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It was aptly dubbed “Put Up or Shut Up”. The bad blood between Peter Manfredo, Jr. and Joey Spina came to a climatic conclusion on Saturday night at the ESPN Contender Special in Providence, Rhode Island.
Manfredo, Jr. was able to shut up Spina with a TKO in three action packed rounds. The Dunkin Donuts Center Providence was electric and cheered on Manfredo, Jr. from beginning to end as he improved his record to 26-3 (12).
Manfredo, Jr. seemed to be in control of the first round until the final seconds after getting caught with two wide shots from Spina that put him on the ropes. During the second round he boxed well fighting from both the outside and inside landing accurate shots to the head and body, frustrating Spina.
Spina was dropped in the third round from a Manfredo, Jr. assault of right hands. After just getting up to beat the ten count Spina’s corner threw the towel in the ring to stop the fight. Manfredo, Jr. who was caught up in the moment released his pre-fight frustrations by running towards Spina nearly jumping on the back of the referee to continue the fight with a verbal assault.
During the post fight press conference Manfredo, Jr. took the stage first. “I told everyone I was on a different level (than Spina). I never wanted to take this fight. I never wanted to hurt anybody from Rhode Island, but he kept running his mouth. He made his money, but he took the beating of his life.”
“He isn’t at my level, yet. I just outclassed him. The bad blood was mostly to promote the fight. I used to help him as an amateur and when he turned pro. They call me LaMotta in Freddy’s gym (Wild Card in Los Angeles) because I have such a hard head.”
During the question and answer session Manfredo, Jr. was asked about his conduct at the end of the fight. He admitted to getting caught up in the moment and that his unsportsmanlike conduct was a mistake. He apologized to both Spina and the crowd.
Spina came to the press conference wearing a cast on his right hand. “I broke my hand early in the second round. I never broke my hand before. It gets to your mind and you can’t concentrate. Peter’s a tough guy. I let my hands but I didn’t think for a minute I hurt him. I never said I didn’t respect him. That’s was people building this up. It’s business. In boxing you don’t make money until you reach a certain level. I never made good money (until tonight) and that’s why I called him out. Peter’s a sharp puncher. He placed his punches in the right spot. He was the better man tonight.”
