By Anthony Bosco
It wasn’t expected, but it was surely welcome, balm for burn.
Bayside heavyweight boxer Vinny Maddalone, who had been inactive since his June 29 loss to former cruiserweight kin Al “Ice” Cole, got a call from promoter Joe DeGuardia last Thursday night, asking the fighter if he would be interested in filling in for friend and Flushing native Richie Melito, who was slated to take on journeyman Eddie Slater Saturday night in Tampa, Fla.
“Joe said ‘how do you feel?’ ” Maddalone said. “I said ‘I feel good.’ I wasn’t in top shape because we were looking at something in October, but I was anxious to get back in because of the Al Cole fight.”
Cole handed Maddalone his first professional loss, a six-round decision that saw the Queens product nearly out on his feet near the end. His comeback bout was supposed to come in late October, but when that card fell through and Melito was sidelined with a rotator cuff injury, DeGuardia called upon Maddalone’s services.
“Originally we were planning on putting Vinny on a show on Oct. 26, which was rescheduled for November, so Vinny became available,” DeGuardia said. “I wasn’t worried at all. He’s been training. He’s been ready. I felt the fight was right.”
Maddalone outweighed Slater by a good 20 pounds and needed only two rounds to dispatch his foe, knocking him down “like three or four times.” But more importantly for Maddalone, it got him active again with little time to worry about his last bout.
‘“I felt so relaxed in there,” Maddalone said. “It was great. It was like a load off my shoulder. I think that Al Cole fight helped that so much.”
Maddalone raised his record to 16-1 with 11 knockouts, while Slater fell to 5-5.
Following his loss to Cole, Maddalone stayed away from the gym for a few weeks before getting back into his normal training routine, sans sparring, for fear of reopening cuts suffered in the defeat. Maddalone only began sparring a few weeks before this past weekend’s fight.
“It just felt good getting back in there,” he said. “I was worried about the cuts, that was the main thing. I got hit there, but nothing opened up.
“I just wanted to get that feeling,” Maddalone added. “There’s nothing like it. I love it.”
DeGuardia, who runs Star Boxing and also handles cruiserweight contender Lou Del Valle, said that getting Maddalone such an easy touch following the loss to Cole was important.
“That’s part of developing and maintaining a fighter,” he said. “You have to be careful coming off a loss. It was a good fight with Cole, but it was a loss. When I weighed all the factors, [Slater] was the right person to put him in with.
“It was good to get him back in the swing again,” DeGuardia added.
The bout will be televised by The Metro Channel on Nov. 1.
Maddalone is hoping to get back in the ring soon, most likely in November either in Mississippi or Atlantic City and possibly for a minor title, which would be Maddalone’s first fight scheduled for more than eight rounds.
In other local boxing news, DeGuardia said he is working to get Del Valle, a Long Island City native, a bout against world Boxing Association cruiserweight champion Jean Marc Mormek sometime in December. The bout, if held, will take place in France.
Reach Sports Editor Anthony Bosco by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 130.
