By Cliff Rold
It wasn’t always pretty but it was certainly fun. 28-year old Heavyweight Tony Grano (16-1-1, 13 KO) of Hebron, Connecticut came back from the brink of defeat with a well-timed low blow and bevy of power shots to stop undefeated 24-year old Travis Kauffmann (18-1, 15 KO) of Reading, Pennsylvania in round four at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, California on Friday night.
Kauffmann struck first with a right over the top and he continued to look for openings over the top of Grano highly held guard. Another right at a minute in drew salute from the crowd but again Grano took it well and responded with a pair of body shots. An attempted right from Grano fell short in the final minute but he used a long jab to the chest top open room for a short combination to Kauffman’s ribs.
Using lateral movement, Grano stayed at range while Kauffmann continued to come forward with power shots. Inside, Grano stayed committed to the body until a right hand to the head rocked Kauffmann. Kauffmann moved to clear his head and then landed his own thudding left hook. A wild, missing right from Grano allowed another left to land for Kauffmann and both men exchanged in the final thirty seconds, Grano wiggling and sticking his tongue out to end the frame.
The action was largely at close quarters in the third with Kauffmann landing more but Grano managing the occasional hard response. Kauffmann wasted no time at the outset of round four, immediately opening up on Grano near the ropes. Mixing in a right uppercut which had been successful most of the fight, it was an overhand right which sent Grano’s legs to quivering. Attempting to keep afoot, Grano landed a well timed low blow to break Kauffmann’s rush but not for long, The assault continued, Kauffmann dislodging Grano’s mouthpiece and inadvertently providing another respite as the referee halted the action to replace the mouth shield.
Fortune can change quickly in the fight game, particularly with the biggest men. Grano proved it in the final minute of the round.
A right hand landed flush and Kauffmann immediately went to clinch. Grano would have none of that, shaking loose with a left hook and right hand. Another left and right kicked off a series of bombs as Kauffmann flailed. Battered into the corner, Grano kept punching while Kauffmann’s hand hung limply around the back of his neck. A forearm smash to the chin in the final thirty second pushed Kauffmann towards the corner and Grano was relentless, planting and loading with a lopping and missing right only to shorten the blow along the ropes and tag Kauffmann clean. The right continued to land as Grano stuck with it while the seconds ticked off the clock. A final right had Kaufmann reeling and Grano’s left pushed him towards the floor. Kauffmann attempted to rise but fell flat to his back, waving to the ref as if to say he could go on without realizing from whence he spoke. The referee waved the action complete at 2:56 of round four.
The featured undercard bout provided a glimpse at a rising Bantamweight with heavy hands as 19-year old Chris Avalos (12-0, 10 KO), 118, of Lancaster, California scored a brutal knockout of Mexico’s Giovanni Caro (13-8-4, 11 KO), 118, in the fourth.
Avalos struggled a bit with the jab and counterpunching of Caro but once he solved the riddle, it was lights out. A series of hard right hands highlighted the fourth round, none more devastating than the final landed blast. Sweeping around the guard of Caro, Avalos landed flush to the cheek and Caro collapsed to the floor, out on his way down. The official time of the stoppage was 2:15 of round four.
The card was televised in the U.S. on premium cable network Showtime, promoted by Gary Shaw Productions.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
