Anchored by a knockdown in the opening round Saturday, Thomas Dulorme retained his North American Boxing Federation (NABF) light welterweight title and captured the vacant North American Boxing Association (NABA) crown with a 96-93, 93-96, 97-92 split decision win over Hank Lundy at the Barclays Center.
The 10-round bout, promoted by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Gary Shaw Productions and CES Boxing, aired live on HBO’s Boxing After Dark.
Dulorme (22-1) clipped Lundy (25-4-1) with an overhand right in the opening round, sending the Philadelphia native tumbling to the canvas. Lundy, who opened the bout fighting as a southpaw, dropped that round and struggled in the second before switching back to orthodox.
That’s when the pace changed dramatically. Working his jab and fighting effectively on the inside against the taller, rangy Dulorme by landing clean overhand rights, Lundy closed the gap in the third and fourth rounds before Dulorme rebounded with a strong fifth.
Lundy’s best round came in the sixth when a hard left followed by another overhand right staggered Dulorme, who began backpedaling and trying to stall by clinching whenever Lundy applied pressure. Lundy continued his onslaught in the seventh to further close the gap, but Dulorme spent the majority of the final three rounds circling the ring and keeping Lundy at the end of his jab, save for a brief period in the eighth when he comfortably outboxed Lundy in the center of the ring.
Unable to cut off the ring in the eighth or ninth rounds, Lundy closed the fight in impressive fashion with a strong 10th round as Dulorme ran out of gas, but the knockdown and subsequent 10-8 score in the opening round proved to be too much for Lundy to overcome.
The loss snapped Lundy’s three fight win streak while Dulorme won his sixth consecutive bout. The Lundy-Dulorme bout was Lundy’s HBO debut and part of a stacked card that featured a 12-round NABF middleweight title bout between David Lemieux and Gabriel Rosado.
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Tonight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, Gary Shaw Productions Jr. Welterweight sensation and Puerto Rican star, Thomas Dulorme (22-1, 14 KOs) won a hard fought split decision victory against tough Philly fighter Hank Lundy (25-4-1, 12 KOs). The bout was televised on HBO BOXING AFTER DARK® as part of a triple header headlined by Lemieux vs. Rosado.
Dulorme started off strong landing a powerful right hand on Lundy’s temple, putting him down in round one. The momentum carried over into the middle rounds as Lundy had no answers for Dulorme’s powerful right hands. In round six, Lundy came out strong and landed some nice power shots to help him get back in the fight. Both fighters were giving it their all and Dulorme had to dig deep to keep Lundy at his distance. Entering the final rounds Lundy was swinging for the fences. Lundy was desperately trying to land a knockout punch to get him back in the fight, which was being controlled by Dulorme. Both fighters were tired entering the final round but Thomas used his height and reach to avoid any dangerous shots to keep his lead intact. Scorecards read 96-93 for Lundy and 96-93 and 97-92 for Dulorme who won by split decision. With the win Dulorme retains his NABF title.
“I knew this was going to be a tough fight because Lundy is a very determined fighter,” said Dulorme. “But I was in great shape and Robert Garcia, my trainer, gave me great advice in the corner. I wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of me winning this fight. My promoter Gary Shaw, whom I’m very thankful to, told me that there are some big fights lined up for me in 2015. I’m very excited about my future and I want to thank Gary Shaw and HBO for this opportunity. This win was for me people back in Puerto Rico.”
“At this level there are no easy fights and Dulorme showed he has what it takes to become a champion.” said Gary Shaw. “He had to really dig deep to come out on top and that’s what champions do. I applaud Dulorme for his performance and I’ll be looking to get him into another big fight in 2015, where I believe he will become a world champion. Evenly matched fights is what makes boxing great and I want to thank HBO for giving the fans a great match.”
