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kenyan_cheena · 03-02-2009, 11:24 PM

THE ROANOKE TIMES

Friday, 16 June, 2006

FINLEY FALLS TO FIRST DEFEAT
ON NIGHT OF UPSETS

Story by Barry McGill

Making his debut appearance under the banner of the International Boxing League, Roanoke light-heavyweight Steve Finley suffered the first defeat of his professional career last night in front of a parochial Richmond crowd. Finley was the #1 seed in the league's Americas Light-Heavyweight Championship tournament and was expected to convert that seeding into an eventual title win but against Buffalo's lightly-regarded George Nichols he struggled like never before. Perhaps it was a case of stage fright or the pressure of expectations, but for whatever reason Finley was a shadow of the young man who won seven of his first eight pro bouts by knockout and had observers speaking of him as one of the most promising fighters in America. Behind a potent left jab, a damaging right cross and an excellent defense Nichols built an early lead and Finley merely made the fight competitive in its bottom half, the New Yorker winning by majority decision (58-56, 57-57, 58-56). He landed 158 of 402 punches (39.3%), Finley just 73 of 444 (16.9%).

Finley's defeat would have been an even bigger surprise if not for what came before it. When the night was over four of the tournament's top five seeds had bitten the dust, with only Kansas-born 2nd seed Scot Long emerging unscathed. Long scored a comfortable unanimous decision win over the Canadian Yvon Durelle (59-55, 58-56, 59-55), improving his record to 8-0-1(4) and becoming the outright favourite to claim the championship. His win came after Ohio's 3rd seed Charles Williams had fallen to Clarence Hinnant in frustrating fashion. Williams took the first round comfortably but tasted the canvas early in round two from a single left hook. He was back in control after a dominant 3rd before a competitive round four made it either man's fight to win. Taking a battering through most of the 5th Hinnant dropped Williams for a second time ten seconds from the bell, a left-right salvo depositing him on his backside. Williams then had his nose bloodied early in the final round, Hinnant finishing strongly to secure a 58-54, 57-56, 59-53 win despite being outlanded 160-135.

4th-seeded Chicago native Allen Thompson was defeated in similar fashion by New Jersey's Richie Kates while Peruvian 5th seed Francisco Avelino lost via split decision to Akron's Sam Baroudi in a thrilling contest. The number of upset results guarantees that at least one of the tournament finalists will by seeded no higher than #8, as the quarter-final matchups listed below show:

#8 Mike Rossman vs #16 George Nichols
#12 Sam Baroudi vs #13 Richie Kates
-
#6 Dan Bucceroni vs #14 Clarence Hinnant
#2 Scot Long vs #10 Melio Bettina

6th seed Bucceroni overcame a poor start and a cut over his right eye to knock New York's Tony Anthony out cold with a smashing left hook at the end of round three. If not for that he may have joined the top seeds casualty list. The seemingly crazy results are not so surprising when one considers that the entire field in this tournament is quite inexperienced, with Allen Thompson's nine pro bouts the most of any of the competitors. No doubt Finley's failure will disappoint the many fans he's acquired since starting his professional career but there's no reason to think he won't bounce back from it in his upcoming fights.

03-02-2009, 11:24 PM	#178 (permalink)
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 7,597 Thanks: 81 Thanked 143x in 125 posts	THE ROANOKE TIMES Friday, 16 June, 2006 FINLEY FALLS TO FIRST DEFEAT ON NIGHT OF UPSETS Story by Barry McGill Making his debut appearance under the banner of the International Boxing League, Roanoke light-heavyweight Steve Finley suffered the first defeat of his professional career last night in front of a parochial Richmond crowd. Finley was the #1 seed in the league's Americas Light-Heavyweight Championship tournament and was expected to convert that seeding into an eventual title win but against Buffalo's lightly-regarded George Nichols he struggled like never before. Perhaps it was a case of stage fright or the pressure of expectations, but for whatever reason Finley was a shadow of the young man who won seven of his first eight pro bouts by knockout and had observers speaking of him as one of the most promising fighters in America. Behind a potent left jab, a damaging right cross and an excellent defense Nichols built an early lead and Finley merely made the fight competitive in its bottom half, the New Yorker winning by majority decision (58-56, 57-57, 58-56). He landed 158 of 402 punches (39.3%), Finley just 73 of 444 (16.9%). Finley's defeat would have been an even bigger surprise if not for what came before it. When the night was over four of the tournament's top five seeds had bitten the dust, with only Kansas-born 2nd seed Scot Long emerging unscathed. Long scored a comfortable unanimous decision win over the Canadian Yvon Durelle (59-55, 58-56, 59-55), improving his record to 8-0-1(4) and becoming the outright favourite to claim the championship. His win came after Ohio's 3rd seed Charles Williams had fallen to Clarence Hinnant in frustrating fashion. Williams took the first round comfortably but tasted the canvas early in round two from a single left hook. He was back in control after a dominant 3rd before a competitive round four made it either man's fight to win. Taking a battering through most of the 5th Hinnant dropped Williams for a second time ten seconds from the bell, a left-right salvo depositing him on his backside. Williams then had his nose bloodied early in the final round, Hinnant finishing strongly to secure a 58-54, 57-56, 59-53 win despite being outlanded 160-135. 4th-seeded Chicago native Allen Thompson was defeated in similar fashion by New Jersey's Richie Kates while Peruvian 5th seed Francisco Avelino lost via split decision to Akron's Sam Baroudi in a thrilling contest. The number of upset results guarantees that at least one of the tournament finalists will by seeded no higher than #8, as the quarter-final matchups listed below show: #8 Mike Rossman vs #16 George Nichols #12 Sam Baroudi vs #13 Richie Kates - #6 Dan Bucceroni vs #14 Clarence Hinnant #2 Scot Long vs #10 Melio Bettina 6th seed Bucceroni overcame a poor start and a cut over his right eye to knock New York's Tony Anthony out cold with a smashing left hook at the end of round three. If not for that he may have joined the top seeds casualty list. The seemingly crazy results are not so surprising when one considers that the entire field in this tournament is quite inexperienced, with Allen Thompson's nine pro bouts the most of any of the competitors. No doubt Finley's failure will disappoint the many fans he's acquired since starting his professional career but there's no reason to think he won't bounce back from it in his upcoming fights. __________________ The Greatest Prize in Sports (a TBCB Dynasty) The Greatest Prize in Sports: Almanac kenyan_cheena's NBA 2K11 Off Topic Dynasty Major League Baseball: 1990 and Beyond... (an OOTP11 Dynasty)