Boxing News 24/7 Tommy Barber – London
Entertaining heavyweight Tyson Fury took his fighting tour of the British Isles and Ireland to Clevedon on Saturday, July 7 and delighted the hordes of fans at the Hand Arena by dominating American journeyman Vinny Maddalone. Fury worked well behind his jab, moved well around the ring and stuck a multitude of combinations onto Maddalone, perplexing the visiting fighter before stopping him in the fifth round.
Barber’s scorecard
| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Fury |
10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | - | - | - | - | - |
- | - |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maddalone |
9 | 9 | 9 |
9 | 9 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Official verdict: Fury by way of 5Rd TKO.
Boxing exclusively as a southpaw in his most recent outing against Martin Rogan earlier in the year in Belfast, Fury (19-0-0, 14ko) fought Maddalone (35-8-0, 26ko) in Somerset in his more traditional orthodox stance, popping left handed jabs out and reddening the Italian-American’s face in the opening round alone. While Vinny sought to land his trademark overhand right in the second, Fury himself caught Maddalone with his own straight shots.
Attacking the body with good effect in the third round, Fury also landed uppercuts, wide left hands and combinations. This, on top of his trusted jab. Despite his rangy height of 6’9, Tyson made himself a compact target… he was narrow, hunched his shoulders up and mainly kept a cross guard protecting his large midsection.
In the third round, Fury’s superiority was punctuated by his accuracy with his combination work: “I was throwing combinations, I could have boxed 12 easy. I like boxing! I’m 17 and a half stone and as fit as a fiddle.”
Fury executed the standard one-two, varied the purpose of his jab, sent hooks with either fist to the sides of Maddalone’s body and cracked right hands onto Vinny’s jawline. Maddalone had the appearance of a beaten fighter. He was punched off-balance, had welts under his eyes, was bleeding from the cheek and was throwing very little in return.
Looking for the early finish, Fury began showboating in the fifth round. He raised a gloved fist toward the sky before rocketing shots into Maddalone’s skull. The British-Irishman was unrelenting in his attack, playing up to the crowd and rocked Maddalone’s head back with each shot before referee Ian John Lewis finally stepped in to save the fighter from taking further punishment.
“I was very concentrated, I worked behind my jabs and tried to keep it long,” Fury explained to Channel 5. “I tried to call the referee in because he was getting smashed and he’s a stubborn lad.
“I’m ready for anybody in the world,” Tyson added after the conclusion of his 19th professional bout. “Klitschkos bring it on! Americans bring it on! Alexander Povetkin doesn’t want to fight me and Robert Helenius doesn’t want to fight me. Klitschko doesn’t want to fight me… that’s why Vitali is fighting Manuel Charr!”
With the victory, Fury picked up another professional honour: the WBO Intercontinental heavyweight title.
For all of boxing’s biggest stories click here
onthebeak@gmail.com
