By Hans Olson, ringside
Eye of the Tiger Management’s Camille Estephan calls Dierry Jean “the best kept secret in boxing.”
He might just be right.
Winning the 22nd bout of his professional career, the Haitian-born Montrealer tonight became the NABF Junior welterweight champion, defeating the rugged Lanardo Tyner at the Holiday Inn Pointe-Claire in Quebec; all three judges scored the bout 119-109.
Boxing Insider also scored it 119-109 for Dierry Jean.
“It was a hell of a fight,” said Dierry to Boxing Insider amongst a celebratory throng of media, friends, and family after the fight.
“This was the big leagues for me. I hurt him a lot, but he had so much experience. I couldn’t finish him, but I knew it was going to be a tough fight because he’s fought good guys…Alvarez, tough guys you know? I was hoping that I was going to be the first one [to finish him] but I really liked the way I fought.”
So what’s next for “the best kept secret in boxing?”
“Big things,” said a smiling Camille Estephan, clearly thrilled with Dierry’s performance.
“Dierry is art in the ring. Personally, I have not seen a live performance like this, skill-wise, before.”
After a tough first round where Dierry was caught with a wild shot, he recovered to take control and dominate in the latter half of the round and into the second. Dierry’s boy shots seemed to hurt Tyner, who came down a weight class (almost) for this bout (He weighed in at 142 officially).
Throughout the duration of the fight, Dierry’s incredible skill-set frustrated the game veteran; Tyner used every trick in the book to survive rounds. As the fight wore on, Dierry demonstrated to those in attendance that he’s the real deal.
It could be argued that Dierry’s performance tonight against Tyner bested that of hot Mayweather Promotions prospect Jessie Vargas and local hero Kevin Bizier—the two previous foes of Tyner.
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In the evening’s co-feature, Nicholson Poulard (18-3) defeated Lionell Thompson (12-1), giving him Thompson the first loss of his career.
It was a competitive fight, and one that could have gone either way. Boxing Insider saw the fight 97-93, just as judge Pasquale Procopio did. Unfortunately for Thompson, judges Don Ackerman and Kelly Zolnierczyk saw it 97-93 and 96-94 for Poulard, respectively.
“Anybody with eyes, anybody who know anything about boxing know he did not be me,” said a frustrated Thompson to Boxing Insider after the fight.
“You win a fight by punches landed, not by how many punches you’re throwing. If you ain’t landing, it don’t matter. You win a fight by effectiveness and landed punches, not by swingin’ and missin’ and looking like a damn fool!”
And Poulard was not landing nearly as much as he was throwing.
The skilled New Yorker countered and picked apart Poulard through most of the fight.
Poulard, for his part, did fight with tenacity. He was always moving forward, something that judges like to see, and even though he weighed in less than Thompson, his physical strengths were apparent–even if his punch accuracy wasn’t.
An unmarked face was further proof of just how effective Thompson’s defense was.
“If you look at his face, he’s got scratches, cuts, knots…I think the crowd had an impact on the judges,” continued Thompson. “But what I’m going to do is go back in the gym and train harder. Mark my words, I’ll still be a world champion.”
Take nothing away from Nicholson Poulard though, who puts himself back in the picture for bigger things down the road.
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In earlier action…
Ghislain Maduma (8-0) turned in a terrific performance, destroying Aldo Valtierra (26-15) in two. After a dominant first round, Ghislain’s powerful attack continued into the second; an early knockdown put Valtierra in a bad way with the second at 1:49, ending things for good.
In his first fight back from a disappointing draw last month on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights, Baha Laham (9-0-1) looked sensational scoring a first round TKO over Arpad Vass (8-5). Utilizing a hellacious body-attack, Baha made quick work of the Hungarian, initially dropping him with a body shot and putting him down once again not long after.
Ahmad Cheikho (7-4-2) defeated Laslo Komjathi (43-40-2), shutting him out on each ringside judge’s scorecard 60-54; Ibrahim Kamal (8-0) escaped a tough fight against France’s Aboubeker Bechelaghem (7-3-1) getting the decision win; Chris Plaitis (1-0) impressed in his professional debut, defeating Csaba Toth (5-20-3) by unanimous decision; and Schiller Hyppolite knocked out Ferenc Sarkozi (5-5), improving his record to 4-0.
Boxing Insider’s Hans Olson can be reached at [email protected] Follow @hansolson
