By Luke Furman
For Patryk Szymanski (19-2, 10 KO), the fight in Katowice Spodek was not supposed to be the last dance.
In interviews before the fight, he announced that in the event of failure with Robert Talarek (24-13-2, 16 KO) he would finish his career.
And it was unfortunately the last tango of Szymanski in Katowice. But his fight with Talarek will be remembered for many years, he will go to the history of Polish boxing. Throughout the duel, both rivals found a total of 10 knockdowns.
Szymanski started the first round of the earthquake. He attacked from the first gong and already in the first minute, the classic action begen, when he planted Talarek on mat. The brave miner collected himself, but a moment later he again scored a knockdown with a right hand. It seemed that the sensational victory was coming, but Talarek survived to the bell.
In the second clash, however, Talarek unexpectedly hit the top right in the attack, he improved his punches and Szymanski found himself on the mat. When it seemed that the fate of the clash would turn in favor of the local favorite, the boxer from Wielkopolska returned to the game with two knockdowns, effectively counter attacking Talarek.
In the third round, Talarek experienced difficult moments when Szymanski twice sent him to the mat. However, Talarek showed great fortitude and hard character of the miner, who allowed him to survive difficult moments to the bell.
This fight was, however, a real rollercoaster! In the fourth round, Szymanski's fatigue was visible, which he did not attack as effectively as in the previous clash and after Talarek's blow from the right he found himself down for the second time in this fight. Now he fought for survival, including another knockdown before the bell ended this round. And although he survived to the bell, it was clear that his end was near. The uproar in the stands reached its zenith!
However, Szymanski was still dangerous and in the fifth clash, he accurately countered Talarek, who was attacking violently. However, he no longer had the strength, and his blows were devoid of dynamics, so they could not do any damage to the opponent as he did in the earlier rounds.
Finally, the accumulation of punches, which Talarek impeded on the exhausted Szymanski, led to the tenth knockdown in this fight, after which Szymanski gathered himself to his feet with great difficulty at "8", but Judge Robert Gortat rightly stopped the action.
After announcing the verdict was announced, Szymanski confirmed that he was finishing his boxing career.
Luke Furman covers boxing for bokser.org
