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Spadafora-Dorin fight ends in draw
McKees Rocks
Chaz Palla/Tribune-Review
WBA champion Leonard Dorin lands a right hand on IBF champion Paul Spadafora
Chaz Palla/Tribune-Review
Kevin Gorman can be reached via e-mail or 412-320-7812.
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Spadafora inexplicably elected to brawl with Dorin and appeared to be trailing. Dorin, despite cuts above both eyes, had dictated the pace but couldn't put Spadafora away.
All three judges saw it differently.
The fears of Dorin's handlers were realized when it was announced that the International Boxing Federation/World Boxing Association lightweight unification bout was ruled a draw before an estimated crowd of 5,200 Saturday night at Petersen Events Center.
"We're going to do a rematch, without a doubt," promoter Mike Acri said. "No doubt about it."
Spadafora (36-0-1), of McKees Rocks, felt that he had won.
"I wanted to outhustle him. I wanted to get in rhythm and, when I do that, I can throw punches all night," Spadafora said. "I was prepared to throw a lot of punches. I wanted to cut him and stop him. I'm disappointed.
"I thought I won the fight. I fought like a true champion. I stood in front of him and threw punches."
Judges Pat Russell of Costa Mesa, Calif,, scored it 115-113 in favor of Dorin, Guillermo Perez of Panama scored it 115-114 in favor of Spadafora and judge Gary Merritt of Muncie, Ind., scored it 114-114.
"I cannot say I won or not," Dorin said afterward. "Between the two champions, we did our best. It was a good fight, but I didn't lose that fight."
Representatives of Montreal-based Interbox had called the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission's selection of judges "patently unfair" before the fight.
Interbox's Don Majeski singled out Merritt in particular, claiming that 25 of the 27 title fights he had officiated were IBF-sanctioned bouts. They were outraged inside the ring after the decision was announced.
"I give credit to the judges, they were under a lot of pressure," co-promoter Lou DiBella said. "I don't think there was a hometown decision. I think they were all fair. The WBA judge was the one that had Spaddy winning, which tells you things were straight."
Added HBO ringside analyst Emanuel Steward: "I didn't score the fight myself, but I had no problems with a draw. No problems at all with a draw. It's very acceptable."
The former sparring partners threw nearly 2,000 punches combined. Dorin landed 344 of 951 punches (36 percent), including 280 power punches. Spadafora landed 259 of 934 punches (28 percent), and only 196 power punches.
Spadafora retained his IBF crown in his eighth title defense, the seventh before a largely hometown crowd. Dorin, who brought a large contingent of Romanian fans, who waved the national flag, also retained his WBA belt. Dorin (21-0-1, seven KOs), a two-time Olympic bronze medalist from Romania, hadn't fought since winning a unanimous decision over Raul Balbi last May 31 in Bucharest.
He was making his second WBA title defense.
Dorin, wearing purple trunks with gold trim, went to work at Spadafora's body in the first, throwing a series of rights. Dorin used a straight right to get inside, then mixed right uppercuts with a left hook to the head.
In the second, the 5-foot-4 Dorin worked a soft left jab with a straight right to Spadafora's nose that popped his head back. Spadafora rallied by landing combinations.
Inexplicably, the 5-9 Spadafora elected not to dodge his diminutive opponent but rather brawled with him in the middle of the ring. He abandoned his slick defensive style in favor of trading blows with a fighter who threw more than 1,000 punches against Balbi.
But Spadafora did so flat-footed, without the quick footwork and evasive style that has been his trademark.
In the third, Dorin staggered Spadafora with a right to the head early and pinned him on the ropes with body blows late. It was in that round that Spadafora first drew blood, opening a cut above Dorin's right eye.
Shortly into the fourth, a wound was opened under Spadafora's left eye and both fighters' faces were bloodied.
Dorin concluded the round by landing a shot to Spadafora's face at the bell. Dorin claimed the fifth, as well.
It wasn't until the sixth that Spadafora returned to form, slipping punches and circling the center of the ring. Dorin landed a right hook to the jaw in the final 10 seconds.
Whereas Spadafora frustrated inside fighters Billy Irwin and Angel Manfredy in past defenses, Dorin seemed to have his way. Spadafora wasn't nearly as elusive, and Dorin never got frustrated. He simply kept coming.
And Spadafora stood directly in his path. He withstood a blow to the face in the eighth, shaking off each shot. But he failed to offer a counter.
Spadafora entered the ninth needing to win the final four rounds or score a knockout. Problem is, he hadn't knocked out an opponent since an 11th-round TKO of Renato Cornett his first tittle defense, in December 1999.
"Spadafora shed his image that every fight was boring," DiBella said. "He fought a tremendous fight. I know Paul wanted to make this a tremendous performance. He stood there and traded punches."
Spadafora said he is looking forward to a rematch.
"I want to get a chance to prove I should be WBA and IBF champion of the world," Spadafora said. "Wherever it will be it doesn't matter. I want to prove myself it was unanimous."
In the co-feature bout, middleweight Jermain Taylor (16-0, 12 KOs), of Little Rock, Ark., scored a fourth-round TKO over Colombian Nicolas Cervera (35-4-1).
Taylor, a 2000 Olympic bronze medalist, landed 76 of 139 jabs (55 percent) and knocked Cervera down three times in the fourth before referee Rick Steigerwald stopped it at 2:37, much to the displeasure of Cervera's corner.
On the undercard, junior middleweight Joachim Alcine (16-0, 10 KOs), of Montreal, defeated Leonard Townsend (37-13-1), of Chicago, by unanimous decision; Romanian heavyweight Sergei Liakhovich (18-1, 12 KOs), now of Scottsdale, Ariz., scored a TKO over Tongan Sione Asipeli (17-7-2), of Las Vegas, at 56 seconds of the fifth round; Romanian light heavyweight Adrian Diaconu (12-0, six KOs) scored a TKO over Atlanta's Ron Cobbs (5-5) at 2:30 of the third round; junior welterweight Joe Wyatt (14-0, 10 KOs), of East Liberty, defeated Rudy Lunsford (12-24), of Tampa, when Lunsford did not answer the bell for the third round; and heavyweight Chris Koval (4-0, 4 KOs) of Youngstown, Ohio, defeated Scott Dixon (1-3-1), of Nitro, W.Va., by unanimous decision in a four-round bout.
