Scheduled Event
Friday Night Fights: Prescott loses his "0," Cubans roll to three wins
Colombian slugger Breidis Prescott might need another new nickname. "The Khanqueror" saw his career hit a wall in the main event of last night's ESPN2 Friday Night Fights from Las Vegas, as he was outboxed, frustrated and frankly schooled by the unheralded Miguel Vazquez.
Prescott (21-1, 18 KO) burst onto the global scene and into many lightweight top tens with his one-round thrashing of Amir Khan last September in Manchester. He fought again in February against Humberto Toledo, winning rather unimpressively by disqualification when the veteran Toledo bit him in the final round.
But last night all his bad habits showed up, and he never got his power game truly rolling against Vazquez (25-3, 12 KO), a young man with a lot of experience for his age. BoxRec.com doesn't list his birth date, but Joe Tessitore said he was 22 (or it may have been 23). It was his fourth straight win and by far the biggest of his career.
Vazquez used slippery technique and great counter timing to score the upset, which was semi-called by ESPN commentator Teddy Atlas and also by former 154-pound titlist and "Contender" champion Sergio Mora, who was in the building, sat in for a round of the main event, and has sparred with Vazquez in the past. Mora described him as a guy with really funky timing that he "hated" sparring, and that's exactly who showed up against Prescott.
It's a major bump in the road for Prescott, who seemed a pretend to begin with. He struggled at times with Toledo, a guy who has been knocked out in the past, and against whom he had a big size advantage. Vazquez was a late sub after Ray Narh dropped out of this fight, and this is not the end of the line for Prescott by any means, but further advancement will require genuine improvement in his game. He too often fights entirely looking to land the home run punch, which he has in his arsenal, but a solid boxer can make him pay for bad misses, and that's what Vazquez did all night long.
The win was a split decision, with one ringside judge inexplicably scoring it 97-92 for Prescott. That card is hard to excuse, but in the end the right guy won. Vazquez did hit the canvas in the first round, but after that he largely dominated the bout in my view. He won the other two cards, 95-94 and 96-93.
Friday Night Fights Open Thread
Tonight on Friday Night Fights, on 10pm on ESPN 2, Bredis Prescott faces off against Miguez Vasquez, a late replacement for Ray Narh. Erislandy Lara will take on Darnell Boone, his toughest competition to date. In addition, Cuban prospects Guillermo Rigondeaux and Yordanis Despaigne are scheduled to be on the bill, although Paddy promoter Gary Hyde has been trying to enjoin him from doing so, and I didn't hear word on whether he was successful.
I apologize for not posting much this week. Things have been crazy at work. Since I missed it, I'll combine my fight schedule thread with this one.
Elsewhere this weekend:
Friday, July 17
Telemundo, 11:35 p.m., Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. vs. Cecilio Santos
Saturday, July 18
ITV, 3p.m. Eastern, 10-0 Danny McIntosh faces 16-0 Nathan Cleverly for the Commonwealth Light Heavyweight title. Tyson Fury is also on the undercard.
Sky Sports, 4:00 p.m. Eastern, Amir Khan vs. Andriy Kotelnik, Enzo Maccaranelli vs Denis Lebedev, and Kevin Mitchell and Kell Brook in British-level fights. Shame this one didn't at least make its way onto a US pay per view on a slow boxing weekend. Khan clearly has the speed advantage, but Kotelnik is a decent fighter, and he's a legitimate 140 pounder, wherreas Khan has had major chin issues at 135 before. On the undercard, Enzo Maccarinelli takes on Denis Lebedev, and Kevin Mitchell and Kell Brook take on British-level fighters.
Gofightlive.tv, 8:00 p.m. ($4.99), Tyrese Hendrix vs. Robbie Cannon, among others. Fernando Guererro was originally slated to face Antwun Echols on the card, but with that fight cancelled, the card is a shell of what it was.
Azteca Amercia, 11:00 p.m., Tomas Rojas vs. Everardo Morales. The successor to Solo Boxeo is officially a bust.
Elsewhere in the world...
- Martin Castillo attempts to continue his comeback against some no-name. Castillo's career essentially ended due to cuts. He was getting badly cut in every fight towards the end. He had surgery to shave down some bone on his face, but it didn't help. A year or so later, he's trying to soldier on again.
- Hiroyuki Enoki, who recently lost to Chris John and drew with Takahiro Aoh, faces 12-1 Ryol Li Lee.
- My favorite heavyweight prospect Tor Hamer keeps plugging away against Marcus Dickerson. He hasn't stepped it up yet, but his one televised fight has told us he has a lot left to learn anyway.
- Deontay Wilder and Adrien Broner fight on a card in Cincinatti tonight. Their opponents are still listed as TBA, which is a good sign.

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