Cyber Boxing Zone -- Newswire

The Cyber Boxing Zone Newswire -- JULY 29:2001

Paz on pace for 50: Wins or Years?
by JD Vena

July 28, 2001

CRANSTON, RI - After Vinny Paz' disappointing one-sided loss to Aaron Davis this past January, you may have been hard pressed to find out that Vinny Paz' quest to reach 50 wins would continue. On that long night, Paz was everything you'd expect in terms of heart but his skills looked shot to put it mildly. Many would attribute the loss to inactivity, a period when Paz was thought to be retired when he broke his hand and lost a close decision to his local rival, Dana Rosenblatt in November of 99. But like so many others have before him, Vinny Paz is still climbing in hopes of reaching 50 wins, a mark you hope he reaches soon before he falls victim to the other tribulations associated with most aging prizefighters.

Last night at the Rhodes-on-the-Pawtuxet, the soon to be 39 -year old Warwick, Rhode Island native, weighing a career high 171, chalked up his 47th victory and 30th KO (against 9 defeats) when he pounded the walking beer barrel "Irish" Pat Lawlor, 173, of San Francisco inside of two rounds. Coming in, Lawlor brought only the reputation of being the man who retired Roberto Duran and Wilfred Benitez but even those embarrassing defeats couldn't discourage the aging legends. They came back and fought on in their respective retirement tours, the same journey that Paz endure in order to pick up three more wins.

After the first round, which saw Paz dance in circles and pose, Paz jumped on Lawlor in the 2nd with a ferocious body assault. A left hook to the liver dropped Lawlor to his knees and he coughed his gum shield to the floor in the process. Luckily, we were spared the sausages he wolfed down prior to stepping into the ring. Okay, I'm not sure about the sausages, but Lawlor clearly didn't appear capable of facing a aging prizefighter or anyone else for that matter.

After referee Charlie Dwyer's ten-count which came at 1:52 of the round, the official tour was on it's was and the celebrating began for Paz, who was mobbed for pictures and autographs before he was even announced the winner.

"The fans came to see me fight and I appreciate that," said Paz. "I've always tried giving them my best and I'm happy to shake hands or take pictures of anyone who has supported me."

"Pat is a tough Irishman, but I know he likes his beer. I just wanted to see much he could take."

As it turned out he couldn't take much, but to trial horses like Lawlor, it's never disappointing when you have enough left in your body to fill your belly with beer lager.

"I could be king of the castle if I felt like fighting a bunch of fuckin' losers," Lawlor explained. "But no one is going to know about it. You fight good people and you fight bad people, sometimes you win and some times you lose, if you lose to someone who is good then it's no fucking disgrace. If you lose to a bum, fuckin' hang em up. The only thing I'm sorry about is that I didn't listen to my trainer who said to stay out of the Goddamn corners. I go in the corner and next thing you know I'm on the Goddamn canvas. He got me with a kidney shot and that was it. Win or lose, we all gotta booze. Who's got a Bud?"

And you thought Paz was nuts. But if Paz finishes his career facing the likes of Pat Lawlor, then there shouldn't be too much of a cry for him to hang 'em up; unless of course he loses to one of them.

In the co-feature, Fareed Samad, a 1996 Olympic alternate living in Providence, won all 6 rounds (60-54) against Andre Baker, of Lumberton, NC in a contest of jr. middleweights. It was first time Samad has been extended a scheduled distance in improving to 10-0 with 9 KO's.

In opening bout of the evening, Roy "The House of" Payne, 196, shook off nearly a years' worth of ring rust to win an exciting 4-round split decision over Nashville's Larry Prather (weight unknown). Payne landed and absorbed some telling shots in what would turn out to be the night's most exciting bout in winning by scores of 58-57 and 60-56. Another judge had it 58-57 tally against him. Payne, who has won 4 in a row improved to 13-11-4 with 6 KO's. Prather, who lost in a 12 rounder in his last fight a year ago and took the fight on one day's notice, falls to 19-17 with 8 KO's.

"Irish" Jeff Horan, 152, of Narragansett, RI returned to the ring for the first time since being destroyed by Genaro Andujar a few months back, to realize that there is another fighter who would lose to Andujar. Angelo Smith, 153 ½, of Philadelphia, covered up for three rounds until taking a ten count from referee Joe Lopino from a Horan body shot. Horan is now 5-3 with 3 knockouts while unsurprisingly, Smith is still a winless 0-4.

In an intriguing bout between two jr. welterweights, Shakha Moore, 143, of Norwalk, CT won an unpopular UD over Springfield's Henry Matos. Matos, 142, pressed Moore the entire 6 rounds and landed most of the big shots while not absorbing many in return. That's why Matos was shocked as many in attendance were of the scores which read 58-56, 59-54 and 58-55 for Moore. Though Matos had a point taken away in the 5th, it shouldn't have mattered in the scoring as your writer and most felt that he won nearly every round. Matos is now 8-13 with 3 KO's while the gift for Moore makes him 8-6 with 1 knockout.

"Irish" David Grundy, the third fighter of the evening using the same worn out sobriquet, won a 4 round UD over an even more worn out Richey Zola of Springfield. Zola, now 3-14-2, 1 KO, was the third boxer of the evening to sport a bald skull (along with Lawlor and Horan) and the third boxer to hit the canvas from a body shot. Grundy, a pudgy light heavyweight from Providence won by three scores of 40-35 and is now 2-0. This paragraph was brought to you by the number #3.

Promoter - Jimmy Burchfield's Classic Entertainment & Sports
Matchmaker - Ted "Dr. TKO" Panagiotis

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