Boxing

Brown Dominates LaMontagne

Paul-John Ramos

03.08 - It seems a riddle for 31-year-old Dale Brown to achieve marquee status in the cruiserweight division, having been stopped by Vassily Jirov and Jean-Marc Mormeck for alphabet titles. Yet Brown eagerly reminded us of why he deserves such chances with a landslide decision win over journeyman Rich LaMontagne at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire on Friday evening. Brown, 190, Canada, carried the baton through all ten rounds of this non-title event, amply rewarded by judges Jim Finnegan and Mike Nolan, who both scored it 98-90, and John Stevens, who marked his card 99-90. East Side Boxing also gave Brown a 98-90 edge.

A sensitivity to body shots caused his undoing in the title losses, but Brown faced virtually nothing from LaMontagne, 190, Everett, Massachusetts, a heavy-hitting veteran who has feasted on weaker opponents. Brown's technical superiority was made clear in the first minute, when LaMontagne tried to aggress and was seated by a countering left hook. LaMontagne sprang to his feet and hulked onward, but Richie The Mountain was doomed to an uphill battle.

The next nine heats exhibited Brown's solid defense and larger punching repertoire, his straight hands easily landing and rapid combinations keeping LaMontagne off-balance. The ongoing pressure forced LaMontagne to take an eight-count in round three and he was soon bleeding above his left eye. His gape was watched closely by ring doctors, but congealed well enough for the one-sided action to continue. By round ten, Brown was well in control over his hard-swinging opponent, although mildly fatigued. Brown improved to 30-3-1 (20) with the easy decision, while LaMontagne dropped to 28-5-1 (23). Most revealing was the punches-landed count, which favored Brown 192 to 58.

Brown is better known for workmanship rather than a hard punch, which is disadvantageous in one of boxing's "power" divisions. The Calgary native could draw inspiration from James Toney, who has used fine counterpunching ability on his road to unseating Vassily Jirov. Whether Brown can achieve the same heights as Toney - an unlocking of the skylight - remains to be seen, but his dominance against lesser opponents warrant another shot.

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