Cincinnati, OH (BoxingGurus.com) - Tim "The Cincinnati Kid" Austin (23-0-1, 21 KO) successfully defended his IBF Bantamweight title Saturday night on HBO's Boxing After Dark, by scoring a spectacular TKO at 2:09 of the 6th Round over Ghana-native Steve Dotse (18-4-2).
In what was billed as "The Homecoming", the less than capacity crowd at the Cintas Arena on the campus of Xavier University welcomed their "son", Tim Austin, back home. The standing ovation Austin received as he entered the ring continued throughout the introductions and at times reached deafening proportions.
Austin, with Cincinnati native Aaron "The Hawk" Pryor in his corner, appeared tentative and tight during the first round, mainly throwing jabs at the head of Dotse. Dotse's defensive style seemed to puzzle Austin during the onset of the first round, but when his punches to Dotse's head were blocked, Austin instinctively began throwing jabs and hooks to the body. Austin proceeded to throw right-left combinations to the head and follow up with another two-punch combo to the body, out scoring Dotse easily in the first round.
Austin controlled the next few rounds easily by using solid jabs and slick combinations to both the body and the head. Austin used his southpaw style to confuse Dotse and make him stay back on his heels and take a defensive style.
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Austin launches a right. (AP)
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Round 6 started with Austin again applying pressure to Dotse, landing powerful shots to both the head and body of his foe. Dotse traded punches with Austin, this time landing a left hook to the head followed by the right uppercut. Austin backed away, gathered himself and began throwing his right jab. Austin maneuvered to his right and threw a double right jab and then landed a powerful straight left into the face of Dotse. The power punch instantly dropped Dotse to the canvas. He rose at the count of 7, stumbled into the referee, and at 2:09 in round six, Tim Austin was awarded his 21st knock out.
Austin was dominating the fight on all the judges' cards 50-45, 50-44 and 50-44 all for Austin. BoxingGurus.com, who was ringside for the fight, scored the fight 50-45 for Austin. Austin landed 62% of his power punches (123/200) compared to Dotse's 47% (34/73). Final CompuBox numbers also reflect the dominance by Austin, as he landed 155 total punches compared to Dotse's 68.
After the fight Austin explained his performance: "I was too anxious in the early rounds. I felt more comfortably as the fight progressed." When asked about his plans for the future, Austin said, "I would like to unify the belts." Austin, who suffers from little notoriety except to the true boxing fans, was asked about stepping up his competition level. "I will fight Paulie Ayala if given the opportunity. All I want is the opportunity."
Tim Austin's next match will be on the under-card of Ruiz/Holyfield III in Bejing, China.
TELEVISED UNDERCARD:
IBF Junior Bantamweight champion Felix Machado (22-3-1, 12 KO), in what many fans in the crowd believed to be a bad decision, successfully defended his title versus three-time world champion, Mauricio Pastrana (26-2, 16 KO). Machado, another southpaw in an evening of what seemingly was dominated by left hand fighters, began the fight landing his right jab keeping the shorter Pastrana at arms length. The fighting during the middle rounds improved as Pastrana moved within range and landed power shots to the head of the champion. The crowd got behind the challenger and rooted strongly for him throughout the remaining rounds.
Machado, utilizing his reach advantage, started using his jabs, scoring regularly during the last four rounds. The fight appeared close until Machado took the championship rounds. When the announcement came from Jimmy Lennon Jr. that Machado won the bout by unanimous decision, the crowd let loose with a serious of boos. The judges scored the fight in the favor of Machado 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112. BoxingGurus.com scored the fight bit closer, but still in the favor of Machado at 115-113.
Almost all in press row agreed with the decision, despite the fans booing, and the punch stats showed why. Machado landed 246 of 887 punches for 28% and Pastrana landed 121 of 529 for 23%.
UNTELEVISED UNDERCARD:
Carlos "India" Quintana (11-0, 9 KO) faced off with Jesus Valverde (18-4, 15 KO) for the Fedecentro Welterweight Championship and put in perhaps the most boring fight of the evening. Quintana won a unanimous decision over Valverde in 12 rounds of wildly thrown and wildly missed punches. However, Quintana landed the more serious punches throughout the bout and the judges agreed: 117-111, 118-110 and 119-109. BoxingGurus.com scored the fight from ringside in favor of Quintana 119-110.
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In a featured Heavyweight Bout, former World Heavyweight Champion and current WBC and WBA #8 contender, Henry Akinwande (40-1-1, 26 KO) knocked out Maurice "Mo" Harris (18-11-2, 9 KO) in the first round. Akinwande, whose reach of 86" matches the great Italian Primo Canera, is credited as having the longest reach in boxing history. With this in mind, Harris attempted to stay away from the former champion, throwing jabs from long range and refusing to wage war inside. However, with the reach advantage of Akinwande, perhaps staying on the outside was not a great tactical decision by Harris. Harris, fighting in place of Cincinnati native Larry Donald, recently lost to Chris Byrd on the Trinidad/Joppy undercard. Harris' attempt at keeping away from Akinwande and to reinvent himself and thus his standing in the eyes of the boxing world was short lived. With a crushing right hand, Akinwande dropped Harris in the first round. Harris attempted to get to his feet but immediately fell back to the canvas. At 2:29 of the first round, the bout was over with Akinwande scoring the knock out.
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A swing bout, which should probably go unmentioned except for comic relief, took place between the "All-African Champion" Johannes Jan "The Giant" Nortje (9-0, 8 KO) and Curtis "The Hurt" McDroman (5-4, 3 KO). In a fight reminiscent of a tough man contest, Nortje, another southpaw, knocked down McDroman three times in the first round. "The Hurt" rose to his feet each time to receive more punishment at the hands of "The Giant." Our punishment of watching this debacle was over in the second round when Nortje landed a left hand that finally KO'd McDroman.
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Luis Bolano (34-0, 28 KO), the undefeated #5 IBF contender battled Andy Agosto (15-3, 7 KO) in a Junior Bantamweight 10 round bout. The fight started slow but ended in a flourish as Bolano landed a left-right combination to the chin of Agosto and dropped him to the canvas. Agosto, up at the count of six, was again dropped by a series of floundering, and wildly thrown punches. Agosto again rose to his feet, but with 2:50 gone in round one, he was floored again and referee Tom Cleary stopped the bout awarding a TKO to Bolano.
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A scheduled 10 round Heavyweight bout between the undefeated Russian strongman, Sergei Lyakhovich (14-0, 9 KO) and Ed "The Tough Giant" White was the second fight on the card. Again, as in the first, the fight lasted one round as the square-jawed Russian strongman scored a first round TKO. Lyakhovich landed a very powerful overhand right to the temple of the overweight White, dropping him hard to the mat. White stood at the count of 8, was permitted to continue but was dropped again. Referee James Villers stopped the bout at 1:53 of round one.
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Ricardo Williams (3-0, 2 KO), another Queen City native on the card, outclassed his opponent, John Lopez (6-5, 3 KO), stopping the Hawaiian fighter with 1:21 in round three. Williams, the 2000 Olympic Silver medallist, proved to be quicker, more polished and the all around better fighter as he landed right jabs and left hooks throughout the bout. Williams, a southpaw, bloodied the nose of Lopez late in the first round, and systematically worked Lopez. Lopez attempted to use rough tactics, wrestling Williams into the ropes on occasion in the second and third rounds. Williams landed a thudding left hook to the head of Lopez, knocking him down in the third. Lopez gained his feet but Williams launched an all out barrage of punches that put Lopez down again. Lopez rose once again and as the barrage continued, Lopez's corner threw in the towel.
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Louis "The Lion" Azille (16-0-2, 14 KO) took on Donnell "The Cadillac" Wiggins (6-1-1, 5 KO) in what was scheduled as a 10 round bout between two previously undefeated cruiserweights. Azille easily controlled the fight from its onset, scoring both more jabs and power shots. Wiggins, taking the best punches Azille was offering, refused to be backed up and continued to throw. Wiggins appeared hurt in both the 5th and 6th rounds, and while his corner man appeared on the apron ready to throw in the towel, Wiggins would answer with jabs of his own. In round seven, Wiggins was rocked twice by Azille, but again answered with a flurry of his own punches. None landed solidly, however and Azille's attack was stalled. The beginning of the eight round was halted while the ring doctors checked the left eye of Wiggins. The bout was permitted to continue, but with 1:02 gone in the 8th, referee Kamal Hasan stopped the bout with Azille winning a TKO. The judge's cards showed Azille clearly winning the bout 70-62, 70-63 and 70-63. BoxingGurus.com, at ringside, judged the fight 70-62, awarding a 10-8 round to Azille in round 6.
