Maduma and Degonzaga Put on a Show in Montreal
by Richard Cloutier
Eye of the Tiger Management had presented an exciting event at the Corona Theatre in Montreal. Those present were treated to an evening of exciting boxing, while several tough opponents offered a nice contrast to the local favorites.
In the main battle, Ahmad Cheikho (6-3-2) had a challenge before him with Sergei Melis (18-5-0), who had already faced several quality opponents in the past, including Dmitry Pirog, Mehdi Bouadla - the most recent opponent Mikkel Kessler - and Jimmy Colas. Ahmad Cheikho did well overall and boxed intelligently.
Despite the fact that he had been cut over the eye in the 3rd round and even shook the end of the fourth round, he appeared to be headed for a victory on points. But Melis managed to knock him down in the 7th round. After having succeeded in getting up, exhausted, Cheikho was not able to contain his opponent and was battered down again, thus precipitating the end of the fight. Melis recorded the KO at 2:15 of the 7th round. At the press table, we said that we had hoped to see him again one day against Kevin Bizier of Montreal. Maybe this fall as part of the Fast and Furious series?
In the main support, Manolis Plaitis (16-1-1) won by TKO at 1:52 of the 1st round over Hungarian Ferenc Zold (11-6-0). Please note that after his victory, Plaitis asked his girlfriend for her hand. She who joined him in the ring to accept his bold proposal. Moreover, by virtue of this victory, his agent Camille Estephan will look to ask the Canadian Boxing Federation to engage his boxer in a championship battle this fall.
Currently Plaitis is ranked second at middleweight, and he could soon be involved in a fight for a belt vacant if the current champion, Victor Lupo, decides to drop the strap based on the fact that currently owns the WBC crown International Silver. Recall that Plaitis had held the Canadian belt at welterweight in 2008.
On the undercard, Virgile Degonzaga (8-5-0) made a splash by being involved in one of the most exciting duels of the night. From the first round, he gave a cold sweat to fans of local Ghislain Maduma (4-0-0), by sending him down for the count of eight with a fierce left hook. Maduma, a Montreal native Congo with extensive experience on the international amateur scene, however, returned fire, and even made his opponent suffer the same more than in the following rounds. Maduma eventually won by TKO at 0:49 of the 6th round.
"It was a first fall to the mat for me, among both amateurs and professionals," said the winner to BoxingScene.com\Netboxe.com after the duel. "I wanted to touch him with a punch but I started a little too wide, and he touched me at the same time. But I was not really shaken. I had a very good round at first. I was excited and then he had me. I had a very strong opponent. He has a good chin. He hits very hard too, as evidenced by his six knockouts in eight victories. It was a good experience for me tonight. "
For his part, Virgile Degonzaga, although very disappointed by the result, showed that he was a good sport when met by BoxingScene.com\Netboxe.com. Speaking directly to Maduma, Degonzala was blunt: "It is not for the pretentious, but I was a little apprehensive, you know, with the jet lag and everything. But there are no worries and if you want a rematch, I'll be there. Personally, I'm not too proud of the fight because I was stopped by the referee. But everyone told me that we had a good fight! We pleased public and that is essential. When you're world champion, I'll definitely be your challenger!" - finished Degonzala in a joking manner.