Not bad, Chad: Broussard ends Gibbins saga in dramatic fashion
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Chad Broussard, right, boxes Homer Gibbins Saturday night during The Trilogy at Blackham Coliseum. Though bloodied in the fight, Broussard won the rubber match between the two fighters via decision, 93-96, 97-93, 95-94. |
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Chad Broussard after his fight with Homer Gibbins Saturday night during The Trilogy at Blackham Coliseum. Though bloodied in the fight, Broussard won the rubber match between the two fighters via decision, 93-96, 97-93, 95-94. |
The Trilogy went the distance and came down to a single point Saturday
night. Homer "The Nature Boy" Gibbins stood next to his managers, covered in "Bad" Chad Broussard's blood, awaiting the judges scores.
The announcer read off the scores.
96-93 Gibbins.
97-93 Broussard.
95-94... Broussard.
The raucous crowd in Blackham Coliseum erupted as the hometown, bloody-nosed fighter won his 56th victory of his career.
"I wanted to control the tempo of the fight, and come out and maybe knock him out in the third or fourth round," Broussard said. "I felt like I was a little stale and I just couldn't get things going. "I'm a fast-paced fighter. That pace just wasn't me. I felt like I controlled the first four rounds and landed some good punches, I just wasn't able to knock him out."
No. 56 couldn't have come at a better time. "This is huge," Broussard said. "If I lost, I wasn't fighting no more." Both fighters had lost to each other once apiece, so this was the deciding fight in their series.
Broussard came in weighing 151.5 pounds, while Gibbins weighed 152 and sported pink trunks.
For Gibbins its was his 16th loss.
Broussard set a quick pace in the first round, punching Gibbins into a corner.
In round three Broussard made a nice move in which he dodged a Gibbins hook, and countered with a jab that sent sweat flying off of Gibbins' bald head.
But, Gibbins started keeping Broussard on the ropes, taking him out of his game. When Broussard wasn't landing punches, he was against the ropes taking massive body shots from Gibbins.
The duo came out in the sixth round looking to end the fight. Twice they landed simultaneous punches with a thud that echoed throughout the coliseum. After the bell rang, and extra jab from Broussard cost him a point and enraged Gibbins and his team.
The next round, Broussard rocked Gibbins' head back so hard that his mouthpiece flew out onto the canvas.
Round eight saw a flurry of jabs from Broussard that stung Gibbins.
Cheers of "go Chad go" poured down from the fans in the last round.
"I just want to thank the people of Lafayette, because without them none of this would be possible," Broussard said.
Also on the card was a fiery youngster making his pro debut. Mason Menard electrified the crowd as he walked out pumping his hands in the air and flexing. Menard backed every bit of it up. He knocked out his opponent 1:32 in the second round.
"It feels great; it's one of the greatest feelings in the world," Menard said. "I fed off the crowd a lot. They really got me pumped up."
Lafayette's Jared LeBlanc also picked up his first professional win with a TKO at 2:15 in the first round. |
