Yunier Dorticos advances to the next round of the WBSS tournament!
Dorticos had no problem controlling the pace of this fight behind his jab-straight right hand combination. Mateusz Masternak is an extremely durable opponent who in 45 fights had only lost five times. The only stoppage loss of his career came in 2013 against Grigory Drozd.
The power of the Cuban was evident from the start. Masternak continuously stayed on his back-foot in the early rounds while circling to his right to avoid the right hand.
It wasn’t until the earlier rounds where the Polish fighter would come into his own. Showing how durable he is, he stood his ground giving as much as he took. Dorticos did well covering up, however, at time he would be close enough to his opponent where he would get caught with shots straight down the middle.
In addition, Masternak did a good job of incorporating the uppercut at mid-range distance. Nevertheless, it was evident the former WBA champion would win the ring generalship battle the majority of the fight.
Moving into the championship rounds, the viewers had to respect the durability of Masternak. The type of shots the Cuban power-puncher rained down on him would have stopped many other cruiserweights.
In the end the judges scored the fight 116-112 and 115-112 twice for Dorticos. In the post-fight interview, the former WBSS one contestant sent a message to Andrew Tabiti stating:
“….he better be training because he’s not gonna know what is coming for him!”
By: EJ Williams
