By Mark Vester

At Halle Carpentier in Paris, France, former cruiserweight king Jean Marc Mormeck (34-4, 22KOs), now a heavyweight, won an eight round decision over Vinny Maddalone (33-5, 23KOs).

In a active first round, both fighters were throwing and landing some heavy punches. They went right back to war at the start of the second round. Maddalone's face was already looking swollen by the end of the second but Mormeck was breathing heavy from the very active pace. The pace slowed a little in the third but not by much. Maddalone was moving forward and trying to land huge bombs. Mormeck was backing off and countering well while trying to stay away. In the fourth, Mormeck went back to the strategy of staying away and trying to pick his spots when he saw the openings. Maddalone tried to get close and was landing body shots. Mormeck was moving a lot and landing some good counters. He was still breathing heavy during the action.

Mormeck backed Maddalone against the ropes and started working him over in the fifth. Maddalone backed him off and continued to stalk him. Mormeck was moving and hitting at the start of the sixth. The face of Mormeck was starting to swell at this point. Mormeck was slowing down a little. Maddalone was starting to catch up to him a lot easier but he ate punches when he came inside. The pace picked back up in the seventh. Mormeck was less mobile and they traded some good inside punches. The touched gloves at the start of the eight and then started trading more punches on the inside. They were trading heavy as both guys were trying their best to steal the final round. Mormeck seemed to stumble a bit in the final ten seconds.