Youth prevails on FNF season finale
After a season full of veterans and would-be opponents upsetting highly-touted prospects, form finally held on the season finale of ESPN’s Friday Night Fights in Hammond, Ind. as “Hammerin” Hank Lundy (left) and Demetrius Andrade both won convincingly, albeit in widely diverging fashions.
In the opener Lundy got off the mat early to open a hellish cut over the right eye of former lightweight titlist David Diaz (right) before laying him out with an equally nasty straight left in the 6th round. Andrade followed by jabbing his way to his most significant victory to date in a boring but convincing 10-round win over veteran former “Contender” winner Grady Brewer.
Lundy demonstrated again how much he has progressed since suffering his only career loss by knockout to John Molina Jr. last summer. The boastful Philly native opened up boxing and using his superior speed on the outside, keeping his right hand near his waist while trying to time his left against the fellow southpaw. Diaz tried to rough up Lundy early in the 2nd but Hank stayed cool and landed some heavy shots of his own while in tight.
The 35-year-old Chicagoan showed signs of ring rust early after only fighting twice in the past 17 months and initially failed to bring the needed pressure. Instead, he mostly stayed in the pocket and allowed Lundy to remain cool and pick his shots from range. Hank never looked flustered while landing precise punches through the first three rounds.
But a momentary lapse from Lundy in the 4th allowed Diaz to duck and land a big right hand followed by a left that send Hammerin’ Hank stumbling to the mat. Once Lundy was back on his feet Diaz pounced, opening up with a full-scale assault in an attempt to end the fight early. Diaz continued his onslaught for half the round but Hank showed a fighting spirit in refusing to back down or hold excessively.
Lundy took several heavy shots but managed to wrestle his way off the ropes while dealing a nasty cut to Diaz’s right eye. The ref ruled it came from punch, though DVR says it came from a headclash. Lundy rallied to land some big shots of his own at the end of the round, proving his resiliency has grown since the stoppage loss to Molina.
From the 5th round on the gushing cut above Diaz’s right eye became the story of the fight. The ringside physician inexplicably allowed Diaz to continue despite the obvious damage and the former beltholder gamely responded by redoubling the pressure against Lundy. But Hank stayed cool and used his jab to keep the older man at bay and open the bloody gash up further.
Seated at ringside, actor Vince Vaughn was understandably impressed with the effort from both men going into the 6th of a scheduled 10 rounds. Unfortunately for Diaz the judges would not be needed. Hank took advantage of the Chicagoan’s blurred vision and slow right jab to strike him with a vicious counter left that dropped Diaz with a thud just 27 seconds into the 6th.
A gruesome ultra-slow-mo replay courtesy of the Worldwide Leader confirmed the final blow was a perfect portrait of destruction. Diaz had previously said he hopes to fight two more years but those plans may have been shortened considerably by this debilitating loss.
Top billing for the show went to Andrade’s crossroads matchup with Brewer, fresh off his shocking upset of rising Maryland middleweight Fernando Guerrero in June. The fight was cobbled together on short notice after another contender for the upset of the year, Mauricio Herrera, was forced to pull out of his rematch against Ruslan Provonikov with an injury. The lack of preparation clearly hurt the 40-year-old Brewer more as he looked nowhere near as effective as he had against Guerrero.
Andrade breezily promised beforehand to jab his way a victory and he was true to his word, using his superior size and quickness to prevent Brewer from ever getting into his attack. Andrade could have easily been mistaken for an Eastern European by the way he steadfastly refused to engage unless it came behind that long, right-handed, southpaw jab. Brewer simply never found a way to handle the punch along with his deficit in athleticism and technique.
Whether Andrade impressed is open for debate. If you are a purist then it would be hard to quibble with his efficient and effective victory; he won all but three rounds on the three scorecards without ever putting himself in serious peril. But invoking the Mayweather name is misplaced; Andrade’s approach is more akin to one of the Eastern European fighters that stay on the end of their jabs than Floyd’s slick, counter-punching style.
Demetrius was undoubtedly more convincing than his win on the undercard of Herrera-Provodnikov, though that may be damning him with faint praise. The main criticism one could make is that it’s not so easy to jab one’s way to a world title, though Felix Sturm would beg to differ. But the point remains nonetheless. Andrade’s style may earn him rounds but it won’t win him fans, especially when so many expect so much from the 2008 Olympian and former amateur world champion.
At a long, lean 157 lbs. Andrade seems perfectly positioned to mimic fellow Olympian Andre Ward and eventually earn a middleweight belt. But whether “Boo Boo” ever becomes a star remains to be seen. His arrogance will not compensate for his unwatchable style or previous refusal to test himself against better competition. Where Andrade goes from here in terms of opponents will say a lot about how close his handlers think he is to a final product.
In the televised swing bout Ghanian lightweight Yakubu Amidu, a member of Vaughn’s small stable of prize fighters, stopped Martin Tucker of Toledo in the third round of a scheduled four. Amidu fights with an awkward, chopping style and stands too upright while dispensing his stiff jab. But he owns a pair of heavy hands and was able to trap Tucker against the ropes and knock him out on his feet with a series of straight rights and a wide left that closed the show. Amidu improved to 20-2-1 (18 KOs) while Tucker dropped to 7-10 (3 KOs).