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Godfrey gets off back to kayo Nwodo |
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Friday, 29 August 2008 |
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By ERIC BENEVIDES Sports writer UNCASVILLE, Conn. --- He lost the first three rounds and got knocked down in the final seconds of the third.
But Matt Godfrey bounced back from his slow start in dramatic fashion on Friday night, and before a large gathering at the Mohegan Sun Arena and an ESPN2 "Friday Night Fights" audience, Godfrey produced a fourth-round TKO of Emmanuel Nwodo that allowed Godfrey to keep his North American Boxing Federation (NABF) cruiserweight title in the main event of Classic Entertainment & Sports, Inc's "Tidal Wave" show.
The Providence fighter had the audience on its feet in the fourth when he attacked Nwodo and broke his nose less than a minute into the round. Blood splattered across the ring with every vicious punch Godfrey landed, and when he connected on four straight shots that Nwodo couldn't defend, referee Dan Schiavone stepped in and stopped the bout at 1:57.
"He started slowing down way too early," said Godfrey, who improved to 17-1 with his 10th knockout. "Even though he got some good shots on me, I knew he would slow down. If you start fast, you have to finish fast, and I knew he wasn't going to (finish fast)."
Nwodo, who is 22-5 (18 KOs) and came into the fight ranked ninth in the NABF, delivered what Godfrey called "a flash knockdown" at the end of the third round that left Godfrey unbalanced and caused him to take a seat on the canvas. The knockdown hushed the local fight fans in attendance, but Godfrey shook it off.
"We just exchanged rights and my hand was out there when he caught me," added Godfrey. "He didn't hurt me at all."
The fight was Godfrey's first in over fifth months and comes after he lost a close 12-round decision last March in Germany to Rudolf Kraj in a World Boxing Council (WBC) title eliminator. Godfrey is currently ranked fifth in the WBC, and Nwodo is ranked 12th by the WBA and 14th by the WBC.
Before Godfrey's victory, his good friend, heavyweight Jason "Big Six" Estrada, improved his record to 14-1 (3 KOs) by winning his eight-round "Special Attraction" bout with Dallas native and Texas state champion Domonic Jenkins (13-9-1, 6 KOs) by three scores of 79-73.
Estrada, a Providence native and member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic team, needed to overcome a banged-up right wrist he dinged up in the second round by using his hand speed and landing some vicious punches to top Jenkins, whose aside from a strong sixth round and a well-fought fifth, was outmatched by Estrada.
"The guy came to fight," noted Estrada. "He tried to win for a while, but then he just tried to survive. I landed a lot of clean shots and I got hit with a couple, but I just rolled and moved away from them."
Estrada, who came into the fight ranked 11th in the NABF and NABO (North American Boxing Organization), might have unleashed more damage had his right hand not bother him for the final six rounds, and he blamed his woes on the Everlast gloves he wore for the fight.
"I definitely had a problem with the Everlast (gloves)," added Estrada, who prefers to wear Grant's gloves and spoke to the press with his hand in a bucket of ice. "A couple of my body shots hurt him, but I really wanted to do was try to double. I wanted to throw the left and then the right, and if I can't throw the right the way I want to, they come off as one hard shot and one soft shot instead of one soft (shot) and one hard (shot)." |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 03 September 2008 )
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