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Sunday, March 13, 2011

Wolak Stops Foreman

Yuri Foreman's corner had the fight stopped after the sixth round last night against Pawel Wolak. Wolak, whose eye was swollen and closing, won every round of the bout before the TKO. Foreman habitually kept his left hand low, which allowed Wolak to counter with overhand rights throughout the contest.

After the fight, Foreman said, "I didn't feel like myself tonight." He clearly wasn't sharp from the get-go. Foreman added, "I should've boxed."

But he didn't. His jab only made a brief appearance and he didn't move nearly as much as he needed to. Instead, Wolak was able to just cruise to the inside and wail away at Foreman. Early in the third and fourth rounds, Foreman successfully instituted his stick-and-move strategy, but Wolak finished both rounds strong.

Late in the fourth, Wolak landed a devastating combination to Foreman's head, which was followed by a hurtful body shot. Foreman clearly winced.

Wolak's relentless pressure was too much for Foreman. Wolak landed more punches than Foreman even threw. Foreman’s defense was lackluster. After the sixth round, the corner advised referee Kenny Bayless to stop the fight as Foreman had received far too many blows to the head.

Afterwards, Foreman mentioned that he needed to "relax" and "take time off" after his second straight loss. He also added that he was planning on thinking things over. Foreman's comments lead one to believe that this could have been his last fight. But perhaps he was just consumed by the moment.

Wolak improves to 29-1 and gained his 19th knockout. He is looking for a fight with a beltholder in the junior middleweight division after obtaining the best victory of his career. Foreman falls to 28-2.

3 comments:

  1. I'd like to think Foreman has a few more fights left in him;obviously,this was too much too soon.

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  2. There may have been something Foreman and his corner picked up from his performance against
    Wolak;according to an interview with Wolak after the fight in Boxingscene-one or both of Wolak's eyes were closed.Some of the rounds were close-and it's unlikely Wolak was going to
    pitch a shutout for 10 rounds.Foreman won a fight like this against a very tough Andre Tsurkan,with his basic boxing style.Hopefully,he wasn't motivated to try this style out because of criticism that his style "isn't exciting enough".Following his loss
    by heat exhaustion against Joey Maxim,Sugar Ray Robinson-too early in his comeback-was picked apart against the tough-but not in his class,Tiger Jones.

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  3. Hopefully that was the situation, Brian. But Foreman appeared flat and it seemed like his will was lacking. His usual style requires a tremendous amount of energy and determination, so you have to wonder if he still wants it. He's also hinted that he wouldn't fight once he finished rabbinal school. But again hopefully it was just bad night against a tough guy and he gets back in the ring.

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