War in Chicago: Szpilka stops Mollo in six
By John J. Raspanti, Doghouse Boxing (Feb 4, 2013)
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Artur Szpilka (13-0, 10 KOs) stopped Mike Mollo (20-4-1, 12 KOS) in round six
of an exciting heavyweight slugfest held at the UIC Pavilion in
Chicago, Illinois.
The bout was on the undercard of the main event featuring "King" Carlos Molina on ESPN'S Friday Night Fight series.
The tension was tight
in the arena as the fighters eyeballed each other. A large contingent of
Szpilka fans had ventured to the Pavilion to support the Polish
fighter. Mollo, 31, and a native of Chicago had his own cheering
section. These kinds of fights were commonplace in Chicago seventy-five
years ago.
At the bell to begin the bout, Mollo rushed Szpilka. He landed a right
to the body. Szpilka, a southpaw, shot out his long right. Along the
ropes, Mollo landed a right and hard left to the body. Szpilka stumbled
and went down to the canvas. He was up at the count of four. As the
fighters battled on the inside a head butt caused a bad cut over the
left eye of Mollo. Szpilka landed a hard left at the bell.
During the round,
experienced referee Celestino Ruiz warned Mollo for pushing. The warning
was silly since he said nothing to Szpilka about headbutts. He pushed
Mollo away and uttered a famous word that starts with "F". In my forty
years of watching and writing about boxing I've never seen a referee
scream at a fighter in such a way.
In round two, Szpilka
landed a good left to the head. Mollo, as always coming forward,
connected with a right to the body. Szpilka boxed effectively for most
of the stanza. His guts were evident as he absorbed another hard right
to the chin. Mollo, who entered the ring wearing a Walter Payton jersey,
started to bleed from his right eye. An elbow had caused the cut.
Referee Ruiz said nothing.
Szpilka wanted to jab and box in round three. His long left found Mollo. Blood
was streaming down the sluggers face. A ringside doctor was called in to
inspect the cuts. The fight was allowed to continue. A combination by
Szpilka stung Mollo at the bell. In round four, Spilika
slashed Mollo’s cuts with a left. Szpilika landed a hard left. A left
right stung. The cuts were open and the blood was rolling. The ringside
doctor checked Mollo for the third time.
Mollo,
unable to see and showing great courage unleashed a huge left hook that
felled Szpilka for the second time. Mollo chased after Szpilka and
landed another huge left at the bell.
Mollocame out looking to land another bomb in round five. As they fighters
held each other Szpilka went down. Referee Ruiz, barking like a drill
sergeant and acting like a
drama queen took a point away from Mollo for pushing. The point deduction was moronic and utterly lacking in common sense.
In round six, Szpilka
jabbed and kept away. Mollo was looking to land another bomb. He was
tired, but still coming forward. Szpilka, the better boxer, was beating
him to the punch. Mollo ran into a hard combination. A jab and a huge
left down the pipe put Mollo down on his back. Mollo tried to get up but
couldn’t beat the count.
The crowd roared
as Szpilka and Mollo eventually embraced. Szpilka, 23, is penciled in
to meet Krzysztof Zimnoch (also undefeated) on February 23 in Poland.
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