by James Slater – In all honesty, it wasn’t much of an under-card that took place in Switzerland beneath the also disappointing Klitschko-Johnson main event, but there were two reasonably exciting heavyweight bouts that took place in Berne on Saturday. First up was former IBF cruiserweight title challenger Jonathon Banks, who was having his third fight as a heavyweight. And the 27-year-old from Detroit looked good in smashing Germany’s Marcel Zeller to defeat in less than a minute.
Banks, weighing his heaviest yet at slightly above 224-pounds, came out smoking and he soon had the 36-year-old journeyman in serious trouble. Right hands got the job done for Banks, and the referee, Bernd Hupfer, was forced to save Zeller from taking further punishment after he’d got up from a hurtful knockdown.. Winning by TKO in just 37-seconds, the former 200-pounder sure looked a lot better than he did last time out, when he laboured to a dull majority decision win over Javier Mora on the Klitschko-Arreola bill in California. Banks was the only fighter to win by a stoppage in Switzerland.
Now 3-0(2) as a heavyweight, maybe Banks can go on to achieve something at the weight after all? With his fast hands and his above average power, the former Emanuel Steward-trained fighter will be one to watch in the coming months. A fight between Banks and somebody like a Tony Thompson or a comebacking David Tua would perhaps prove interesting.
The other American heavyweight on Saturday’s bill, Monte Barrett, was beaten once again – with “Two Gunz” now being winless in his last three outings. The 38-year-old was clearly out-pointed by the huge Alexander Ustinov. Coming back to the ring after his October 10th, 2nd-round stoppage loss to Odlanier Solis, Barrett was almost stopped in the opening round by the 32-year-old approx 298-pounder. Decked by a right hand to the head, it looked like it was going to be another disaster for the New Yorker.
Instead, showing the heart he’s always had, Barrett beat the count and got back into the fight; lasting all 12 rounds. Barrett tried his best to land his big right hand, slinging it over the top on a number of occasions, but Ustinov was never really caught flush or hurt in the watch able affair. Going down by scores of 118-109, 117-110 and a much closer 116-112, Barrett surely had the last fight of his long career. Or did he?
Barrett doesn’t seem to want to hang up the gloves, even though it looks to most people as though he really should do so. Still competitive at a certain level, as he was on Saturday, it won’t be all that surprising if the former world title challenger has another fight. Barrett is now 34-9(20).
As for Russia’s Ustinov; despite his size he has some skills and he also has decent stamina. No huge puncher despite his good looking 19-0(15) record, the 6’7″ big man could go somewhere nonetheless. How about a fight with Banks somewhere down the road?