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(Continuation of post #380)
Preliminary 2
Having shown tremendous grit and determination in his opening two bouts, Massachusetts native Tom McNeeley felt confident of his chances going into tonight's contest. The 116th seed in the World Championship tournament, McNeeley had given the tournament's 13th seed Ken Norton all he could handle on debut and had gone one step further in his second bout, where he held Canada's Donovan Ruddock (20th seed) to a draw. His opponent third time out was the Sioux City, Iowa native Gerald Griffith, who had emerged with a victory and a draw from his two tournament bouts.
Unfortunately for McNeeley, those admirable efforts against Norton and Ruddock meant nothing tonight as Griffith proved to be too much for him to handle. Griffith dominated and punished McNeeley before knocking him out near the end of the fourth round. The Massachusetts man had tasted the canvas earlier in the round, and Griffith was nothing if not relentless in his efforts to finish off the bout. It was a wicked left hook that turned out McNeeley's lights, and he was counted out 2:54 into the round.
Without a doubt, this was quite a performance from Griffith. The 52nd seed in the tournament (and 4th in Group Thirteen), it will be interesting to see if he can challenge the more heavily favoured top three seeds (Norton, Ruddock and Mathis) for a spot in the tournament's second stage. His record is now 2-0-1(1).
As for McNeeley, he must be greatly disappointed by the outcome. The fact that he had tested the group's top two seeds in the fashion he did only makes this result harder to swallow. However, he can take some consolation from the fact that, as the tournament progresses, his opponents will (supposedly) be easier to handle. His record is now 0-2-1.
Support Bout
Michigan's Buster Mathis was never really tested on his way to a unanimous decision victory against Philadelphia's Jesse Ferguson (59-55, 60-54, 59-55).
He might not have been nearly as impressive as in his previous bout against Leroy Jones (where he set a HBF record for most punches landed in a fight with 245), but the truth is, he didn't have to be against such limited opposition as Ferguson offered.
The 36th-seeded Mathis remains perfect at 3-0. He will also remain in the group's top two, regardless of the outcome of Donovan Ruddock's bout.
Co-Feature
Canada's 20th seed Donovan Ruddock rebounded from a surprise draw with Tom McNeeley to score a fifth round KO of Denver's Leroy Jones.
However, he did little during the bout to sway those who doubt his ability to make it far in this tournament. It was close at the end of the fourth round, with Ruddock ahead by a point on two cards and Jones in front by the same margin on the other.
If Ruddock had not said back in late December that he was surprised to find out that he wasn't seeded closer to the top ten, then surely there would not be as much attention given to his performances. But with his words he has put himself in something of a corner, and only a truly blockbuster performance will get him out of it. In knocking out Jones, Ruddock did show that he has considerable power. It was a single right hand, followed by a clubbing left hook as Jones was on his way down that did the damage, leading to Jones being counted out at 2:26 of the fifth round. However, at the time Jones was winning the round quite handily, and it would have been interesting to see what would have happened if he had managed to survive the round unscathed.
With his record now 2-0-1(1), Ruddock is still in a good position to qualify for the tournament's second stage. His next opponent will be the man that 13th seed Ken Norton defeated tonight, Coley Wallace. Ruddock should win that bout, and after that is when things get really interesting: series five of the tournament's first stage. Ruddock will clash with Iowa's Gerald Griffith, the man currently nipping at his heels with an identical record...
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