Rybacki shows his true power

By S. Noble

30.10 - On the undercard of the Jason Cook title defence in Maesteg Albert Rybacki put on a career best performance to stop Tony Dodson the tough British supermiddleweight. Although Rybacki was undefeated coming into the bout, this was easily his toughest contest to date. The softly spoken Rybacki belied his mild demeanor outside of the ring though, with an impressive stoppage win. Although the fight had been close throughout the early rounds, Dodson was perhaps ahead on the scorecards. Rybacki was to render all this academic however in the ninth round, when some accurate punching forced the referee to step in to save Dodson from an unnecessary knockout.

Rybacki's win is significant because not only does it give him the WBF Intercontinental title belt, but it raises him towards the top rank of European suppermiddleweights. He entered the fight as the underdog, fighting away from home, against a more experienced opponent. Dodson had never lost by stoppage before and on paper was the bigger puncher. Rybacki demonstrated patience and power in this fight and his development will be watched with interest by those currently ranked above him in his weight category. Rybacki will carry a new and dangerous confidence into his next bout, knowing he has the ability to step up his game when required. For Dodson the fight raises more questions than it answers. His ability to take a punch had never been questioned before, now his next opponent will feel that it maybe a weakness for him to exploit. For him the next fight will be the one that decides if he slides into journeyman status or resumes his climb up the ladder.