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Cooper Pounds out Win
over Sitzes!
Fight Photos: Mary Ann Owen
February 28, 2004 |
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(FEB 28) LAS
VEGAS -Using speed and combinations
Melinda Cooper pounded out a win against
the tough Jerri Sitzes.
Before more than 700 people at the Orleans Casino and Hotel, Cooper (10-0, 6
KOs) opened up quickly against the taller Sitzes with stiff jabs and
three-punch combinations.
The first two rounds saw Cooper dominating the Missouri fighter while
eluding Sitzes' counters with ease. Using long right hands and left uppercut
hooks, Cooper scored repeatedly with little worry about return shots.
"I thought I was dominating her with my jab," said Cooper, who bloodied
Sitzes' nose in the first round and caused a slight swelling over the left
eye. "I thought I might be able to knock her out in the second but I lost
it."
But in the third round, Sitzes (5-3-1, 3 KOs) began timing Cooper's advances
with her own well-timed rights and lefts, stinging Cooper occasionally and
advancing forward against the Las Vegas fighter for the first time in the
fight.
"I wasn't hurt at all," said Cooper whose nose was bloodied in the round.
Sitzes scored with a left hook and a right uppercut and seemed to win the
round.
The fourth round saw Cooper open up with a big right hand followed by a
snapping left hook. But in close quarters, Cooper grabbed her opponent's
head and hit her with three quick shots. The referee deducted a point from
Cooper for the illegal tactic.
"I was wrong for doing it," said Cooper, who is a niece of former
lightweight world champion from Mexico Miguel Angel Gonzalez. "It's a bad
habit I have."
With Sitzes more accustomed to Cooper's speed, the Missouri fighter who beat
Mary Ortega in her last fight by technical knockout, began to trade more
frequently and with precision. Cooper traded blow for blow with the game
fighter.
"I think my jab was the difference in the fight," said Cooper who was most
effective when backing up the Springfield fighter.
In the final round, Cooper opened up with combinations and snapped Sitzes
head back several times with several long rights. At one moment. Sitzez put
her hands down while along the ropes and ate two solid punches. But she was
unhurt and tried to rally.
"She was a good fighter," said Cooper. "This was the first time I went six
rounds."
Bobby Estella, one of her cornermen, said she could improve on some aspects.
"I think she could have been more aggressive," Estella said. "But sometimes
you can be too aggressive and you can get caught."
The judges scored the decision 59-55 twice and 58-54 for Cooper who feels
she is just beginning.
"I think my advantage is my youth and amateur experience," Cooper said,
adding that she spent seven years as an amateur.
"She could have gone 12 rounds easy," said Doug Ward another cornerman of
Cooper.
©This fight was televised on ESPN2 "Friday Night
Fights, and report was submitted by WBAN's Insider Correspondent |
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