Jirov scores TKO over Mateen

by Kent Appel @ ringside

08.08 - In a spirited if sometimes sloppy fight, which featured two warnings from referee David Denkin to both fighters for headbutting, former crusieweight champion Vassiliy Jirov of Scottsdale, Arizona, originally from Kazakhstan, defeated Ernest Mateen of Brooklyn, New York by a technical knockout at the 1:09 mark of round number seven. Jirov weighed in at 195 1/2 pounds, while Mateeen tipped the scales at 195 1/4 pounds.

The end came suddenly when after absorbing a hard right hook, which knocked out Mateen's mouthpiece, Mateen informed referee Denkin that he was unable to continue due to suffering from double vision.

Jirov, a southpaw, dominated most of the bout with his effective use of the straight left hand to the head and the body. Mateen had his moments though and he showed at times effective use of the right hand lead.

The Jirov verses Mateen fight was one of six fights that took place at the Pechanga resort and casino in Temecula, Calfornia on Thursday August 7, 2003 and it will be shown on a tape delayed basis, along with the CO feature bout, on Sunday August 10, 2003 on Fox Sports Network. Check your local listings for the time in your area. The card was promoted by Goossen Tutor Promotions.

The bout started out slowly during a mostly feeling out process in round number one in which Jirov had the edge based on being the busier of the two fighters. Mateen did not throw many punches in this round.

The action picked up somewhat in round number two with Jirov scoring with a hard lefts to the body early and in the middle of the round. Mateen began to also find the mark by fighting back with hard right leads near the middle of the round and with a hard right hand to the body near round's end. Jirov regained the advantage though with a hard straight left hand late in the round.

Jirov stepped up the pace and scored no less than three knockdowns of Mateen in round number three, two from left hand body shots and one from a left to the head. Mateen weathered the storm though and he gamely fought back, scoring with right hand leads to finish the round on his still unsteady legs. I scored this round 10 to 7 in favor of Jirov.

Jirov had the edge in round number four by scoring with strong right jabs and powerful lefts to the body but he was hampered by a cut that was caused by an accidental clash of the heads of the two fighters that opened up on his left forehead. Mateen scored with a hard right to the body and with rights to the
head late in the round but he didn't score enough to offset Jirov's earlier advantage.

Emboldened by the cut on Jirov's forehead, Mateen scored well throughout round number five. He landed hard two handed combinations early in the round and right hand leads at the mid point and late in the round. Maybe because of the cut or maybe because he was growing weary, but Jirov could not seem to get untracked in this round.

Round six saw the best two sided action of the fight. Jirov established effective use of the right jab early and he used his potent left hand to the body throughout the rest of the round. Jirov had a slight edge in the round but Mateen displayed strong use of the left jab and two handed combinations to the head early in the round coupled with strong left hands to the body at the mid round along with his continued use of the right hand lead.

Mateen tried to force an advantage in round number seven by scoring with a hard right lead early in the round. What occurred next is puzzling because Mateen was fighting back well in the exchanges with Jirov but when Mateen was hit with a hard right hook to the head, he signaled to the referee that he was unable to continue. I must assume he was having major vision problems because if he was going to pick a time to quit, it makes sense that he would have chosen round three, when he was knocked down three times, not round number seven when he had already come back from the edge of defeat and there was still a possibility of his winning the fight.

With the win, Jirov improves his record to 32-1, 28 by knockout, while Mateen falls to 27-11-3, 9 by knockout. The judges' scores of the fight after six rounds were as follows: 60-52, 59-52, and 59-52, all for Jirov. I saw the fight by the score of 59-53, also for the winner, Jirov.

In the CO feature fight scheduled for twelve rounds, Robbie Peden of Brisbane Australia, won the vacant USBA junior lightweight championship by scoring a seventh round TKO over Lamont Pearson of Capitol Heights, Maryland when Pearson was unable to continue due to a possible broken right hand.

Peden, 130 pounds, scored with stronger combinations throughout the bout than Pearson, also 130 pounds, to gain the victory. With the win, Peden in now 22-2, 12 by knockout, while Pearson takes a step back to 20-3-1, 11 by knockout.

Other action on the card includes the following bouts: Rudy Dominguez of Coachella, California defeated Jorge Garcia of Acapulco, Mexico by unanimous six round decision, featherweights. Dominguez is now 10-0, 2 by knockout while Garcia falls to 10-11-1, 7 by knockout.

Saul Roman of Culiacan, Mexico defeated Cesar Avila of Buena Park, California by third round TKO, middleweights. Roman improves to 11-2, 10 by knockout while Avila is now 8-5-1, 6 by knockout.

Herburt Teahu of Fontana California defeated David Johnson of Los Angeles, California by fourth round knockout. Teahu, in his professional debut, is now 1-0, 1 by knockout while Johnson is 1-4-1, 0 by knockout, heavyweights.

Finally, in the most action packed fight of the night, Eduardo Vasquez of Coachella, California won a unanimous four round decision over Oscar Villa of Guerrero, Mexico. Vasquez is now 3-0-1, 2 by knockout and Villa moves to 3-15-1, 1 by knockout, featherweights. These two game fighters pounded each other for four tremendous rounds and in the process earned themselves both an extra five hundred dollar bonus from Dan Goossen of Goossen Tutor Promotions for a job that was much more than well done.