By Nick Bellafatto
In a triple header on HBO from the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, New York last night, the main event would see highly touted rising star and WBC #1 ranked welterweight contender Thomas Dulorme (16-1, 12 KO’s) hit a stumbling block in the form of once beaten WBC # 10 ranked and more experienced Argentine prizefighter Carlos Abregu (34-1, 28 KO’s).
Handing Thomas his first professional defeat by way of dropping the Carolina, Puerto Rico resident twice during the course of action, in essence forcing his opponent’s own corner to intervene and stop the fight, Abregu would garner the vacant WBC International welterweight title. The official time was 2:35 of round number 7, as Dulorme’s handlers felt their charge wasn’t responding well to the punishment inflicted by his counterpart.
AP Photo/Alex Menendez
Getting out of the gate early with springy legs and a popping jab, Thomas looked to be on his way towards making an impact , only to fall victim to Abregu’s game plan of countering over a low left guard with his surgically repaired right hand , to drop Dulorme once, and then nearly twice in the third frame.
As a result of switching to southpaw in rounds 4, 5, and 6, a stance against which according to Carlos Abregu he wasn’t all that well accustomed to dealing with, Thomas Dulorme would survive and even thrive a bit. But then the Puerto Rican prospect would revert back to the orthodox stance in the seventh frame, a move that would prove disastrous in that he would once again get rocked with a right hand over the top, prompting Abregu to swarm and then drop his adversary for the second official knockdown of the fight.
Thomas would then rise to his feet, only to receive more of the same which saw him taste the canvass yet again, after which the Dulorme corner had seen enough. Thomas Dulorme may have been spared from further punishment, but he’s also been exposed as a fighter with a somewhat vulnerable chin of which future opponents will look to target.
As for Abregu, he would attribute his victory in part to his opponent being “too young.” And with Carlos’s only loss coming at the hands of current WBO welterweight titlist Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley back in 2010, apparently a loss in the forefront of his mind, the Salta, Argentina resident would comment post fight, “if I was in the condition that I’m in now, I would have beat Bradley. I’m waiting for Bradley.”
*Mayfield gets UD over Herrera in the co-main event*
In the most pivotal bout of his career as well as an NABF eliminator, undefeated defending WBO/NABO junior welterweight champion and San Francisco, California native Karim “Hard Hitta” Mayfield (17-0-1, 10 KO’s) would come through, garnering a ten round unanimous decision verdict over battle tested Mauricio Herrera (18-3, 7 KO’s) of Riverside, California by scores of 98-92, 97-93, and 96-94.
From the get go Karim would take away what Herrera does best, and that’s let loose on the inside with a high volume of punches. Not only for the most part did Mayfield smother Mauricio to thwart his attack, which at times made the fight appear less than appealing, but he would also force him backwards, so that Herrera couldn’t get off like he’s accustomed to, in effect rendering any offensive output generated by the Riverside resident inconsequential.
On the other end of the spectrum, and despite Herrera out-landing the champion as determined by Compubox, Mayfield connected with by far the more telling blows all night long, mainly in the form of solid right hands, so that he would rightfully be awarded the decision.
In finality, and with Karim hoping to make a splash in his debut on HBO, this just wasn’t the breakout performance that he was hoping for, the kind of performance that would have allowed him to immediately call out the big names such as WBC/WBA and Ring Magazine champion Danny “Swift” Garcia of Philadelphia, PA amongst others. Nevertheless for the “Hard Hitta,” this is another positive step along the way as he endeavors to obtain potentially bigger fights, as well as the rewards that come along with them.
*Miguel “Titere” Vazquez retains IBF lightweight title*
Miguel Vazquez (32-3, 13 KO’s) of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico would register a split decision victory by scores of 118-110, 116-112, and 113-115 over the IBF’s #1 rated lightweight contender Marvin Quintero (25-4, 21 KO’s) of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico. In the process Miguel retains his 135 pound IBF belt while he awaits the more lucrative paydays as a much avoided champion.
Although the challenging Quintero landed solidly in this twelve round affair, he did so on a very limited basis, finding the going doubly rough due to the lengthier Vazquez’s awkward style, as well as due to size of the ring which allowed the endlessly circling champion to evade the firefight which would have perhaps given Marvin his best opportunity at a victory.
But in giving credit where it is due, the constant movement of “Titere” would require a tremendous amount of conditioning, as he would in the end not only out-maneuver the challenger who would fail to cut off the ring or pick up the pace of activity until it was too late, but Vazquez simply out-landed Quintero. And whereas the fight was close early on, Miguel would sit down on his shots a bit more as the fight progressed to win the all important exchanges that would separate champion from challenger down the stretch.
