Vinnie Burgese vs. Roland Commings (1st meeting)
Vinnie Burgese 140 lbs beat Roland Commings 140 lbs by SD in round 8 of 8
- Date: 1991-06-13
- Location: Blue Horizon, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Referee: Charley Sgrillo
- Judge: Carol Polis 76-77
- Judge: Tommy Reid 78-74
- Judge: Robert Katz 78-74
'Poison' Strong In Local Debut; He Wants More
Bernard Fernandez, Philadelphia Daily News
June 14, 1991
The clear resolution to Jones-Sanabria was in stark contrast to the controversial windup of what turned out to be an eight-round junior welterweight fight between South Philadelphia's Vinny Burgese and Roland Commings, of Youngstown, Ohio.
The contract called for 10 rounds of boxing, but the fight was cut to eight rounds two weeks ago when ESPN reduced the time slot for last night's telecast from two hours to 1 1/2 hours. Commings's manager, Stan Goldich, was informed of the switch, but, amazingly, he neglected to pass the news along to trainer Carmen Graziano.
Graziano, whose fighter rallied after falling behind in the early going, went bonkers when referee Charlie Sgrillo told him that the eighth round would be the last.
Graziano was even more upset after a tiring Burgese (22-3-1, 12 KOs) was awarded a split decision over Commings (16-6-2, 9 KOs). Judge Carol Polis scored it, 77-76, for Commings, but Tommy Reid and Robert Katz both saw Burgese as a 78-74 winner.
"We trained for a 10-round fight, we set the pace for a 10-round fight," said an irate Graziano. "What happened was total B.S. Burgese was staggering all over the place at the end, ready to be knocked out."
Burgese said he never was seriously hurt, but he chided himself for not following the fight plan he had expected to follow.
"I wanted to work the body, then come upstairs, but he got me out of my fight plan when he came right at me the way he did," Burgese said. "I definitely thought I won, but that wasn't me out there."