by Scott Granowitz
November,
1999 (Ledyard, Connecticut)--38-and-a-half months later, Dana Rosenblatt got
what he was looking for. A night of redemption at the Foxwoods Resort Casino
and proof that he can tangle with a true professional pugilist. Vinny Pazienza,
the charismatic, show-boating New England favorite for years, came out early
in a storm ready to do just what he had done during the summer of 1996. Get
into Rosenblatt's head early and destroy him with an inside overhand right.
But November 5th, 1999 was a different night entirely, much different than August 23rd, 1996, the night when the notoriously self-controlled Rosenblatt dominated every minute of every round, before being drawn into Pazienza's showboating tactics. It was at the end of round 3 during this summer night in Atlantic City, in which Rosenblatt raised his hands in response to the "Pazmanian Devil's" trash-talking and illegal after-the-bell punching antics. This led to a devastating moment of lack of concentration for the youngster in round 4, in which Pazienza's crushing-right ended Rosenblatt's pay-per-view coming out party in a hurry.
This time around, Rosenblatt would have nothing to do with the constant chest beating and dirty play that has defined Pazienza over the years, and in turn gotten into the heads of his other victims. Rosenblatt certainly didn't dominate every minute of the early rounds in this 12-round encounter, but he kept his composure, especially after being sent to the floor after a quick combo by Pazienza late in the 3rd round. It was this combo's hook to the head that opened up a cut over Rosenblatt's eye. Ron Katz, Rosenblatt's promoter, claimed this quick series of events that sent Rosenblatt to the floor was caused by Pazienza's elbow to the head. In any event, Rosenblatt got up with the fortitude of an experienced pro and won round 4 after Pazienza charged hard at the start, looking for the kill. Rosenblatt blocked a charging right and this time his elbow accidentally (however disputed by his opponent's camp) caught Pazienza and opened up a cut over his eye.
"I couldn't see him beating me until that shot [during the 1st fight in 1996]," said Rosenblatt. "This time I blocked it."
Rosenblatt's jabbing won round 4, on all 3 judges' scorecards. Perhaps round 4 this time around was the turning point of Rosenblatt's career.
"We [Rosenblatt and trainer/manager Joe Lake] had an idea that he wanted to come after me," said Rosenblatt. "The idea was to stay in the fight, give side-way looks, and then come with uppercuts.. I didn't play into his game [show-boating]."
Rounds 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 saw Pazienza go back to his showboating antics, in a hope to get back into the mind of Rosenblatt. But Rosenblatt would have nothing to do with it, keeping the fight close by utilizing his patented right-hand-jab, which he did to a CompuBox calculated 50-3 advantage for the match. Instead of continually charging Rosenblatt with his power punches, Pazienza was either tired or content to play into Rosenblatt's monotonous, technical duel.
"He definitely did fade and I thought he would," said Rosenblatt of Pazienza.
In round 10 Pazienza started to wake up again, perhaps realizing that Rosenblatt would not give into his antics and that perhaps the challenger's lack of stamina in the late rounds had been solved. Pazienza clearly won round 11, and all three judges agreed. However, Pazienza's solid right stinging hook to Rosenblatt in this round may have been his last great punch. Rosenblatt came out in the final 12th round as if he was in the middle of a jab training session, while Pazienza had nothing to answer with. He won round 12 on all scorecards.
"We [Rosenblatt and Lake] did a lot of sprints to get ready for this fight," Rosenblatt said.
When it was announced that the match was declared a split decision, Rosenblatt could only pray at this time that the most defining moment of his boxing career would finally be behind him.
"All I could think was, 'Please God, let me win this fight'," said a relieved Rosenblatt (36-1, 23 KOs) after winning the lightly regarded IBO World Super-Middleweight championship from Pazienza (47-8, 29 KOs).
The final scores were 115-113 and 114-113, in favor of Rosenblatt, by judge Joe Dwyer and Rocky Young respectively. George Smith scored it 115-112 in favor of Pazienza. However, most ringside observers scored the disputed fight at most a two-point difference, going either way. JewishSports.com scored the fight 115-113 in favor of Rosenblatt, with the winner ahead on four of the last six rounds. Ron Borges, the esteemed boxing writer for the Boston Globe, scored the fight a 114-114 draw, with Rosenblatt winning five of the last six rounds.
An infuriated Pazienza claimed after the fight that he was fighting with a broken right hand, which had been suffered three weeks prior during training exercises. However, this certainly did not explain why Pazienza, a 7-5 underdog, reportedly wagered a six-digit sum on himself a few weeks back at a Las Vegas casino.
"I couldn't throw my right hand," said Pazienza. "That's not an excuse. I beat him. I thought I won a close decision. The kid was in great shape."
Joe Lake said there was little chance of a rematch, as Rosenblatt would probably go back down to his more natural middleweight division after moving up to 168 (super-middleweight) to fight Pazienza.
"Of course," said Pazienza when asked if he would like a 2nd rematch. "Give me a week, eat some peanut M&M's, drink some red wine and we'll do it again. I gave him a rematch, let's do it again."
"We definitely want a rematch," said Jimmy Burchfield, the promoter of the fight and Pazienza's lawyer. "We deserve the rematch because Vinny had no reason for the rematch after he knocked him out. So we should get a shot back."
According to promoter/matchmaker Ron Katz, HBO has shown great interest in the 27-year-old Rosenblatt. So he could be placed on its "Boxing After Dark" program in the near future, that is if Rosenblatt and his handlers want to strengthen their competition on a regular basis, something they have been accused of backing away from throughout the southpaw's career.
Perhaps the time is now. When JewishSports.com questioned Katz if this was the culmination of Rosenblatt's career, he bluntly replied: "This is only the beginning."
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