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After Year & A Half Layoff From
Boxing,
Peter Quillan Defeats Fernando Zuniga
By Tim Donaldson
Peter Quillan hadn’t fought since September of 2008.
Although he looked a little rusty from the layoff, he showed
himself to still be a contender. Now it could be argued that
he took an easy fight. Fernando Zuniga is almost eleven
years older than Quillan. What kind of a challenge could he
possibly be? But Zuniga never saw it that way.
Zuniga came out strong in the first round, and even though
he was walking into shots from Quillan, he was still landing
his own. Quillan ended the round strong, but it would not be
inconceivable for a judge to score the round for Zuniga.
However, a first round is only a first round. It is a time
for fighters to get used to their opponents, and first
rounds don’t always give a clear picture of the outcome of
the fight.
In the second, Quillan still did not go rushing in. He
seemed to be waiting for Zuniga to come to him. When Zuniga
would come in and throw a punch, Quillan would counter.
Zuniga was getting hit again and again as he came in. The
effect of this was obvious. Zuniga was starting to keep his
distance.
But it would be a boring fight if that was all that could be
said about Zuniga. He did not spend the whole fight avoiding
Quillan. In the third, he was throwing wide hooks. At one
point, he leapt at Quillan to land his punches. He kept up
his attack until the end of the round, coming in to hit
Quillan. Zuniga was being the more aggressive fighter, but
only because he was willing to take a punch.
Being the younger, Quillan could not just sit back and take
this. At least he couldn’t if he wanted to keep his
credibility. He was much more aggressive in the fourth
round. He came out on the attack. But by the end of the
round, the two were simply tying each other up on the ropes.
The fifth round continued much like the fourth round ended,
with the two fighters tying each other up. Both were trying
to attack the body of their opponent, but neither really
seemed to be getting the advantage. And both looked tired.
Quillan turned the tide of the fight, taking control until
the last round, in the sixth. No longer was either fighter
trying to avoid being hit. Both were fighting in close.
Zuniga seemed to be doing a lot of backing up. Quillan was
keeping pressure on Zuniga, trying to keep him on the ropes.
Zuniga was taking a lot of punishment in the seventh round.
He was being backed to the ropes and taking lots of shots to
the body. In the eighth round, Zuniga got off a clean right,
but it wasn’t enough to change the momentum. Quillan fired
off a combination. Quillan was looking energized, while
Zuniga was showing signs of his age.
Quillan continued to back Zuniga around the ring in the
ninth. Zuniga was still throwing but didn’t seem to be
landing them. By the tenth round, Quillan was throwing lots
of combinations. Although Quillan was doing a lot of moving
to stay safe and avoid that punch from nowhere, he had
clearly won the fight. Zuniga had little defense in that
last round.
As the final bell round, a smile could be seen on Zuniga’s
face. Quillan showed no emotion. You might have thought that
Zuniga had won the fight. But the judges all scored for
Quillan. In fact, two judges scored all ten rounds for
Quillan, while one scored two rounds for Zuniga.
Quillan showed himself capable. Next time he might not get
such an easy fight. And he will have to work on a few
things. His timing seemed off throughout much of the fight,
and he would back straight up after an attack. A better,
younger fighter will take advantage of these.
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