Paul Briggs and O’Neil Bell, latter of which got him the cruiserweight belt he proudly wears around the ring. But Gary Gomez? All I need to say is that someone thought Gomez was the number one contender, so Adamek did his job. His job was to win, and possibly get in some rounds of “good work”. Well, what we saw was Adamek getting rounds, and waiting until the seventh round to really show Gomez his best stuff. Once he did, Gomez chose to not leave his corner for round 8, prompting the referee to wave the fight off. Next for Adamek? Who knows, now that David Haye has moved up to heavyweight. There is a fight for him, though, if he wants a unification match with Cunningham, who is primed and “ready to go” with the Polish champion. I can’t wait to see if this fight happens.