By Erik Schmidt: Undefeated cruiserweight Alexander Frenkel (18-0, 14 KO’s) stopped Argentinean Rodolfo De Dominicis (15-2, 11 KO’s) in the 3rd round on Saturday night at the Max Schmeling Halle, in Berlin, Germany. Frenkel, 24, originally from Ukraine and now living and fighting out of Germany, took out Dominicis with a volley of big hooks in the 3rd, ending with Dominicis’ corner throwing in the towel to end the fight.
In the 2nd round, Frenkel knocked Dominicis down twice. And then in the 3rd, Frenkel caught Dominicis with a hard left hook, hurting him badly. Frenkel then unloaded on him with several more big shots before the bout was stopped. Dominicis was cut between the eyes from one of Frenkel’s big shots and looked to be relieved at the stoppage.
In the opening round, Dominicis landed slightly more punches than mainly because the Argentinean was doing all the attacking in his big rushing charges. Frenkel kept trying to fright him in a conventional manner and didn’t appear to know how to deal with his unorthodox attacks.
Of each rushing charge by Dominicis, roughly one punch out of 10 would land with the rest of them hitting air or ending up being picked off by Frenkel’s gloves or arms. Frenkel landed a couple of big right hands in the opening round, but not much more than that.
Frenkel seemed a little off balance through much of the bout, and looked out of sorts with how to deal with Dominicis’ aggressive attacks which consisted of Dominicis rushing forward throwing punches as he moved. The style was a lot like the old fighting style of Manny Pacquiao, although the Filipino star found much more success using it than Dominicis was able to have against Frenkel on Saturday night.
It was awkward style for Frenkel to have to deal with, however, because he only had a moment or two to get a shot of before Dominicis was on top of him throwing punches or grabbing him. Dominicis, who came into the fight with a 15-1 record, looked as if he hadn’t fought a day in his life and had just climbed into the ring from a local pool hall. He looked nothing like a fighter with an impressive record like the one that he had going into the bout.
But then again, a great deal of Dominicis’ previous wins have come at the expense of opponents with losing records, with an incredible 11 of them coming against opponents with zero wins. With that kind of an inflated record, it makes me question why Dominicis was selected at Frenkel’s opponent on Saturday night.
It couldn’t have helped Frenkel any to fight someone with such a inflated record like this unless the objective is to inflate Frenkel’s record too. If that’s the case, then Frenkel’s handlers did a great job of matching him so soft. At this rate, they might have a 40-0 prospect before long with a great record but next to no experience against quality opposition.