Thompson's Message: A Matter of Economics
By Larry Brown (April 1, 2006) Photo © German Villasenor
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MAYWOOD, California – For Anthony “The Messenger” Thompson, the 10-round super welterweight victory by unanimous decision Friday night over Darnell “Deezol” Boone (10-5-1) at the Maywood Activities Center raising his record to 21-1 (15 KOs), sent a clear message to both himself, and the public.

His message to himself—he still has work to do. His message to the public—a simple issue of supply and demand. You demand the fighter, he’ll supply the fight.

For ten rounds of hugging, scrumming, punching, and bleeding, Thompson punished his opponent Darnell Boone. The “Deezol” as he is called, seemed to lack fuel throughout most of the fight. While Boone came out charging at the start of a few rounds, he was mostly held back by the assortment of movement and combinations to the body by Thompson.

“The Messenger” delivered a barrage of blows largely slowing down Boone for the duration of the fight. Thompson was able to connect with a few hooks in addition to the body shots that sent a stream of blood down the face of Boone by the 5th round. A round later that stream had turned into a stop-sign worth of blood around both the nose and mouth.

It seemed as if Boone’s sole chance at gaining an advantage in the judges’ cards was through the point deduction to Thompson in the 8th round due to low-blows. Less than a minute later, Boone gave the point right back, as he was deducted for excessive clinching. Despite the ten rounds of bell-to-bell dominance, Thompson still had lofty praise for his opponent.
“He was a great opponent” raved Thompson about Boone. “He had four weeks to prepare for The Messenger. He was crafty and better than his record,” continued a tired yet alert Thompson. “In my last fight I looked like a million dollar fighter. Tonight, I looked like a quarter-million dollar fighter.”

Thompson did not fulfill his expectations.

“I didn’t want no decision,” he said. “I was looking for a knockout.”

But Thompson was still able to come out with positive from the ten rounds of fighting that the judges scored unanimously in his favor (99-90 on one card, 98-90 on the other two), “There was a lot of wrestling and that’s a good thing. You need to be in good shape to wrestle for 10 rounds.” Thompson continued, “Skill-wise, my potential is there. My conditioning is there.”

What’s in store for Thompson if he felt he made strides with this fight?

“I want to show I’m serious,” Thompson claimed. “I’m serious, I’ll take you serious, I can’t duck any more fighters.” Thompson then proceeded to his ultimate point regarding his future. “I’m going to listen to my promoters. I’m going to be economical. You demand the fighters, I’ll supply the fight.”


ORTIZ DELIVERS VICIOUS 1ST ROUND KO

In the co-featured bout of the Showtime-televised card that was promoted by Top Rank and KO Productions, 140-pound prospect “Vicious” Victor Ortiz knocked out Freddie Barrera with 18 seconds remaining in the first of eight rounds of the super lightweight bout, raising his record to 13-1 (9 KOs), and marking the first blemish to the record of Barrera, now 10-1 (1 KO).

Barrera came out charging with lots of quick and jerky movements early in the round, but the bold energy seemed feigned by nervous excitement. Ortiz said of Barrera’s behavior in the early part of the round, “I could tell that this kid’s here to fight. I was being cautious originally.” It took nearly Ortiz an entire minute to through a punch as he adjusted to the energy of Barrera.

Once he adjusted and cocked, it was apparent that the fight we be ending no sooner than it had started. Nearly a minute into the fight, the southpaw Ortiz floored Barrera with a right hand. Though Barrera bounced up quickly, Ortiz continued with his assault, burying Barrera in the corner. Nearly a minute later, Ortiz calculated, measured, and unleashed a vicious counter right hook that landed Barrera on the canvas once again, this time to the point of no return.

“I thought he would get up ready to fight,” said Ortiz after landing his second knockdown of the round. “But then I saw the look in his eyes and his wobbling legs, and I jumped on the ropes.” It didn’t take long for Ortiz to celebrate his 13th win as he jumped to the top rope to share his enthusiasm with the fans in attendance.

Ortiz did admit to being influenced pre-fight by Barrera’s previously unbeaten record, but the fight turned out to be a successful venture for the “Vicious” southpaw, Ortiz. The only drawback he commented, “It could’ve been a little longer.”

Either way, the crowd still received a great show.

Also on the card in Maywood:

Nestor Rocha recorded a unanimous decision over Cecilio Santos to raise his record to 14-0 (4 KOs). Home-crowd favorite John Molina scored a 2nd round knockout of Lester Belmoris in his professional debut. And Rhonda Luna continued her unbeaten record (11-0-1) with a six round unanimous decision over Lina Ramirez.


Questions/ comments: E-mail Larry@LarryBrownSports.com
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