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E-mailIrish boxer Steve Ormond moves to 5-0 after New York win
Dublin lightweight Steve Ormond (5-0, 1 KO) beat Puerto Rican Israel Suarez (1-2) by unanimous decision in a six round fight outdoors at Plattduetsche Park Restaurant, Franklin Square, Long Island on Saturday afternoon.
Ormond, who weighed in at 134 pounds, started out tentatively as it turned out that he was not expecting his opponent to be a southpaw.
In a close opening round, the busier Ormond took the fight to Suarez, whose long reach and guile proved difficult for the Dubliner to penetrate.
Nonetheless, Ormond pressurized Suarez onto the ropes and the more meaningful exchanges seemed to go his way, even if a couple of right hand body shots from Suarez did find their mark.
The second stanza saw a lot of defensive movement from Suarez, but Ormond was beginning to impose himself on proceedings in a round that ebbed and flowed.
However, with 15 seconds left Ormond landed a big left hook and made a strong finish that edged the round in his favor.
In the third, Ormond’s conditioning and strength started to show and he began to wear down his opponent. Two sharp left hooks during this round highlighted the Irishman’s upper hand in this stanza.
Suarez’ output diminished rapidly, and he had the weary look of a fighter who wanted to stay out of trouble as much as anything else, though he still proved an elusive target and his right hand to the body was still scoring sporadically.
The later rounds saw Ormond dominate the exchanges and do most of the fighting. While it may not have been his most explosive performance, Ormond did more than enough over the second half of the fight to leave the result in no doubt.
When the final bell rang all three judges found in Ormond’s favor. Judge Carlos Ortiz scored it 60-54, while judges Tony Paolillo and Luis Rivera scored it 58-56.
“I thought he was a rightie but he was a southie and he was a tough guy. I hurt him in the body and knew he was gone but I couldn’t get in,” said Ormond after the fight.
“He was like a good amateur fighter; he would make you miss and hold you and turn you. I am happy with the win but not happy with the fight but that is the way it goes, you learn from these fights.”
Ormond will not stay idle for too long and will have one more fight before the summer is out. Then he will head home for short break.
“I might have another fight in four or five weeks and then home for a few weeks and then back again,” said the Clondalkin native.
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