UNCASVILLE, Connecticut — Friday night at Mohegan Sun Arena, Northeast fan favorites and CES Boxing cash cows Mariusz Wach and Elvin Ayala returned to the ring for WBC Title fights. In the main event, the undefeated heavyweight Wach tallied his twenty fifth career win, brutally exterminating Kevin McBride in the fourth round to obtain the WBC International Heavyweight Title. In the co-main event, the hometown hero middleweight Ayala defeated the Midwest based journeyman Derrick Findley by unanimous decision to acquire the WBC USNBC Middleweight Title.
The heavyweight attraction pitted the undefeated pride of Poland Mariusz Wach (25-0-0, 13 KOs) against aging heavyweight contender Kevin McBride (35-10-1, 29 KOs). McBride’s career skyrocketed into publicity in June of 2005, following a sixth round TKO of Mike Tyson. “The Clones Colossus,” fighting out of Brockton, Massachusetts, by way of Clones, Ireland, may have had his career ended in the same fashion it began: A younger, hungrier fighter with everything to prove slowly wearing down, and eventually finishing, an aging, out of shape veteran.
From the start, it was clear that “The Viking,” training out of North Bergen, New Jersey, had acquired multiple advantages. The Polish contender was in considerably better shape than McBride, registering at 6’7 1/2”, 246 lbs. as opposed to McBride, who tipped the scales at 6’6”, 296 lbs. McBride, seven years the elder of Wach at thirty eight years old, lumber across the ring and was deemed by many ringside as being in the worst shape of his career. Meanwhile, Wach showcased improved footwork, as demonstrated by increased and effective lateral movement.
McBride, clearly hindered by his weight, lacked efficient punching in the first round. Each heavyweight fought the round at a cautious pace, attempting few power shots and combinations. Towards the end of the round, Wach used his jab to set up a piercing right straight to the head and a right uppercut which sneaked under the elbow of McBride, the only significant punches landed in the round.
In the second round, Wach once again used his jab to keep McBride at a comfortable distance. One minute into the round, McBride came forward with a right to the body, and worked to position Wach against the ropes. Another McBride right brushed the head of Wach, which Wach nicely countered with a right to the body. Utilizing his improved lateral movement, Wach circled out of the corner and back into the center of the ring. Two minutes into the round, Wach landed a pair of combinations, including a right uppercut which landed square on the nose of McBride. Back on the ropes, each fighter traded three right straights and one left hook in a powerful exchange on the ropes. The round culminated with a Wach uppercut to the sternum at the bell. Wach won the round on all three judges’ scorecards, but McBride’s punch output did increase to a more appropriate and useful level.
The third round began with an aggressive stalk from McBride, who marched forward only to be caught with a stiff jab from Wach which sent sweat sailing off his brow. Shortly after, McBride tagged Wach with a right straight over the top. A few moments later, Wach swiveled off the ropes and back to the center of the ring, where he landed a right straight to the jaw two minutes in. Toward the conclusion of the round, Wach cracked McBride with a pair of rights to the ribcage ten seconds apart, followed by a sweeping right at the mallet tap and another powerful right to the head at the bell. As McBride trudged back to his corner, he appeared out of energy.
Both men met in the center of the ring to begin the fourth round amid chants of “Polska! Polska!” from the pro-Wach crowd. “The Viking” boxed circles around McBride, avoiding slow jabs with little mustard. One minute into the round, McBride placed Wach against the ropes but the one minute in but the Pole initiated a clinch and the action moved back to the middle of the ring. With McBride on the ropes, Wach landed a jab to the sternum and a left uppercut-right straight combination. Wach began to land his jab with great efficiency, likely as a result of McBride’s lax defense due to exhaustion. In the final third of the round, Wach landed a tough right to the jaw and a left hook-right cross combination. On the follow up, Wach blinded McBride with a jab and proceeded to land a devastating right straight that knocked McBride out cold before he hit the canvas, lying flat on his back with his arms outstretched above his head. The ringside official immediately entered the ring, halting the referee’s count and officially ending the contest at 2:29 of round four. McBride was taken from the ring on a stretcher as a precautionary measure.
The co-main event, a ten round WBC USNBC Middleweight Title bout between Elvin Ayala (24-5-1, 11 KOs) and Derrick Findley (18-6-0, 11 KOs) was used as a swing bout, beginning immediately following the main event. Ayala, the thirty year old hailing New Haven, Connecticut, was originally scheduled to face former IBF Lightweight challenger Israel “Pito” Cardona (36-10-0, 28 KOs) in Cardona’s first bout since a loss to Hector Camacho Jr. in August of 2009, but Cardona was pulled from the card for unidentified reasons one week prior. The journeyman from Gary, Indiana, willfully took Cardona’s place. However, Findley’s record is somewhat deceiving. Four of Findley’s losses entering the bout came to highly touted fighters: Andre Ward, Andre Dirrell, Matt Korobov, and Fernando Guerrero. Findley gave everything he had in a last chance effort to prove he was more than a sacrificial lamb for prospects, but came up short on the judges’ scorecards.
The fight got off to an intriguing start. Ayala, hoping to continue his career resurrection, was knocked down twenty seconds into the bout by a right hand, which appeared to be a push by many ringside observers. Referee Benjy Esteves gave Ayala the mandatory eight count, and Ayala fired back with intensity to prove he was not hurt. Each fighter exchanged hard rights to the head and body, and slugged on multiple short lived occasions. At the bell, Ayala unleashed a forceful left hook which landed flush on the jaw of Findley, sending his head rotating on its axis. Ayala finished the round strong, putting together combinations and recovering nicely.
Elvin Ayala began the second round with a right-left-right combination, most of which was blocked by the earmuffs of Findley. Ayala popped the jab effectively, and used it to set up combinations. Findley was unresponsive to the combination punching by Ayala, and was cracked with by an uppercut with Ayala’s back to ropes one minute in, Ayala’s best punch of the round. Two minutes into the round, each man swapped left hooks in the center of the ring and rode out the rest of the round in quiet fashion.
Findley landed his jab immediately at the onset of the third round. With Ayala in a neutral corner, Findley landed a left hook which prompted a clinch from Ayala. The first half of the round was marred with plenty of clinching and only mildly effective punching. Two minutes in, Ayala landed a left hook to the body, countered by Findley with a right straight to the body from Findley. Findley landed his best punch of the fight with thirty seconds to go, a powerful right to the cheek which snapped his opponent’s head back. In the third round, Findley clearly regained control.
The fourth round occurred without much action, as each fighter slowed off in an attempt to regain some stamina and refuel for the second half of the fight. A right-left combination to the body landed for Findley, followed by a hook by Ayala one minute into the round. After a minor exchange on the ropes, Ayala began to pump the jab once more, although it did not appear to be enough to win the round.
The fifth round was fought at a similar pace to the fourth. Findley and Ayala each landed a right to the body inside the first minute, and Ayala used the jab continually throughout the round. After swapping right hands once again halfway through the round and fight, Ayala sneaked a left uppercut between the guard of Findley, and landed an ensuing left-right combination upstairs. At the end of the round, the knockdown provided the difference on the scorecards.
Findley began the second half of the fight with a glancing right followed by hard left hook. Returning fire, Ayala landed a right-left combination right on the beltline, ruled legal by the referee. As Findley resumed his body attack, Ayala caught him with a right which snapped his head back. To close out the round, each fighter juked and jived their way to the bell, landing no important or damaging punches.
Round seven began with a beautiful five punch combination by Findley, which mixed rights and lefts to the body and head. Findley landed another four punch combination soon after, but the punches lacked force. Regardless, the punches did score and were likely given credit by the judges. Ayala swung but mostly missed with his back against the turnbuckle, and eventually worked his way off the ropes. Instead of Ayala working the jab, it was Findley who out jabbed Ayala on the outside, keeping distance and using the punch to set up combinations. Unfortunately, the success of the seventh round was the last of the fight for Derrick Findley.
Ayala began the eighth round by resuming his persistent jabbing. Findley jabbed as well, although not quite as effectively as Ayala. Neither fighter landed many power shots until the mallet tap, when both fighters landed an uppercut to the midsection. Ayala had the close edge in the round.
The ninth round began with the familiar pace of Ayala working the jab, establishing a rhythm and dodging a three punch combo from Findley in the corner forty seconds in. A left hook landed for Ayala, and a straight-jab combo landed once the action returned to the center of the ring halfway through the round. As Ayala continued to jab his way to an advantage on the scorecards, Findley became frustrated, slowing both offensively and defensively.
A pair of left hooks landed early in the final round for Ayala. Keeping the pressure on, Ayala returned to the jab. Findley stayed stifled on the outside, getting tagged with the jab every time he rushed in to land a power shot. Findley countered the jab with a left hook to the body, but Ayala stayed on course and dominated the remainder of the fight. As the bell sounded to signal the end of the fight, Ayala’s supporters showcased their hometown allegiance, but seemed unsure of the final result. Ring News 24 scored the bout 95-95, scoring the first round 10-9 Findley as opposed to 10-8 due to Ayala’s resurgence in the latter portion of the round.
The fight went to the judges’ scorecards, where the margin of victory was slightly wider than many expected. John Trella scored the bout 97-92, and Tom Schreck and John McKaie saw the contest 96-93 for Elvin Ayala, the winner by unanimous decision and new WBC USNBC Middleweight champion.
CES Boxing’s “Heat Wave” brought the sweet science back to Mohegan Sun, featuring what promoter Jimmy Burchfield, and the multitude of Polish fans in attendance, hope is “a celebration of [the] future of professional boxing in the dormant heavyweight division.” Mariusz Wach added another victim to his unblemished hit list. In the co-main event, Elvin Ayala returned with a slight step up in class and another victory, continuing his resurgence after disappointing back to back losses to higher tier competitors David Lemieux and Lajuan Simon. As McBride and Findley fell on the losing end once again, it appeared as though “Heat Wave” was more than a celebration of the future potential—it was also a memorial at the end of the competitive line for two of boxing’s gatekeepers.
Photo Credit – Jamie Curci of www.Ringnews24.com
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