Matt “The Predator/Skelator” Vanda is scheduled to face Phil “The Drill” Williams December 18 at the Target Center in Minneapolis for a rematch of their original fight last year. Vanda won the first contest via 10 round split decision in November 2009 at Grand Casino, Hinkley. Denny Nelson and Tim Taggart, Sr. scored that fight 97-93 and 98-95, respectively, for Vanda, and Scott Moe had it 94-97 in favor of Williams. While Williams contends he should have been granted the decision, it’s hard to fathom exactly how Moe arrived at a score in his favor, given the control Vanda took from the beginning of the fight. Since then Williams was KOed in January by undefeated Don George and fought Middleweight Caleb Truax to a draw in April. While Williams was competitive in the rounds won by Vanda in the first fight, he was hesitant through most of the fight and Vanda’s aggression, conditioning, and ring generalship carried the night. The fact that Williams has only had two fights, one of which he lost by serious knockout, since losing to Vanda and Vanda has fought four times since then against much stiffer competition suggests that Vanda will be the sharper of the two. The undefeated (now 25-0) Duran, whose opponents prior to Vanda had a combined record of 383 wins, 164 losses and 19 draws, won a unanimous decision with two judges giving him a shutout and one judge granting only one round to Vanda. Although Vanda knocked out Light Heavyweight José Medina in the 3rd round last August, he also lost unanimously to Andy kolle for the Minnesota State Middleweight title in April after losing a unanimous decision to Peter Manfredo, Jr. for the vacant North American Boxing Federation (NABF) Middleweight title in January. Some might be fooled into believing these losses show a diminishment of Vanda’s skills and durability, but in relation to the relatively poor performance of Williams with half as much activity in the year against less accomplished opponents, any sensible prediction has to be for a Vanda victory in the rematch.
By Mark Connor
© Copyright 2010, Mark
