By: Sean Crose
Jonathan Rice, 14-6-1, slipped between the ropes in Hollywood, Florida Saturday night for a ten round heavyweight affair against the 12-1 Michael Coffie. It was a rematch of their July fight, which saw Rice stop Coffie in ten. Rice controlled the action well in the first. Things were rather sluggish in the second. Coffie had a much better and more active third.
Rice banged away at Coffie in the fourth, enough for it to look as if Coffie might be in some real trouble. Coffie was able to fight back gamely, however. Rice controlled the fifth fairly effectively. He then went on to appear effective in the sixth. The seventh again belonged to Rice, as did the eighth. By the ninth it was beyond clear that Rice’s power was too much for Coffie to launch anything consistently effective against. Overweight and lackadaisical, Rice was probably physically unable to finish his man.
Coffie, bruised and beaten, tried his best to make something happen in the tenth, but was unable to change matters enough to turn the tide. Rice was simply too much for him, which is why Rice was able to step out of the ring with a unanimous decision win.