[kenyan_cheena]

The New York Age

SUNDAY, 8 APRIL, 2007

BETTINA RETAINS BELT
WITH REMARKABLE RALLY

Story by James Reynolds

Last night Beacon native Melio Bettina produced one of the most outstanding comebacks seen in years to hold onto his IBL Americas light-heavyweight championship. After being sent to the canvas twice before the end of round three and looking on the verge of defeat Bettina rallied superbly to secure a majority decision victory against Kansas slugger Scot Long at the St. Nichoals Arena (114-112, 113-113, 114-112). It was a rematch of their July championship tournament quarter-final, Bettina once again emerging victorious. In that first meeting he'd won convincingly but last night he was closer to tasting defeat than he's been since joining the league.

Bettina joined fellow 175-pounder Mark Somogyi and the Filipino lightweight Ben Villaflor as the only fighters to have made two successful defenses of their IBL regional titles. Bettina had been dominant in his last victory over Don Bucceroni in February, knocking out the Philadelphian in round ten and flooring him three times during the bout. Long earned his title challenge with a strong win over Korea's In-Chul Baek and appeared to be well on his way to gaining revenge on Bettina as their clash entered round four. Long came out aggressively in round one, tagging the champion with a hard left hook early before keeping him on the backfoot for the rest of the round with a steady stream of jabs and combinations. Bettina found the mark with a flush right cross late but it wasn't enough to cancel out Long's efforts.

Twenty-five seconds into round two Bettina found himself on his backside following a head-snapping uppercut. He was up at three and Long connected with a follow-up left hook and then had the better of a brief exchange. But he did little to press home his advantage through the final two minutes of the stanza. After a quiet opening to the 3rd Long had his man staring up at him again, a left hook sending Bettina stumbling to the canvas at the midpoint. Again, he made it to his feet quickly and while Long controlled the remainder of the round he failed to finish the champion off. It would come back to haunt him as the bout progressed. Bettina gained a foothold in the contest when he just had the better of an exciting 4th, his good early work countering some punishing Long punches in the frame's bottom half.

Rounds five and six were close affairs but it appeared that Long was slightly busier and more effective in both of them, putting Bettina in a seemingly hopeless situation as the 7th round commenced. But it was at that point when the determined 19 year-old commenced his stiring fightback. Taking rounds seven and eight convincingly Bettina suddenly looked to have a chance, Long's workrate dropping in sync with the swelling that was developing under his left eye. With the exception of a hard right cross from Bettina near the two-minute mark round nine was unremarkable, but the champion's superior aggression was more than enough to maintain his rally. Long's trainer tried to fire him up during the intermission, sensing that this perfect opportunity to claim the title was slowly slipping away.

The action heated up in the 10th, Bettina's roll continuing through the first minute before Long answered back strongly only to have the crowd favourite end the frame on a high, a crunching uppercut almost dropping the challenger moments before the bell. When Bettina dominated round eleven it was clear that the tide had completely turned. A look at the scorecards reveals that Bettina moved into the lead for the first time in the fight at that point. Both sides knew the final stanza would be vital and after Long jumped out early Bettina wore him down through its middle section, a series of jabs and punishing body shots doing the damage. Long made it a close thing with a spirited effort in the closing moments but all three judges scored the round in Bettina's favour.

Even if Long had been able to take the final round it would not have been enough for him to claim the title, as the bout would have been scored a draw. He'd needed at least a knockdown, and that never looked like happening. When the verdict was announced Bettina's team celebrated jubilantly, the champion shouting and pumping his fist in the air as the crowd applauded, giving him an extended standing ovation. Wearing a nasty mouse under his left eye Long appeared no less than devastated as he made his way back to the dressing rooms soon after. He'd said all the right words in acknowledging Bettina's fighting spirit but it was absolutely clear that he knew he'd blown it, big time. He's now 10-2-2(4), Bettina being the only man to have defeated him.

The champion improved to 11-1(5), his extraordinary run of wins in the IBL stretching to six. Making it all the more amazing is that he was seeded at #10 in the tournament and was understandably not given any chance of emerging as the inaugural titleholder. On the other hand, 2nd-seeded Long was a big favourite. Bettina defeated him with shocking ease in his own hometown of Topeka and in front of a hostile audience. He's now overcome him once again and it's a result that will give him a huge confidence boost, just as surely as sending Long to the depths of despair. After trailing by a large margin early in the fight Bettina had outlanded Long 323-270 by the end of it.

There was a huge amount of interest in the opening bout of the evening with Detroit heavyweight Brutus Brody making his International Boxing League debut against Cleveland's Eric James, who he had stopped in three rounds last September. The IBL approached James shortly after signing Brody last month, keen to give him a worthy opponent in his first outing. Before their original meeting James was also a promising heavy on the rise and since being bombed out by Brody he has recorded two knockout wins to improve his record to 13-2(9). He jumped at the chance to step in the ring against the "7 Mile Monster" once again. As it turned out the league were wise to seek out James as he gave Brody the biggest test of his career to date, almost lasting the full distance in the scheduled six-rounder.

Brody controlled the opening three rounds of the fight but was not his usual explosive self. He dropped James with a wild right hand late in the 3rd but surprisingly the Ohio native had the better of rounds four and five. James was much busier, keeping Brody on an uncharacteristic backfoot. Keen to maintain his perfect stoppage record Brody came out swinging for the fences in the 6th and after hurting James early with a couple of clubbing body shots he staggered him with a right cross and floored him with a left hook shortly after the round passed its midpoint. Up at eight James tried to tie Brody up and stay out of trouble, simply trying to survive. He succeeded briefly but when a brutal three-punch salvo had him reeling against the ropes the referee jumped in and ended it at the 2:15 mark.

Improving his record to 13-0(13) Brody said afterwards that he had been feeling nervous in the minutes before the fight, just as he had in the very first bout of his career. He said that he was worried about "messin' up" in his IBL debut and the embarassment that a loss would have brought down upon him. The 28 year-old won't have to wait very long until he's back in action, with the IBL's heavyweight schedule showing that he'll step into the ring again during the week ending May 6 against an opponent from the 6th ranking tier. No doubt, there's going to be a lot of heavyweights looking over their shoulders during the months to come as Brody makes his way up the league's rankings.