RINGSIDE BOXING REPORT: GIOVANNI LORENZO – ARCHAK TERMELIKSETIAN
By Jim Marra March 12th, 2006 All Ringside Boxing
SaddoBoxing.com
March 13 2006
Main Events put on a cracking five bout fightcard on Friday night at
Schuetzen Park in North Bergen, NJ headlined by an exciting matchup
of promising light middleweight prospects Giovanni Lorenzo vs. Archak
TerMeliksetian. The two engaged in a spirited slugfest that didn’t go
the distance but that was just part of the entertaining, well run
promotion by Main Events. There were some interesting undercard
contests as well, kicked off by a cruiserweight pairing between Cracow,
Poland’s Gregory Somzyski and Lloyd Wilson.
Things started off evenly but Wilson, of Winston-Salem, NC was in
survival mode by the end of the second round. Every time that Somzyski
got on the inside, Wilson clinched up. This led to Somzyski getting
the unanimous decision win in his professional debut, 40-36 and 39-37
(twice), much to the delight of the strong Polish crowd in the North
Bergen audience. Lloyd Wilson drops to 3-3 (3).
Next up was a light middleweight clash between Mariusz Cendrowski, of
Wroclaw, Poland and Miami’s Hicklet Lau. In this matchup, Cendrowski
showed some good speed and landed some clean power punches that only
seemed to stun the Cuban journeyman. The Pole was the more aggressive
fighter, while Lau seemed to hide behind his jab all night. At the
end of six rounds, Cendrowski got the victory on the scorecards 59-55,
58-56 and 58-57 to move to 11-0 (6) while Lau drops to 19-16-2 (9).
Super middleweights Wayne Johnsen and Clifton Roberson provided
ample fireworks as their contest became a very heated affair from the
start. Both fighters were trading powershots with each other in the
first round and the give and take battle continued on for the next
three rounds with the combatants even exchanging blows after the
bell of round four. By the fifth, Roberson, of Ripley, TN began to
tire and was quickly knocked down, through the ropes by Lyndhurst,
NJ’s Johnsen, and the hometown man’s fans began to go wild.
The less experienced visitor got up at the count of eight but never
fully recovered as Johnsen, sensing victory, quickly pounced on his
opponent, throwing a barrage of punches which were mostly unanswered
by Roberson. This led the referee to stop the bout at 2:15 of the
fifth. Wayne Johnsen improves to 11-1 (6) while Clifton Roberson
falls to 2-1-1(1).
The final undercard match was a heavyweight pairing that saw another
Polish import, undefeated prospect Mariusz Wach, square off against
veteran Earl Ladson of Winston-Salem, NC. After entering the ring,
Wach stood at an intimidating 6 feet 6 inches and towered over his
adversary. Much like the present heavyweight division, this fight
proved to be unimpressive for the first three rounds, but by the
fourth, Wach was able to wobble Ladson with some heavy right hands.
During the sixth and final round, Wach again went back to his right
hand and landed some huge shots. The determined Ladson, 12-9 (7),
was able to survive, but he lost the decision 60-54 on all cards
while Wach, 8-0 (2), celebrated with his Polish fans in the crowd.
It seemed that both the Polish and Wayne Johnsen fans left before the
headlining bout, only to be replaced by Dominican fans who appeared
to fill up Schuetzen Park to cheer on their fighter, light middle
Giovanni Lorenzo. While Lorenzo, born in the Dominican Republic but
now living in New York, entered the ring, his fans were stirred into
a frenzy, waving numerous flags of their native country. His opponent
Archak TerMeliksetian, of Los Angeles, didn’t look terribly impressed.
During the early rounds, both fighters exchanged numerous punches
with the two being equally successful at landing. Lorenzo and
TerMeliksetian also exchanged verbal jabs as well at the end of each
round. By the fourth, Lorenzo took to the offensive and landed his
punches effectively, while Archak began to counter with some success
as he found openings in Lorenzo’s defense.
Both fighters were warned on numerous occasions throughout the fourth
to stop hitting behind the head as the dislike between the two rivals
intensified. Lorenzo then put on a great boxing display in the fifth
by jabbing and finding his opponents range. The unbeaten twenty five
year old was scoring with two or three punch combinations and then
jabbing his way out. This sweet scientific display sent the Dominican
crowd nuts while chants of “Lo-Ren-Zo!” began to erupt throughout
Schuetzen Park.
By round six, Lorenzo was doing much of the same but was deducted
a point for hitting behind the head. This seemed to energize
TerMeliksetian a little as he ended the round strongly with a good
flurry of punches.
The seventh quickly turned into a slugfest between the two fighters and
saw Lorenzo catch Archak on the ropes, hammering the native Armenian
at will. Lorenzo seemed determined to make up for the point he lost
in round six. From the accumulation of punches TerMeliksetian took
in round seven, he did not answer the bell for the eighth and final
round. Giovanni Lorenzo moves to 20-0 (12) and secures a possible
future date with fellow undefeated prospect Sechew Powell.
Archak TerMeliksetian has now lost two bouts in a row and drops to 15-3
(12).