by David P. Greisman

Prichard “Digget” Colon had scored knockouts or technical knockouts in all 10 of his fights since turning pro in February 2013. Only twice had his bouts even gotten to the fifth round.

“It was a matter of time. We knew the day would come where we’d go the distance and hear the scorecards for the first time,” Colon told reporters afterward. “It’s great experience. It’s money in the bank for the future, and I’m just happy I got the victory. I wasn’t really looking to continue the knockout streak. I’m lucky I got it. I’m happy I had the knockout streak for 10 fights, but I just want to win. The ultimate goal is to win.”

Dozier, a 32-year-old from Glen Burnie, Maryland, is now 9-7-1 with 4 KOs.

“He was getting real low. A shorter fighter is sometimes difficult to get to,” Colon said of Dozier. “He’s a durable fighter, you know. He was a guy who could take a punch. He could take a punch, and I’m not going to say it was the weight — he came in heavy, but he could take a punch. I have respect for him. He could take a punch.

“I think I hurt him in round four when I cut him. We just stayed patient. We knew he was a durable fighter. Last fight he went the full distance, eight rounds, so we just wanted to go round by round.”

Colon came in at 150.4 pounds. Dozier was nowhere to be found at the weigh-in, but later stepped on the scales at 154.2 pounds.

Colon said he plans to compete at welterweight

“I’m young. I have a lot to learn,” he said. “It’s a learning experience today, a great experience going the distance. I got a lot of things to learn. This fight we were working to use our jab more. I believe I did. We got to sit down and see what else we can work on.”

Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide. Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com