FNF Recap: Tsurkan Stops Feliciano

Andrey Tsurkan scrapped with Jesse Feliciano in the main event of Friday Night Fights, held at the Utopia in the Bronx, New York and  by the eighth and final round, the action had me thinking about MRIs, neurologists and Feliciano's future.

The Nevada resident has a heart that may well be too damn big for his own good, as he's willing to eat blow after blow, round after round, with the slim hope that he can turn the tide. A sharp-eyed referee, Benji Esteves, saw enough in the eighth in the welter/junior middleweight squareoff, and saved Feliciano from absorbing more of Tsurkan's punishment. The end came at 1:17.

We can only hope that Feliciano's management has his best interests in mind, and hooks him up with a top notch brain doctor, who puts him through a rigorous battery of tests, to make sure his health isn't compromised by his too-ample storage of guts.

The New York resident Tsurkan (25-3 coming in) weighed 151 1/2  and  the Feliciano (15-6-3) weighed 150 1/4 for the bout, scheduled for ten rounds. The event was promoted by Joe DeGuardia's Star Boxing.

Tsurkan caught Feliciano unawares, with a right hand, which sent him to the mat in the first. He rose with clear eyes. But Tsurkan banged him to the body, and the head in a runaway round. Tsurkan went back the well in the second, not a surprise with Feliciano, never a defensive wiz,  admitting he came in on short notice. Feliciano got amped in the third, and landed some sharp shots, when Tsurkan leaned over and led with his face. The action was hot, heavy, and pleasing to the watchers. Feliciano's hands slowed in the fourth and he paid for it. In the fifth, you had to consider that Feliciano is too tough for his own good. He showed that toughness and heart as he bulled forward, eating, eating, eating, then throwing, in the sixth. Teddy Atlas had it 69-63, for Tsurkan through seven. In the eight, Feliciano's legs looked rubbery, and the ref saw that, and he stepped in and halted the proceedings at 1:17 of the period.

Many will remember Feliciano giving Kermit Cintron all he could handle in a KO loss last November, while Tsurkan dropped a close one to Yuri Foreman in December.

Albert Sosnowski took on Terrell Nelson in a heavyweight scrap. Sosnowski stopped his man in the fifth, with a a couple clubbing rights after he dropped him with an uppercut/hook combo,  and his record goes to 43-1 with the TKO. There haven't been that many heavyweight fighters who have amassed such a glowing record facing such limited opposition in recent years. Time for the Pole to poop or get off the pot.

Jon Schneider got knocked out by Clarence Ford in the second round with a left hook starter that preceded a flurry of finishing shots.  Schneider had beaten Ford when they met before.

Teddy Atlas told viewers he thought the judges did the right thing, when they gave Calzaghe the win last weekend. Brian Kenny said he didn't think Calzaghe's blows landed were very meaningful. We've had spirited back and forth on our comment board since that light heavyweight beef, and this is like red state-blue state level of disagreement. It will not be resolved.

Atlas said he thinks Hopkins should hang 'em up. He also mentioned that John Ruiz gets destroyed for clutching, while Floyd and Hopkins employ the same tactic, and don't get the same slams. Atlas said that Hopkins may well have been stopped if he hadn't “conned” referee Joe Cortez with the “low blow” break.