ZIMNOCH DECISIONS McCALL IN TOUGH FIGHT
Arena Hall, ul. B. Chrobrego 50B, Legionowo, Poland - Elijah McCall (11-3-1, 10 KOs) summed up a bad day for the McCall family, being stopped in five bloody rounds by the veteran (yet a rookie) Pole Marcin Rekowski (9-0, 8 KOs). McCall got some success early on with his hard right hands but that was it. Down the stretch of the first Rekowski got adjusted to his foe and started to connect with hard left hands. McCall has been slowly being pummeled into non-existence by the local favorite for the next three rounds, with each stanza being more and more punishing for the 25-year old American. Finally, in the fifth, Rekowski landed several hard bombs from both right and left, which had McCall reeling along the ropes and finally falling down with a bloody mask on his face. At this point, approximately 1:34 of the fifth, the referee stepped in and rightfully waved Elijah off with his saddened father watching from ringside. McCall has now lost two in a row.
In a minor upset, super middleweight talent Andrzej Soldra (7-0-1, 4 KOs) was held to a six-round draw against durable and willing opponent Bartlomiej Grafka (9-6, 2 KOs). Soldra was his usual self, moving out using blistering combinations to counter his aggressive counterpart. Soldra was in control of the first four rounds, clearly outboxing aggressive but limited Grafka. The latter, however, never stopped trying, and his diligence paid off in the fifth, when he finally sent Soldra to the canvas with a crushing left hand. Soldra was never the same after that but managed to last till the final bell. No scores were announced.
On Friday Guillermo Jones proved there was a country for old men. Yesterday the former WBC heavyweight champion Oliver McCall, slowly nearing his milestone 50th birthday, showed he belonged to the same state of Old but was cut short by the judges, as all three of them awarded this bout to the relatively young (29 years) Polish prospect Krzysztof Zimnoch in an eight-round contest. The victory for the young fighter wasn't justified by BoxingScene, which had it 77-75 - for the American veteran. On the other hand, Bokser.org saw the close fight and had it 77-75 for the Pole.
McCall, entering his 28th year as a pro, was reasonably slow and plodding in the beginning but still managed to land some sneaky jabs to the head of Zimnoch. The Pole punched more and landed good blows but, as usual, they had no effect on the Atomic Bull, an owner of one of the most solid chins in boxing history. McCall, 48, worked his way back into the fight by its midst and started to get to his younger foe in the later rounds. McCall's jab troubled Zimnoch numerous times but it was his uppercut that did the most damage. Zimnoch was working hard to retaliate but had little effect fighting back. That didn't mean anything though when the scores were tallied: 77-76, 77-75 and 79-75 - for the Pole, who increases his record to 15-0-1, with 11 KOs. McCall is now 56-13, with 37 KOs, but can hang with the second-tier heavyweights for years to come.
In a duel of two previously undefeated welterweights, Michal Zerominski (5-0, 1 KO) looked superior to Lukasz Janik (8-1-1, 3 KOs) in a six-rounder and left no doubt as to who was thewinner, scoring a unanimous decision.
Lightweight Krzysztof Cieslak (19-5, 6 KOs) won a thriller against far less experienced but competent opponent Ariel Krasnopolski (2-3). Cieslak was dropped down hard in the opening seconds of the fight after a huge right hand of Krasnopolski but managed to weather the storm and gradually fought his way back to the fight. Krasnopolski started to fade in the middle rounds. Later in the fight, Cieslak was in full control of the contest and finally got the job done with a hard left hook, which had Krasnopolski down and out cold.
Other results:
Kamil Szeremeta (3-0) MD 4 Robert Talarek (1-1-1)
Michal Szebestik (1-1) MD 4 Erek Cieslowki (0-1)
