By Andreas Strøjer Tynan Schmidt: Danish boxer Patrick Nielsen (24-1, 12 KOs) was awarded the WBA International Super Middleweight Championship belt on Saturday, March 14, when he defeated American George Tahdooahnippah (34-2, 24 KOs) on a TKO at the beginning of round eight. The corner of the American called of the fight before the round even got started.
It all started with a colorful ring walk from Tahdooahnippah, who’s called ‘Comanche Boy’ for his native American blood. The Indian-blood card was also used heavily when an overdressed Indian dancer entered the ring confusing most of the crowd for being the fighter himself. After a few minutes of dancing in the ring, the dancer stopped and let the real fighter enter the scene. That whole stunt was probably the most exciting about his performance on that night.
Once the bell rang, Nielsen was from the beginning the most busy fighter and that never changed. His trainer, the former two-time world champion Joey Gamache, heavily encouraged him during the breaks to use his right jab, followed by a left hook to the body. That very combination landed flush a number of times in the first couple of rounds. Comanche Boy commented after the fight: “He was a lot stronger and faster than I had expected. When he landed that left hook to the body at the beginning, I had trouble recovering for the rest of the fight”.
At the end of third round, Nielsen fired a combination of mixed punches that took the American out of balance and left him on the canvas. Subsequently, the Dane continued firing punches against Comanche Boy, who was backed into a corner in a static, helpless position. What looked like a close stoppage suddenly changed when Patrick started to back off. When I met with him after the fight, he told me: “I saw what he was trying to do. He wanted to lure me into a trap and catch me with an uppercut. I have to admit I was nervous before the fight, the guy had a very impressed record, including a lot of KOs. I just didn’t want to risk it, so I kept my distance.”
The following rounds became more and more one-sided. The American kept running backwards to avoid getting hit and the Dane only connected well a few times. The right-jab-and-a-left-hook combination started to have less effect and the lack of variation left the fight quite tedious. Despite blocking his way through the fight, Comanche Boy did take some punishment along the way and his corner finished the fight before the eighth round began. He later commented: “I felt I could have taken a few rounds more, but my corner was just thinking about me, my health and my family. I don’t blame them.”
Patrick Nielsen, 23, has previously been accused of not finishing the fights before the last bell. Clearly, it means something for a fighter to show a decent KO percentage on his resume. After the fight, statistics now say 50% of his wins have come by the way of knock-out. I asked him if he was disappointed about not being able to knock him out during the rounds and he responded relieved: “To be honest, I’m just glad I got the KO, it didn’t matter as much how it came.”
So what can be taken from this fight? Unfortunately, we didn’t learn too much; Tahdooahnippah clearly hadn’t come to Denmark to fight and that made it clear that despite good numbers on his record, he isn’t a guy we will see in more championship fights. Moreover, the American had also recently moved up in weight and was still about two pounds under the limit. This also meant Nielsen didn’t get tested properly in the new weight class and we still don’t know if he has the power to compete with real fighters at this seven pounds extra limit. What we do know, is that the Danish southpaw is a lot more comfortable with his new weight limit, head trainer Joey Gamache told me after the fight: “Patrick is built for higher weight class than middleweight, no doubt about it. If you look at his brothers, they’re all a lot bigger, he’s just built for a bigger weight class. During the last fights, he had to drop almost 20 pounds the last days before the fight. That cost him a lot, mentally and physically. Tonight, he felt a lot better being closer to his natural weight.”
Speaking of being properly tested; after the bout, there were talks about a fight against his countryman, Rudy “Hardhitter” Markussen (38-3, 25 KOs), who fought and lost against Brian Magee in 2012 as they battled for the interim WBA World super middleweight title. Such a fight will undoubtedly test Patrick’s abilities against a super middleweight with real power. Then, or after another proper challenge, we can talk about his potential in the weight class.