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kenyan_cheena · 05-10-2005, 09:11 AM

Opening Bout

In his HBF debut last month, 18 year-old New Jersey native Tony Galento made the foolish mistake of thinking that he had already won the fight before climbing in the ring. His opponent was 20 year-old Venezuelan Jose Luis Garcia who, despite standing seven inches taller, was not expected to give Galento much trouble.

Galento's cocky self-assuredness would turn out to be more than just foolish. It led to him losing the bout, with Garcia simply outworking the 16th seed in the HBF's 1st Defense tournament before being rewarded with a unanimous decision victory.

Tonight, it was an entirely different Tony Galento on display at the Conseco Fieldhouse. After a relatively uneventful opening stanza, Galento knocked out Syrian-born Detroit resident Oscar Pharo two minutes into the second round. It was an accumulation of mostly body punches, punctuated by a crippling rib shot, that sent Pharo to his knees at the 1:53 mark. He was unable to beat the count.

"I'm really happy with my performance," Galento said. "First fight was just a complete disappointment, and I admit that I took it too lightly. But I was ready for tonight, and I think it showed. Marciano took three rounds to defeat Pharo, only took me two."

Preliminary 1

Rocky Marciano's long awaited second bout had finally arrived. The Brockton-born #1 seed in the 1st Defense tournament was greeted by enthusiastic applause as he calmly made his way to the ring, wearing the same white and black trimmed robe as he had in his debut.

Marciano's opponent had reason to be optimistic. The #56 seed, Jose Luis Garcia had achieved quite an upset in his debut, working hard for a 6 round unanimous decision victory over the #16 seed Tony Galento. He felt that against Marciano, his five inch height advantage would really work in his favour.

Boy, was he wrong.

Marciano was every bit as dominating and brutal as he had been on debut against Oscar Pharo. The only difference was that tonight, he was even more precise and clinical. During eight minutes and nineteen seconds of awe inspiring aggression, the Massachusetts native landed 118 of 246 punches thrown, decimating the Venezuelan with an offensive arsenal that had to be seen to be believed. Marciano had the crowd standing at the end of each round, the fury of his assault simply breathtaking. Garcia's attempts at getting himself into the fight were ineffective, almost to the point of being pitiful. He was completely at the mercy of this relentless punching machine.

The end of the fight came at the 2:19 mark of the third round, with Garcia laying motionless and being counted out after a single, crunching right cross had knocked him out cold. But truly, it was only one of dozens of power punches that Marciano fired home. There were no less than five seperate occasions during the first round where Marciano rocked his opponent, and it was a minor miracle that Garcia was still standing when the bell sounded. It didn't get any better in the second, as Marciano teed off with both hands, uppercuts and straight rights leaving the once-confident Venezuela native dazed and confused going into the third round, where the punishment continued.

"I think my execution was better tonight," Marciano said after the bout, in an interview with ESPN's Jay Marlow.

Showing a lot of humility and little excitement, Marciano let his trainer Allie Colombo do most of the talking.

"In the first fight, there was a bit of adversity with the cut," Colombo said. "Rock got a bit frustrated and missed with a lot of shots. That didn't happen tonight. We had an opponent who pretty much did exactly what we wanted him to. So, it's all fine. We just look at it as two down, fourteen to go. No need for excitement yet."

Marciano and Colombo are quickly earning a reputation as the most self-effacing duo in the sport. There might be no need for them to get excited. But, if some people weren't convinced by his debut, then Marciano's destruction of Garcia would have surely swayed them.

Brockton's Rocky Marciano is the genuine article, and we've only been given a glimpse of what he will become.

05-10-2005, 09:11 AM	#144 (permalink)
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 4,310	Opening Bout In his HBF debut last month, 18 year-old New Jersey native Tony Galento made the foolish mistake of thinking that he had already won the fight before climbing in the ring. His opponent was 20 year-old Venezuelan Jose Luis Garcia who, despite standing seven inches taller, was not expected to give Galento much trouble. Galento's cocky self-assuredness would turn out to be more than just foolish. It led to him losing the bout, with Garcia simply outworking the 16th seed in the HBF's 1st Defense tournament before being rewarded with a unanimous decision victory. Tonight, it was an entirely different Tony Galento on display at the Conseco Fieldhouse. After a relatively uneventful opening stanza, Galento knocked out Syrian-born Detroit resident Oscar Pharo two minutes into the second round. It was an accumulation of mostly body punches, punctuated by a crippling rib shot, that sent Pharo to his knees at the 1:53 mark. He was unable to beat the count. "I'm really happy with my performance," Galento said. "First fight was just a complete disappointment, and I admit that I took it too lightly. But I was ready for tonight, and I think it showed. Marciano took three rounds to defeat Pharo, only took me two." Preliminary 1 Rocky Marciano's long awaited second bout had finally arrived. The Brockton-born #1 seed in the 1st Defense tournament was greeted by enthusiastic applause as he calmly made his way to the ring, wearing the same white and black trimmed robe as he had in his debut. Marciano's opponent had reason to be optimistic. The #56 seed, Jose Luis Garcia had achieved quite an upset in his debut, working hard for a 6 round unanimous decision victory over the #16 seed Tony Galento. He felt that against Marciano, his five inch height advantage would really work in his favour. Boy, was he wrong. Marciano was every bit as dominating and brutal as he had been on debut against Oscar Pharo. The only difference was that tonight, he was even more precise and clinical. During eight minutes and nineteen seconds of awe inspiring aggression, the Massachusetts native landed 118 of 246 punches thrown, decimating the Venezuelan with an offensive arsenal that had to be seen to be believed. Marciano had the crowd standing at the end of each round, the fury of his assault simply breathtaking. Garcia's attempts at getting himself into the fight were ineffective, almost to the point of being pitiful. He was completely at the mercy of this relentless punching machine. The end of the fight came at the 2:19 mark of the third round, with Garcia laying motionless and being counted out after a single, crunching right cross had knocked him out cold. But truly, it was only one of dozens of power punches that Marciano fired home. There were no less than five seperate occasions during the first round where Marciano rocked his opponent, and it was a minor miracle that Garcia was still standing when the bell sounded. It didn't get any better in the second, as Marciano teed off with both hands, uppercuts and straight rights leaving the once-confident Venezuela native dazed and confused going into the third round, where the punishment continued. "I think my execution was better tonight," Marciano said after the bout, in an interview with ESPN's Jay Marlow. Showing a lot of humility and little excitement, Marciano let his trainer Allie Colombo do most of the talking. "In the first fight, there was a bit of adversity with the cut," Colombo said. "Rock got a bit frustrated and missed with a lot of shots. That didn't happen tonight. We had an opponent who pretty much did exactly what we wanted him to. So, it's all fine. We just look at it as two down, fourteen to go. No need for excitement yet." Marciano and Colombo are quickly earning a reputation as the most self-effacing duo in the sport. There might be no need for them to get excited. But, if some people weren't convinced by his debut, then Marciano's destruction of Garcia would have surely swayed them. Brockton's Rocky Marciano is the genuine article, and we've only been given a glimpse of what he will become.