From ringsidereport...
From ringsidereport...
Operation Dumbo Drop: Butterbean Easily Defeats Joe Siciliano
By Geno McGahee (At Ringside)
Photos by Neil Vermette-March 11, 2007
The Worcester Palladium was jam-packed for a fight that was meaningless. The novelty of two obese warriors exchanging blows, the popularity of Butterbean, or perhaps the element of danger had brought these spectators. Despite all of the talk that Joe Siciliano, 4-4, 2 KO?s, was dishing out the public and press, he was out of his league. He had stated that he would destroy Butterbean, 77-7-4, 58 KO?s, but a quick poll of the press that attended could not disagree more. I had even heard that he was advised by his team to jab and move backward, but he is no Muhammad Ali and was sure to get leveled.
The main event began as a battle of bad 1980s songs with Europe?s ?Final Countdown? blaring for Siciliano and Queen?s ?We Will Rock You,? for Butterbean playing. The crowd was in an uproar as they saw these two rotund pugilists stare at each other. Butterbean weighing 417 ? pounds and Siciliano weighing 313 ? pounds, this was surely one of, if not the, most weight ever to grace a boxing ring.
When the bell rang, you could see the difference in class. Siciliano just wanted to hold and Butterbean nearly ended it with a left hook, sending his opponent into a momentary stupor. He seemed to be shocked that he was facing such an inept opponent and elected to take it easy on him. The power shots that Bean is known for were in reserve and he decided to just throw body shots at the delusional Siciliano. The body shots were enough to send Joe to the canvas for the first time in round one, but surprisingly, he survived and even celebrated that he would see round two.
In round two, the body-beating continued, as Bean toyed with his opponent. It reminded me of a father getting on his knees to fight his young son to make it even. He looked at Siciliano as such a far lesser that he was somewhat willing to allow him to do what he wanted and to make a show of it. The clubbing body shots that didn?t look particularly great were enough however to end this bout at 1:10 of the second round. I overheard the referee stating: ?What a disgrace!? That seemed to be the crowd?s opinion too as they booed their hometown boy loudly. What did they expect though? I know that Siciliano had been campaigning and stating to anyone that would listen that he was going to beat Butterbean. Perhaps the people allowed themselves to be fooled and when Bean weighed in so heavy, I?m sure that they expected the upset to be in the cards. That was just wishful thinking because Siciliano could not beat Butterbean if he had both of his arms cut off.
