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(continuation)
* Having scored a 1st round KO of Slovenia's Drago Bencek on debut 20 year-old Virginia native Steve Finley faced a much more daunting challenge for his sophomore outing in the form of Mexico's Luis Gomez. The Arizona resident had been on the unfortunate end of a poor decision in his own debut, his bout against Dwayne Peters ending as a draw despite Gomez appearing to win it quite handily. Gomez was very upset afterwards and had said leading into tonight that he was determined to earn his first victory.
That attitude was evident in the opening round as he caught Finley with a pair of hard shots in the first minute: a flush uppercut and a jolting right cross. Finley's retort was a nice left-right combination but Gomez controlled the round, picking his shorter opponent off with the jab, keeping Finley on the backfoot. Round two proceeded in the same fashion, Finley having his head snapped around by a smashing left hook before finding himself on the canvas for the first time in his career courtesy of a sledgehammer of a right hook almost two minutes in. He was up at four and survived the round, despite eating a trio of blows moments before the bell. One of the punches opened a cut under his right eye and as he returned to his corner the Virginian looked dazed. Gomez was in complete control and throwing too much leather for Finley to handle.
The audience was into the fight in a major way and their excitement was only magnified by what was a thrilling 3rd round. Knowing he was in serious danger of defeat Finley came out firing, finding the mark with a left hook and a pair of jolting uppercuts within a minute of the bell. But Gomez quickly evened the ledger, a punishing three-punch salvo and a stinging right cross causing his man to show more caution. As the round entered its final minute Finley unloaded to the body and then dropped a hard right hand on Gomez, the (reportedly) 40 year-old Mexican initiating a clinch and appearing to tire. When the bell sounded to end the stanza the crowd came to their feet in applause.
Unfortunately, the contest would end in an abrupt and unsatisfying fashion when, just thirteen seconds into the 4th, Finley landed a left hook right on the button, the blow opening a sickening two inch cut on Gomez's right eyebrow. It only took a matter of seconds for the ringside doctor to declare that the Mexican could not continue. He protested wildly, proclaiming that he didn't "give a damn" about "a little cut" over his eye. His pleas were ignored and when Finley was announced the victor Gomez fell to his knees and pounded the canvas with his right fist, tears soon streaming down his face. Finley tried to console him but, clearly distraught, Gomez pushed him away and stormed from the ring, screaming obscenities at the referee and the doctor.
Punch totals
Steve Finley: 51/98 (.520)
Luis Gomez: 66/243 (.272)
"It's unfortunate for him," admitted Finley. "But everyone knows it's one of the possible outcomes for any fight. Cutting a guy, sometimes it's more effective than a knockdown. I do feel sorry for him 'cause he got robbed in his debut and he was winning tonight, no doubt."
Indeed, going into the 4th Gomez had a four-point lead on two cards and a two-point cushion on the other. Literally, all he needed to do was stay on his feet or avoid getting cut and he would have won the bout. The start he's made to his career would have to rank as one of the more unlucky ones in the HBF's brief history. As for Finley, he's the only fighter in the Qualifying League to date with two stoppages which is certainly something to be happy about.
* The Slovenian Drago Bencek proved himself to be a tough opponent during his stay in the Southern Europe Boxing League, compiling a 2-3(1) record. But to date his run in the HBF's Qualifying League has been uninspiring, to say the least. Last month he suffered a 1st round KO at the hands of debuting fighter Steve Finley and tonight he was pummelled into submission by the Canadian Dwayne Peters, also in the opening round.
Peters decimated Bencek, catching him with a series of smashing power shots before flooring him with a combination of blows to the body and head two minutes in. Bencek beat the count but Peters went at him mercilessly and when a crunching uppercut buckled the Slovenian's legs referee Jay Nady had seen enough and ended the fight at the 2:35 mark. After his dubious draw against Gomez, Peters remains undefeated at 1-0-1(1). Benceck falls to 2-5(1), the loss his fourth in five fights and the third time during that span that he's been stopped inside of two rounds.
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