Petr Petrov took on Gamaliel Diaz in the main event of ESPN 2’s Friday Night Fights at the Omega Products International in Corona, California. Petrov had not fought since his Boxcino tournament win in May of last year.
The fight started off a little sloppy as both Petrov and Diaz made lazy attempts to close the distance. Diaz was able to score a knockdown in the 1st round, although it was questionable as the replay showed Petrov being pushed. That was about the only real offense Diaz put together for the remainder of the fight as Petrov came back to win the round.
Petrov started putting some things together as the fight went on, and you could tell he needed time to shake the ring rust. The fight was still sloppy in moments, but Petrov was dominating with a one-punch offense, and he began to time Diaz coming in. Petrov was catching Diaz coming in, and it prevented the lazy footing we saw early on from both fighters, but it also allowed Petrov to find his shots with above average ring generalship.
Jack Reiss had a busy night on his hands as Diaz continuously landed low blows and made for an ugly fight when he wasn’t being directly hit.
Petrov didn’t mix up the attack as much as he could, but he made shots to the body count, and they had the kind of lasting impression that opened up the head.
The 7th round was the most dramatic as Petrov floored Diaz, who beat the count only to have a point taken away for consecutive low blows. In fact, he almost had another point taken right before the bell rang for yet another low blow.
Petrov was dominating the fight, but he wasn’t pressing for the stoppage. He was certainly loading up, but it was clear that Diaz was game enough to hang on and would only be stopped after dangerous accumulation in the corner, the kind where the referee has to step in.
The fight ultimately went the distance, and Petrov won a unanimous decision by the judges’ scores of 98-89 and 97-90 twice.
