By Marcus Richardson: #3 WBA welterweight contender Thomas Dulorme (16-1, 12 KO’s) plans on moving down to 140 next year to campaign as a light welterweight after getting knocked out in the 7th round last Saturday night by fringe contender Luis Carlos Abregu (34-1, 28 KO’s) at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Verona, New York, USA. The defeat saw the 22-year-old Dulorme hit the canvas in both the 3rd and the 7th rounds.
The fight was stopped after the second knockdown when Dulorme’s corner threw in the towel rather than let him take more punishment in the fight.
Dulorme told Primerahora.com “The plan after this fight is to get some rest and come back in 2013, but possibly at 140…When I go in the ring I do it at 150 or 151 lbs, while my opposition weigh 165 to 170.”
Dulorme has got to do something because something is missing in his game most notably his ability to take hard shots. Abregu is a good puncher to be sure, but there are bigger punchers at welterweight than him. If Dulorme can’t take Abregu’s power than he certainly won’t be able to handle taking shots from guys like Marcos Maidana, Manny Pacquiao, Andre Berto or Victor Ortiz, to name just a small handful of good punchers.
Dulorme also showed an inability to fight on the inside against Abregu. That’s going to be a problem for Dulorme no matter weight class he fights in. He’ll be at a distant disadvantage against guys that can fight on the inside. He’s going to have to figure out what he’s going to do in that area.
Dulorme can really punch but he’s more of a one punch at a time type of fighter and he’s not going to go very far with that kind of fighting style unless his power is more pronounced at 140 than it was at 147.