by James Slater – Last night in Canada, on the under card of a fight the fans are still screaming about, in Bute-Andrade, heavyweight Dominick Guinn scored his best win in years as he stopped local man Jean Francois Bergeron at 2 minutes and forty seconds of the 2nd-round. Guinn, now 29-6-1(20) caught southpaw Bergeron as he was along the ropes and landed a number of hard shots that sent him down. The now 27-2(19) Bergeron got up before ten, but due to his unsteady look the 35-year-old gave referee Gerry Bolen no choice but to stop the fight..
For the 33-year-old Guinn the win was a much needed one and in getting the victory “The Southern Disaster” ended a two fight loss streak. Typically buoyant afterwards, Guinn said he knew he’d get the win his career so badly needed.
“I hit him with a straight right hand and jumped on him,” a victorious Guinn said. “They tell me all I have to do is let my hands go and that’s what I did. I hate fighting southpaws, but you could have put King Kong in there tonight and I would have won.
“I was down, down on my luck,” Guinn added with regards to the less than stellar performances he’s given just lately. “I’ve got a new trainer (James Johnson), my entourage is three guys. A few more of these [wins] and I’ll be back on HBO and fighting for a title.”
Will he though? Yes, Guinn, for the first time in a long time showed what he can do to decent fighters if properly motivated, but time is not on his side. Neither is the fans’ patience. Again and again Guinn, a good fighter, has failed to perform at his best. He’s right when people have said all he needs to do is let his hands go, and though he did so last night would he freeze up again against a top-ten guy? Bergeron, while a good enough fighter who had never previously been stopped (his only previous loss being a close points defeat against the huge Nikolai Valuev) is no world beater. And while Guinn deserves credit for going to the 6’5″ southpaw’s backyard and taking him out so quickly, the win has still not erased the image of him labouring and losing to the likes of Robert Hawkins. And, let’s not forget, Bergeron had been out of the ring for over a year before last night’s bout.
In short, it will take a lot more good performances before the fans are ready to believe in Guinn again. Last night he may have got himself back on the right track, and who knows, he may well get one more big chance off the back of the quick win. But at age 33, and after letting himself and his supporters down so many times, it promises to be an uphill slog for Dominick if he’s to finally reap the rewards his considerable talents should have already brought him by now.