11.02.07 – By Kirk Allen: Ross “The Boss” Puritty (30-20-3, 27 KO’s), coming off of 21 months of inactivity, lost a 10-round decision to Canadian heavyweight champion, David Cadieux (15-1, 10 KO’s), on Saturday night at the Montreal Casino in Montreal, Canada. Puritty, 40, perhaps most well known for his shocking upset knockout win over Wladimir Klitschko in December 1998, showed only rare glimpses of his huge two-fisted power against Cadieux, seemingly content to cover up and bide his time until late in the fight when he hurt Cadieux in the final round and had him holding on for dear life.
For much of the fight, Cadieux, a 6’6,” 239 lb fighter that closely resembles Australian fighter Kali Meehan in fighting style, only without Meehan’s power, controlled the fight with his jab and left hook. However, the fight changed course in the 8th round, when Puritty started opening up with jabs and power shots.
Although having little power, Cadieux, 32, put heavy pressure on Puritty for most of the rounds, constantly backing him up against the ropes where Cadieux was able to get through Puritty’s guard with a mix of hooks and right hands. As is his custom in fights, Puritty held his huge arms out in front of him, enabling him to block most of the weakly thrown shots from Cadieux. Through seven rounds of the fight, Cadieux easily piled up the points, as Puritty rarely threw any punches, aside from an occasional jab. Oddly enough, Puritty’s jabs seemed to be thrown with more power than any of Cadieux’s best shots of the night.
In the eighth and ninth rounds, Purrity started using his quick, powerful jab with greater frequency, landing well against Cadieux and winning both rounds. Though, Puritty still held back with his most powerful weapons – his left hook and straight right hand – until the final round of the fight. Upon the start of the 10th round, Puritty landed a tremendous left hook to the head of Cadieux, sending him backwards, clearly hurt. Puritty quickly pursued him, landing another big left hook, followed by a right hand that further rattled Cadieux, forcing him to grab Puritty to attempt to stop attack.
Purrity, however, immediately shrugged him off like he was a rag doll and continued his attack with another series of brutal right hand, left hook shots, numbering as many as 10 in total, which went by and large unanswered by the badly hurt Cadieux. At one point, I was wondering why the referee wasn’t stepping in to halt the bout, for Cadieux was clearly in distress and was nothing more than a punching bag for the final 2 1/2 minutes of the fight. The referee, however, wasn’t stopping it, so Puritty poured it on until the final bell, with Cadieux stumbling around with every shot that Puritty landed.
In light of his superior work in rounds one through seven, Cadieux was awarded the unanimous decision by the scores 98-92, 96-93 and 96-93. To be sure, Puritty waited far too long to open up with his offensive attack, no doubt, because if he had started his attack perhaps a round earlier, say in round nine, it would seem that he had a very good chance of stopping Caideux by the start of the 10th. In many ways, this fight was almost identical to Puritty’s fight with Wladimir Klitschko, except for the disappointing outcome.
Despite his age, Puritty showed that he still punches with considerable power, a factor that makes him a dangerous opponent for any heavyweight in the division. To be honest, I doubt seriously that Wladimir Klitschko could remain standing with the amount of hard shots that Puritty landed on Cadieux in the final round. More than that, Puritty didn’t look any slower, or less powerful than he was nine years ago when he was arguably in his prime. It’s unclear, however, whether Puritty has the stamina to fight hard for more than two rounds, something that would have come in handy against Cadieux, allowing him to easily win the fight.