What a difference a month makes.
Looking less than impressive in his last heavyweight fight, Mike “The American Dream” Dietrich resembled a seasoned veteran by pummeling his opponent, Kerry Simpson, Friday night at Du Burns Arena in Canton.
A month after saving an otherwise sloppy performance by knocking out Darryl Holley in the third round, Dietrich made a bold prediction for Friday?s fight: “My goal next time is a first-round KO.”
He almost did it.
Showing a focused effort by moving his feet and using his jab to set up combinations, Dietrich (10-0, 5 KOs) dominated Simpson.
With a home crowd of several hundred fans chanting his name every time he landed a hard punch or had Simpson on the ropes, Dietrich finally ended the fight at 1:17 of the third round.
Dietrich?s constant pounding forced the referee to call the fight after Smith was struggling to defend himself.
For Dietrich, it was the perfect ending to a turbulent week in his personal life, which he refused to divulge.
“I had a lot of stuff built up,” said Dietrich, 23, of Dundalk. “I approached tonight as a chance to basically let it all out.”
Still on the comeback trail from a near-fatal stabbing injury in December of 2005, Dietrich said he is improving each week, regaining the form that established him as one of the region?s top prospects.
“We?ve been working on patience with him,” said Jake Smith, Dietrich?s manager. “He?s got to grab the bull by the horns … but his timing has to be right at the same time.”
In an effort to improve his conditioning, Dietrich ventured to the Catskill Mountains in April, where he trained with Mike Tyson?s former trainer, Kevin Rooney.
Dietrich?s next fight is Aug. 25 at the Ocean City Convention Center.
“He?s been training and working hard and he?s beginning to mature as a fighter,” Smith said. “That includes keeping things together outside [of the ring]. You have a lot of things and people coming at you and you have to be able to keep it together.”
