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JD Vena From Ringside

Oliveira Breaks Down Larrimore, Seeks Title Shot


WORCESTER, MA - Last night at the Worcester Centrum Centre 'Sucra' Ray Oliviera prepared himself for a top-notch jr. welterweight when he pounded the well-traveled journeyman, Steve Larrimore into submission at 1:07 of the 7th round.  Oliveira, 145, of New Bedford, MA didn't waste any time wailing Larrimore to the body at will throughout the fight.  His typical body attack was what dropped Larrimore on three occasions, two of which occurred in the climactic round.  After the second knockdown of the frame, referee Mike Ryan saw that Larrimore no longer wanted to participate and waved the fight over.

    Larrimore, 145, of Nassau, Bahamas offered little resistance except when he elected to clutch Oliveira's arms or pull Oliveira down behind the neck.  Ryan warned Larrimore on several occasions but it was Oliveira who became infuriated with Larrimore's tactics of survival.  The sounds of Oliveira's body punches could be heard throughout the Centrum, as could Larrimore's grunts.  Midway through the 4th round, Oliveira landed a crippling left hook to the body.  Those at ringside could hear the air being exhausted form Larrimore's body as he slumped to the canvas.  During the next two rounds, Oliveira began to land upstairs but couldn't land a hurting shot against the retreating Larrimore.  At the start of the 7th, Oliveira reverted back to his body attack, an attack Larrimore could no longer resist.  The win for Oliveira raised his record to 41-7-1 with 19 KO's while Larrimore slips under the .500 mark at 25-26 with 19 KO's.

    A week ago, there had been ramblings (no pun Gerbasi) of a possible title shot for Oliveira against IBF kingpin, Zab Judah in October.  According to Jimbo Esperduli, Oliveira's manager, those plans have fell through and it now appears that Oliveira may get a chance to avenge his 1997 decision loss to Reggie Green for the vacant NABF title.  Oliveira's only other loss since his loss to Green was to unbeaten welterweight contender, Vernon Forrest.  A victory over Green would all but assure Oliveira a third shot at a world title.

    In a one-sided 8 round contest for the Massachusetts State jr. middleweight title, Jose Rivera, 153, mercilessly beat Southie's tough Tommy Attardo, 151, in front of his hometown fans.  As early as the 2nd round, there were cries for stopping the bout so that Attardo would not face long term effects of the damage done to his cranium that night.  Owning nearly four times as many victories as Attardo, Rivera landed every known punch in the book but couldn't put away his stubborn foe.  In this writer's eyes, Attardo has more courage than any prizefighter I've ever seen.  Despite never leaving his feet from punches (Attardo slipped at the end of the 7th) there were at least three rounds where a 10-8 score for Rivera could have been awarded.

    Attardo's career has taken a 180 degree turn.  His career began with 8 straight wins until he began taking risks with other up and comers.  His first setback came when he drew with RI prospect, Brian Dumas and he's lost four straight fights to the likes of Dumas, Marcus Davis and now Rivera.  Rivera was a huge step up in class for Attardo.  Rivera, whose record improved to 31-3-1 with 21 KO's, has lost only to experienced veterans, Pat Coleman, Robert Frazier and Willy Wise.  He owns victories over Teddy Reid and Cape Cod's Kippy Diggs.  For Attardo's sake, I hope he's matched with more fighters along his level of skill before taking another leap up in class.

    Add this one to boxing's bizarre outcomes.  Joe Sicilano, the same fella who was trounced by Peter McNeeley a few months ago won--get this --the Central Massachusetts Super Heavyweight title last night after his opponent, Robert Pooler was disqualified for using 'unauthorized boxing equipment.'  No, Pooler, 234, wasn't carrying a lead pipe or using foreign substances on his gloves, he was wearing contact lenses.  Midway through the second round of the Butterbean-like exhibition (to put it nicely), Pooler fell to the canvas and was struck by Siciliano, 255, a Leominster Police Detective.  Pooler immediately, began searching the canvas and admitted to referee Mike Ryan that he lost his right contact lens.  Don't ask where it's stated in the rules, but why was Pooler fighting with contact lenses anyway?  Incredibly, the belt awarded to Siciliano fit his hefty waistline.  The belt was so large, it could have fit racehorse super!
star, Cigar as well.

    You may remember Worcester's Sean Fitzgerald outboxing Panamanian legend Roberto Duran several years back until the ageless Duran knocked him senseless in the 6th round.  Or you might recall Fitzgerald being starched by Malden's Dana Rosenblatt in the first round of that same year as a middleweight.  Sean Fitzgerald returned to the ring for the first time this year as a heavyweight weighing 207 pounds.  His opponent was Donald Colbert, a 212-pounder from of Allentown, PA who like Larrimore used many tricks for survival.  Fitzy, as his name was chanted throughout the 6 rounds, whaled the body of Colbert who was floored on two occasions from a succession of body shots.  Fitzgerald won by scores of 60-52 twice and 59-54.  His record improved to 28-2-2 with 11 KO's while his opponent's record drops to 5-7 with 3 KO's.

    In other bouts, Jose LaPorte, of Worcester, and Mike Cribbin fought for something they rarely receive after a night's work: a win; only to add a majority draw to their dismal resumes.  Judges Paul Barry and William Connolly scored the fight 38-38 while Raymond Delicio saw it for LaPorte 39-37.  Needless to say, they provided much action throughout the bout.  LaPorte is now 1-4-1 with 1 KO while Cribbin is now 3-14-1 with 1 KO.  In the first bout, Elio Rodriguez, 125, of Leominster, lost a tough 6 round split decision to Luis Rivera, 125 of New Haven, CT.  While Judges Barry and Delicio saw it as one-sided as I did for Rivera with 60-54 and 60-55 scores, Connolly scored it for Rodriguez at 58-56.  Rodriguez is now 6-2 with 2 KO's while Rivera is now 5-5 with 1 KO.

Promoter : BoxAmerica
Time Keeper : Ken Volovick
Judges : Bill Connolly, Paul Barry and Raymond Delicio
Ringside Physician : William Dorfman, M.D.
Referees : Mike Ryan and Gerry Leone

   







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