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"The Predator" Dominated in NYC
By Tim Hocking
It was supposed to be a triumphant return to the ring for "The Pride
of the East Side" but it turned out to be a dominant performance
by unheralded Martinus Clay (12-12-1, 4KO's) in the co-feature of Cedric
Kushner's premiere of "Gotham Boxing" from the Hammerstein Ballroom
in NYC. Matt "The Predator" Vanda (34-2, 21KO's) was returning
to the ring after a long layoff due to numerous factors, to include the
departure of his promoter from Team Freedom to Warriors Boxing, a few
canceled fights, and the lack of a Minnesota state boxing commission.
At the end of the night, Vanda looked like he sounded before the fight:
a frustrated, tired and defeated fighter. Here is a round by round recap
of Clay-Vanda as seen on www.jumptv.com.
Pre-Fight
For the Minnesota fans of "Skeletor" perhaps it was a sign of
a long night to come. Bob Papa, the former ESPN2 "Friday Night Fights"
play by play analyst, refers to Vanda as "Paul Vanda" at least
three times before the start of the fight. Clay enters the ring first
to Dr. Dre's "The Next Episode" and looked ready to fight. Vanda,
known for electric ring entrances in Minnesota, walks slowly to the ring
without much fanfare, as the usual speed metal belts from the Hammerstein
Ballroom speakers. Vanda is sporting a clean haircut, somewhat of a cross
between his previous two looks, while wearing plain white "Predator"
trunks. Middleweight contender "Irish" John Duddy joined the
announcers at ringside to call the fight and referenced that he watched
Vanda fight Campas at ringside last year in Minneapolis. Duddy was a guest
that night of former Team Freedom President Leon Margules.
Round-1
The fight starts rather benign as both fighters feel each other out. Vanda
seems to show that he has learned a few defensive tricks from Roger Bloodworth,
demonstrating more feints, ducking, and head movement than we are accustom
to seeing. Vanda, however, will quickly show inconsistency in this new
found skill. Vanda seems to be the aggressor, consistently moving forward
and attempting to establish his left hook. Clay appears comfortable in
the ring and is moving cleanly with Vanda. Clay fires a hard right that
lands in the last 5 seconds of the fight and follows up with a short flurry
of punches that land cleanly. In the end, Vanda establishes enough ring
generalship to win the round.
Vanda 10, Clay 9.
Round-2
Clay opens the round with a stiff right hand and again moves well around
Vanda. It already appears early in round-2 that Vanda is not establishing
multiple punch combinations and content with throwing "one's and
two's". Already Papa and Duddy are commenting how Clay is putting
punches together and moving nicely in the ring. Although Vanda is consistently
moving forward during the round, Clay seems to already be getting off
first and beating Vanda to the punch. Vanda's output in this round is
very low. Once again, Clay closes the round with a multiple punch combination
that lands. The end of round flurry, combined with Vanda's lack of punching,
win the round for Clay. In-between rounds, Bloodworth tells Vanda to stay
off the ropes and throw combinations. Vanda 19, Clay 19.
Round-3
Clay again begins the round by forcing the action and attempting to establish
his jab. 30 seconds into the round, Vanda begins to pick up his punch
output and lands a four to five punch combination. Likewise, Vanda begins
to dig his left hook to the body. At the one minute mark, Clay sticks
Vanda with the first stiff punch of the night, a hard straight right that
appears to surprise Vanda. Clay's defense is also improving and noticed
by the ring announcers. There is more clinching to close this round than
we have seen yet in the fight, perhaps an early sign of Vanda's ring rust
and lack of conditioning. In-between rounds, Clay's corner berates him
by saying "you should have knocked him out by now!"
Clay 29, Vanda 28.
Round-4
"Vanda opens the round with leather" says Bob Papa as the round
begins. Vanda appears to get the point as he is now throwing more four
and five punch combinations than we have seen thus far in the fight. At
the one minute mark, however, Vanda seems content with taking a few to
land a few. Clay again is consistent with beating Vanda to the punch.
The announcing team already is spelling doom for Vanda by again praising
Clay for his movement and combinations.
Clay 39, Vanda 37.
Round-5
In probably the biggest action round of the fight, both fighters begin
to trade punches to start the round. Early in the round, Duddy references
that Vanda looks "clueless in there" as Vanda appears content
with leaning on Clay. With about a minute left in the round Clay lands
a straight right that stops Vanda in his tracks. Vanda appears legitimately
hurt and holds on to Clay as the round ticks away. Vanda then pushes off
and exchanges with Clay and now Clay is hurt as he moves backward to the
ropes. Vanda sees an opportunity and goes to work as he throws a combination
at the close of the round. Clay tries to get off as well, defending himself
by throwing punches. The fighters quickly stare each other down as the
bell rings and they slap gloves. Close round as both fighters land their
biggest shots of the night.
Clay 49, Vanda 46.
Round-6
Vanda begins the round trying to establish himself as the aggressor, getting
on top of Clay and letting his hands go. Vanda continues, however, to
pay for coming in as Clay consistently beats Matt to the punch. With a
minute remaining in the round, Vanda takes a stiff counter right that
again stuns him and must have him thinking twice about letting his hands
go. The commentators are again heaping praise on Clay's punch output and
movement and questioning Vanda backing up consistently when he gets in
trouble. As the round comes to an end, both fighters let their hands go
and eat 3-4 punch combinations. Again, Vanda just is not busy enough to
win a round. In between rounds Vanda looks absolutely spent as he hangs
his arms on the ropes, breathing heavy. Bloodworth comments that Vanda
is simply not putting his combinations together.
Clay 59, Vanda 55
Round-7
Clay begins the round moving well and throwing combinations. The announcers
have already given the fight to Clay, referencing that Vanda needs a KO
to have a chance. Papa boasts that he has the fight a shutout for Clay
and Duddy seems to agree. Vanda continues to look for the big punch in
the round and is simply not putting combinations together. Mid-way through
the round Vanda throws a few looping uppercuts from a far distance, seeming
desperate to land something to hurt Clay. Both fighters stand in the middle
of the ring as Clay puts together a left-right combination followed a
few seconds later by a hard overhand right that causes Vanda to tie-up.
Clay is beating Vanda up now with combinations that Vanda does not have
an answer for. Vanda's left eye is now cut and swollen.
Clay 69, Vanda 64
Round-8
Both fighters touch gloves to begin the round and once again the announcers
are talking about a shut-out for Clay and Vanda's need for a KO. Vanda
obviously senses the urgency of the situation as he is throwing multiple
punches consistently for the first time tonight. Clay, however, continues
to land lead rights as Vanda moves forward, which causes Duddy to comment
that Vanda is getting a "boxing lesson". The round is marked
also by more clinching from the middle of the round on. Clay shows his
inexperience as well as perhaps his limited talent by standing directly
in front of Vanda even though he has the fight clearly won on the scorecards.
Vanda makes Clay pay for this mistake by landing two big right hands that
clearly hurt Clay and have him in legitimate trouble. With less than a
minute remaining Vanda understands the urgency as well as the state Clay
is in and follows Clay around the ring trying to close the fight. Clay
seems to quickly regain his legs and both fighters completely let their
hands go along the ropes over the last 15 seconds as the bell rings. Clay
celebrates as both fighters congratulate each other. Vanda looks dejected
talking with Bloodworth prior to the decision, seeming to nod at the notion
that he simply didn't do enough to win.
Clay 78, Vanda 75
The Decision
Vanda looks dejected and knows what's coming as the scorecards are read.
76-76 is the first score that is read followed by 79-73 and 77-75, both
for Clay, who claims a huge upset via majority decision. Clay and his
corner ecstatically celebrate the victory. Clay improves to 12-12-1 while
Vanda falls for the second time in his career, the first by decision,
and drops to 34-2.
Tim Hocking can be contacted at timandanita17@yahoo.com.