On the Friday, February 1, 2019 edition of ShoBox: The New Generation, Thomas Mattice (13-1-1, 10 KOs) suffered his first career defeat at the hands of late replacement Will Madera (13-0-2, KOs) by unanimous decision.
Both men came into the contest wanting to protect their undefeated records and came out throwing heavy leather from the beginning.
It was Madera, however who got the better of the exchanges for most of the night. Mattice on the other hand seemed to have trouble finding the right range and timing in order to let his hands go.
Most of the rounds between these two were fairly even. However, it was Madera who seemed to connect at a much higher rate than his opponent.
After a few feel out rounds between the two it became increasingly clear that Mattice was beginning to fall behind on the scorecards. Mattice’s corner implored their fighter to press the action and give more. That is exactly what he did in the later rounds and the contest became very close because of it.
During the championship rounds Mattice did his best to press the action and land more combinations. Madera, to his credit, wouldn’t allow his man to dictate the pace of the contest. After the final bell sounded in the eighth round the numbers bore out the difference in terms of punches landed.
Although Mattice threw 609 punches, as opposed to Madera’s 532, it was Madera who landed more punches, 150 to 124. The biggest difference in punch disparity was in both the power punching and shots to the body. Madera managed to double up his man in both categories.
In the end it was Madera who managed to do just enough to bring home the victory, while staying undefeated. The final scorecards were 78-74 and two scores of 77-75, all in favor of Madera.
