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"Irish Tornado" wins Friday night fight in Long Island


Published Wednesday, June 10, 2009, 2:39 PM
Updated Thursday, July 23, 2009, 5:29 PM

 

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Stephen Ormond

Dubin lightweight Stephen Ormond (4-0, 1 KO) beat Sergi Ganjelashvili (4-3-1) by unanimous decision at the Capital One Bank Theater in Westbury, Long Island on Friday night.

Washington Hago (4-4, 2 KOs) was scheduled to fight the Dubliner, but a left shoulder injury suffered in training last Tuesday forced him to pull out of the fight. Drafted in as a late replacement was Ganjelashvili, a 26-year-old Georgian based in Miami, Florida.

The diminutive Ormond entered the ring to the sounds of Black Sabbath and flew out of the traps in the first round, showing his faster hand speed and throwing four and five punch combinations with intensity and accuracy.

The Clondalkin native was having repeated success with his left hook and lead overhand right, catching his opponent flush on numerous occasions. Ormond often pummeled the body of his opponent with thunderous shots, but the wily Georgian took the punches well and fought back sporadically.

The second round saw more of the same pressure, with stinging left hooks and overhand rights finding their target for the Dub. Ormond had his opponent hurt at least three times in the second stanza, and it was down to Ganjelashvili’s conditioning and strong chin that he somehow stayed on his feet. 

Ormond was so enthusiastic that a four-punch combination delivered as the bell rang for the end of the stanza cost him the round, as referee Benji Estevez rather harshly deducted a point from the Irishman for the late hits.

The third was more one-way traffic, but credit to Ganjelashvili, he made a fight of it and was able absorb a lot of punishment. In the second half of the fight, Ormond chose to work the ring and pick his opponent off sporadically. The 26-year-old Dubliner was caught with one overhand in the fifth, but apart from that he cruised to victory. 

All three judges scored the fight 59-54, indicating that the only round that Ormond did not win was the second, which was a draw because of the point deduction.

“I think the other guy was just an extremely tough guy, some guys can take a really a punch, because four of five times in that fight the guy was out on his feet and he got hit again and he came back, “ trainer Pete Brodsky told the Irish Voice after the fight.

The late change of opponent (Hago was smaller than Ormond) actually worked in Ormond’s favor. “The Irish Tornado” had done most of his sparring with Chris Algieri, a six-foot light welterweight (who also won well on the night), and this work stood to him against his taller opponent.

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