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Palmer during a between-round breather. |
It would be another six months before Palmer would step back in the
ring. But four months of long, slow rehab finally gave way to two months of
serious training for his fight Tuesday, the non-rifle defense against Chuwatana,
a converted kickboxer.
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Chuwatana has his injuries tended to. |
Chuwatana spent much of the fight either showboating or clutching and
grabbing Palmer to stay out of the way of his cat-quick left jabs and vicious
right crosses and uppercuts.
The fourth and
fifth rounds belonged to Palmer, who unloaded a relentless arsenal of jabs and
rights. Though Chuwatana was never in danger of being knocked down, one of the
punches opened a two-inch cut over his right eye. At 2:38 of the fifth round,
the fight was waved off.
“It didn’t go like I wanted,” Palmer said, adding he’d hoped the fight would go six or seven rounds.
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Palmer reacts to the TKO decision. |
“But I got a good workout, so I'm satisfied."
And how did his back hold up?
“The back is fine. The back is outstanding,” Palmer said.
“With the blessing of the man above, everything will work out fine.”