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THE MONTREAL UNDERCARD

Opening Bout

In his HBF debut last month, California's Carl Morris took his opponent Johnny Riggins much too lightly and, as a result, lost the bout by a close split decision.

Tonight, the 12th seed in the 1st Defense tournament was all business, dominating Philadelphia's Don Warner and flooring him in the fourth round on the way to a comfortable unanimous decision victory. Morris held the upper hand in each round save for the third, with the final verdict reading 59-54, 57-56, 59-54.

Preliminary 1

Cuba's Nino Valdes put on another impressive display following on from his six round shut-out of Don Warner last month.

Tonight, the 17 year-old gave Johnny Riggins a boxing lesson, imposing his will over the Washington native in the first three rounds before knocking him out 37 seconds from the final bell.

Riggins had been expected to give the #5 seed in the 1st Defense tournament some trouble, as he had grafted out a tough split decision victory over #12 seed Carl Morris on debut. Riggins showed some promise in the fourth and fifth rounds, but most watching at ringside agreed that it was more a result of Valdes easing off than any improvement by Riggins himself. The Cuban showed in the final round that he could have probably disposed of Riggins earlier if he had wanted to, a single flush right hand sending Riggins to the canvas for the full count.

Preliminary 2

The night's first World Championship tournament bout featured two fighters from opposite sides of the United States.

19 year-old Tommy Gomez of Tampa, Florida had achieved victory on debut against New York's Tommy Jackson in a tough, bruising contest.

California's Rueben Vargas had performed admirably in his own debut, before losing a split decision to another Florida fighter, the towering Al Jones of Miami.

Tonight, the two men clashed in a very entertaining bout. The 53rd seed in the World Championship tournament, Gomez started fast, overwhelming Vargas and landing a series of hard shots in the final minute of round one.

The second round was a much more even affair ... at least for 2:57 of it. Gomez landed a wicked cross three seconds from the bell that sent Vargas staggering backwards and, eventually, falling in a heap to the canvas. Saved by the bell, the Californian gingerly made his way back to his corner.

As the bell signified the start of round three, many in the audience sensed that the end was near. Gomez was dominant through two minutes, and it did seem that it was more a case of when rather than if. But then, from out of nowhere, Vargas launched a furious fightback. A winging right hand snapped Gomez's head around, and two separate combinations during the final twenty seconds of the round rocked the favourite, setting him back on his heels. Gomez was shaking his head with disappointment as he returned to his corner.

The fourth round followed a similar pattern, with Gomez dominant early before Vargas fought back in the back half of the round. Going into the fifth round, Vargas was still in with a chance, despite the fact that his left eye was badly swollen. His resurgence had led to two of the judges having him trailing by just a single point.

Sadly, the Vargas comeback ended quite abruptly. 1:50 into the fifth, Gomez caught the #85 seed with a crushing right hand that took Vargas's legs away. It was immediately followed by a left hook, a right hook, and a brutal right uppercut that sent Vargas, already out on his feet, crumbling to the canvas. He did not move, and was counted out 2:02 into the fifth round...

Support Bout

Miami's 6'6" giant Al Jones may look like he is capable of being a destructive force in the Heavyweight Boxing Federation, but as the saying goes ... looks can be deceiving.

In his debut last month, Jones had been lucky to earn a split decision victory over the game Rueben Vargas. Tonight, he was even less impressive while being outhustled by the 69th seed in the tournament, New York's Tommy Jackson.

All three judges scored the bout in Jackson's favour, 58-56.

Jones is the 37th seed in the World Championship tournament and has made what could only be described as an underwhelming start to his professional career.

Co-Feature

Ray Mercer was bitterly disappointed after his HBF debut against Al Ettore ended as a 3rd round Technical Draw due to an accidental headbutt. Mercer had been dominating Ettore, but instead of a likely victory, he had to settle for a draw and the knowledge that, by the end of the night, he would almost certainly be half-a-win behind the top seed in the group, George Chuvalo.

Tonight, Mercer let out five weeks of pent-up frustration, unleashing a beating upon England's Brian London in the opening two rounds.

To his credit, London rebounded to show a steely resolve in the third and fourth rounds, during which he, at the very least, held his own with Mercer.

That was as good as it got for London, as the 21st-seeded Mercer re-asserted his will in the fifth. He dropped the Englishman with a crushing left hook and finished him off in the final round when a wicked rib shot had London on one knee, struggling to catch his breath as the referee counted him out.

"I was so hungry to show what I'm capable of," Mercer said. "It's been pretty hard waiting for tonight, and I'm more-or-less happy with my performance. I probably came out a bit too aggressive, and that led to me slowing down a little in the middle rounds. But, it's something I can build on as the tournament progresses. I have to give Brian a lot of credit. He's a tough guy."