At Sony Hall in New York City on Wednesday night, Dominguez faced off against the more experienced and comically larger Marvin Solano in a real fight. However, Dominguez prevailed (9-0, 6 KOs), winning by unanimous decision after eight rounds. One judge had it close at 76-75, while the other two scored it 78-73 for Dominguez. Solano (24-8, 8 KOs) suffers his fourth defeat in his past five fights.
It was evident from the first bell that Solano had the physical characteristics to trouble Dominguez. The 32-year-old Nicaraguan fighter was around 5 inches taller than Dominguez and stood around 5'8". At 114 pounds, Solano, who had competed as a bantamweight in his previous three fights, appeared far more at ease than Dominguez did at 113.75 pounds.
In the opening rounds, Solano found a target for his straight right hand and uppercuts, stopping Dominguez's approach. Dominguez, who competed in 59 amateur bouts, was forced to use wild outside swings to close the deficit. When he struck Solano in the body with a left hook in round four, the fight started to change. Particularly in the sixth, when a step to the left allowed him to hit an overhand right, followed by a left hook and another overhand, Dominguez demonstrated the ability to respond by adjusting angles in close.
Eventually, when Solano's frustrations arose due to weariness in the eighth round, the fight started to go apart for him. For hitting Dominguez on a break, Solano, who was knocked to the ground numerous times throughout the round, was penalized one point. Dominguez didn't require the extra points, but a more liberal referee might have handed Solano a count in the round after a series of blows preceding one such fall to the ground.
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