Vargas Destroys Plaitis
Captures vacant Cdn. Title
Photos By Blair Diamond
Undefeated welterweight Samuel Vargas (9-0-1 3KO) scored his most impressive victory to date, dispatching Manolis Plaitis (17-2-1 8KO) at 2:49 of the opening round with referee Dave Dunbar waving off the action before reaching the count of ten. Vargas fighting in front of his hometown fans at The Hershey Center in Mississauga Ontario is not known as a big hitter now has two stoppages in a row after a drought that lasted from his maiden voyage as a pro two years ago. Vargas captures the vacant Canadian welterweight title with the victory over Plaitis who previously held the same belt at 140 pounds.
With Vargas basking in the glory of the dramatic win, an old foe made his way to the ring and tried to steal some of the new champion’s thunder. Ahmad Cheikho climbed through the ropes and took the microphone and demanded a rematch with the man he was stopped by in five last October. Cheikho promised to retire from boxing if he wasn’t successful in knocking out Vargas in the rematch. The Montreal fighter was quickly ushered from the ring by the Vargas team to chorus of boo’s from fans in attendance.
Touted junior-middleweight prospect Michal Oliveira (17-0 12KO), billed as ‘The Brazilian Rocky’ made his Canadian debut (he was originally scheduled for Quebec City last December) and scored a 79-73, 77-75, 77-75 unanimous decision over Sergei Melis(18-8 7KO). The Estonian fighter who scored a dramatic come from behind victory in Montreal last summer had no such fortune this night and now has lost five of his last six.
Cruiserweight Denton Daley pounded out a six round decision and moved to 5-0 with a 60-54 decision across the board over Mexican Benito Quiroz (6-2 6KO). With his opponent winning all his fights by knockout, Daley played with fire during the bout by dropping his hands allowing three free shots on him. Daley was able to take the shots without problem on his way to a decisive victory in his first six round fight.
Middleweight Brandon Cook won a blood filled six round unanimous decision over Chris Aucoin (4-6-1). Both fighters fought through cuts over the last half of the fight with Cook remaining undefeated and moving to a perfect 5-0.
Steven Wilcox got his pro career off to a memorable start as the lightweight scored a 2nd round TKO victory of Nicholas Valcourt (0-1-1). A stunning right hook did the damage for the Ontario fighter on a punch that Valcourt never saw coming.
