DANNY GREEN BEATS UNDEFEATED BJ FLORES TO RETAIN CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 19 Nov 2010
Danny Green.
Australia?s Danny Green retained his IBO cruiserweight title beating undefeated American BJ Flores at the Challenge Stadium in Western Australia, Thursday night.
Green clinched the hard-fought win with a unanimous points decision against the tough Flores who, according to boxing writer Joseph Sapienza couldn?t capitalize on a promising start and was eventually reeled in by a man looking to rebuold his image after the Paul Briggs ?sham fight? debacle.
Pandemonium swept Challenge Stadium when the decision was announced with all three judges scoring the fight comfortably for ?The Green Machine.?
Dave Moretti turned in a scorecard of 118-110, Andre Van Grootenbruel 118-111 and Steve Scott 117-112 which ended what was described as a gripping and enthralling battle between the experienced 37 year old Green and a 31 year old hopeful who had appeared confident of winning the world title.
An exhausted Green who improved his record to 31-3 with 27 knockouts in a post fight interview said "I out-hustled him. I just had to be smart."
Green finished stronger and made his intentions clear early in the final round when he erupted with a flurry of punches connecting with a right and then a left against his younger opponent in the center of the ring.
It was regarded as one of Green's smartest fights as he was happy to absorb the pressure from Flores' left jab - at one stage even when he was on the ropes - while waiting patiently for the time to pounce.
The champ revealed he had to change his battle plan early and was pleased to have lasted 12 rounds against a hungry and determined opponent six years his junior.
It was only the sixth time in Green's professional career that he was forced to go the distance. The last time was against Stipe Drews in Perth in December 2007, when he won the WBA light-heavyweight world title.
Sapienza quoted Green as saying "The less time I spend in the ring the better. I think I needed that. It was a good thing to have. I'm glad I can go 12 rounds and do it against a hungry, undefeated guy who I think after about round five, just didn't have answers. He was really shell-shocked (at) being out-boxed.?
The champion had nothing but praise for his younger opponent and predicted a bright future for him. "He proved why he was 24-0 and undefeated," he said. "He proved why he has had such a stellar career so far. He had youth on his side, he had the reach, he's a big boy and he was strong too. We knew that. He will be a better force to be reckoned with in the future after having experienced his first loss against the champion and against a veteran. I think he will learn a lot from it. Not many guys have lasted the distance with me, BJ pushed me the whole way. I had to work, the kid pushed me."
Green is best remembered for his stunning first round TKO of former world heavyweight champion and onetime pound-for-pound king Roy Jones Jr last December 2, 2009.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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