Moore Aces First Real Test

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Irish Voice Sport

Moore Aces First Real Test

March 19, 2008

By Declan O’Kelly

LIGHT middleweight James Moore (15-0, 10 KOs) put on an impressive display to claim the biggest scalp of his professional career when he won a unanimous decision against former world title challenger Juan Carlos Candelo (27-10-4) on Saturday night.

Moore entered the ring in his sleeveless Celtic jersey to a packed WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden. Awaiting him was Colombian Candelo, who would belie his recent record (the 34-year-old had won only once since July 2003) to give the Irishman a stern test.

The first two rounds were an absolute boxing clinic from Moore, who was connecting with straight combinations and body shots. Candelo chose to sit on the ropes and barely traded at all in the first six minutes.

In the third round it all changed when Candelo exploded out of his slumber. When Moore got caught on the ropes, Candelo unleashed a right uppercut that landed on his upper right cheek.

Stunned and off balance, the Co. Wicklow native seemed hurt and took a few more shots that had the crowd momentarily silenced. Moore was finally able to quell the Candelo tide of punches and was able to hold on and make it to the bell, but not without picking up a cut to his left eye.

The exchanges increased in the fourth and Moore was getting caught on the ropes much more than he should have, but he fought back with a huge body shot that drove Candelo into the red corner and followed up with a flurry of punishing punches.

Moore continued the good work in the fifth and boxed extremely well. If he ever felt a surge in action from Candelo, he would successfully smother and neutralize his opponent. At the end of the fifth Moore raised a glove as if to signify to the crowd that he had weathered the storm and had his opponent’s number.

Moore had to be wary of the right uppercut all fight, and it continued to be the rock upon which Candelo based his all-or-nothing attacks. The Colombian was not able to box anywhere near three minutes a round, and his best bet was to egg Moore into making a brawl of it.

However, Moore did not take the bait and heeded the pleas of his corner to box, move his head and keep his opponent at bay with the jab.

Moore boxed a great ninth round to cement his lead, and it was clear that Candelo would need a big performance in the last to win the fight. The 10th saw Moore tire, and Candelo won the battle of the last round on all three judges cards, but Moore was awarded the fight with Bob Gilson, Julie Ledernan and Tony Paolillo scoring the match 97-92, 97-93, 95-94 respectively.

Candelo didn’t endear himself to fans afterwards when he took the microphone off the emcee and announced to the crowd, “I won’t be fighting in New York again. New York judges, they f***ing suck.”

After that charm offensive, Moore’s trainer Harry Keitt gave a more reasoned analysis.

“With all the experience that Candelo had, I think Moore put on a great performance,” said a delighted Keitt. “Sometimes it was scary. But if you want to get to the next level, this is the kind of guy you got to fight to get there.”

A happy Moore was hugely thankful for the contribution of his corner. “Harry gave great advice all through the fight, George (Mitchell, the cut man) did a great job. Orlando (Carrasquilo) did a great job of keeping tab of the rounds and my dad was there too with a bit of input as well.

“That is the corner I want. Harry stepped up to the plate today. The advice he was giving me was second to none.”

The 30-year-old also recognized that as encouraging as his performance was, there is still much of room for progress to be made.

“I knew it was going to be a tough fight. I got caught with an uppercut in the third round,” Moore said.

“I worked so hard not to get caught with that punch buy he only really landed it the once. I made a few mistakes but I wasn’t giving any shots away. For every shot he landed he had to work for them.

“I was moving back in a straight line instead of circling, but that is something I have to work on. I am not the finished article by any stretch, but hopefully we can build on this fight and correct any mistakes I was making.”

Moore had a resounding message for his fans about his future. “This was the kind of challenge I needed to get to the next level. I’m only going to get better by fighting veterans like this. I don’t want easy fights because this is not an easy business. I’d love to step up and take someone on in the top 20.”

On the undercard, Dubliner Oisin Fagan made quick work of Brian Carden (6-5) in his fight to notch up the 21st victory of his pro career.

The first round saw Fagan overwhelm his opponent with head and body attacks, almost pouncing on him at the opening bell and completely dominating the first stanza. Sixteen seconds into the second round and a flurry of shots from Fagan saw referee Pat Sullivan stop the contest.

Such was Fagan’s control of the fight that judge Tony Paolillo gave him the first round 10-8, even though there was no knockdown.

Both boxers seemed perplexed that the contest was ended so soon. A win is a win, but one could sense the frustration in Fagan that he was not able to showcase his skills for his supporters in New York.

“I ran out with a straight right hand an took it out of him in the very first second. He felt the power there and didn’t want it any more, he turned his head quite a lot,” said the schoolteacher based in Oklahoma.

“I wanted the fight to go on longer. I wasn’t happy with a four round fight to begin with and it only lasted a round and a half,” said the 34-year-old from Portmarnock, who now moves to 21-5 with this victory.

In an earlier bout, Galway middleweight Simon O’Donnell (6-1, 3 KOs) was just too strong and too fast for Chris Overbey (8-9), a former opponent of James Moore.

O’Donnell landed a lot of body shots and straight combinations that hurt his opponent. Overbey did throw some dangerous haymakers that O’Donnell avoided as he came forward scoring with combinations and sharp rights.

In the second round, one of the body shots took the wind out of Overbey, and he took a knee and failed to beat the count.

“I am over here for the schooling, and the best boxing schooling is available in America,” said O’Donnell, who is based in Philadelphia and trained by Tim Witherspoon. O’Donnell is expected to fight in New Jersey next month.

In the co-feature, Pawel Wolak over powered Dupre Strickland and ended the fight with a body shot followed by a headshot as the bell ended the second round. Strickland could not be saved by the bell and was not able to get off the canvas before the 10 count. Wolak is now 20-0 (14 KOs) and Strickland falls to 18-3-1.

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