Tonight's Julio Cesar Chavez Jr vs Peter Manfredo Jr undercard from Reliant Arena in Houston had some pretty stuff going down, including the return of a name fighter who hasn't been in the ring in 20 months. Here are the results.
Middleweights: Joshua Clottey TKO-2 Calvin Green
Clottey hadn't fought since his March 2010 stinker with Manny Pacquiao, but he returned to Texas tonight and actually threw his hands. Whether that means Clottey has come back determined to be a more TV-friendly fighter wasn't really addressed here, since Green (21-7-1, 13 KO) was no challenge for him. But Clottey (36-4, 21 KO) looked good fighting at 156 pounds (he's going to 154), and stopped Green on a shot to the jaw in round two. Just a rust-shaker, but Clottey definitely wasn't in there to get rounds. He was gunning for it from the start.
Welterweights: Wale Omotoso UD-8 Lanardo Tyner
Omotoso (20-0, 17 KO) and Tyner (25-5-2, 15 KO) both received good marks from those who saw this fight, but the Top Rank stream didn't have this one live. Why they didn't put this on earlier and push a couple of the less meaningful fights to later in the show is anyone's guess.
Lightweights: Mickey Bey Jr UD-8 Hector Velazquez
Velazquez (51-17-3, 35 KO) forced Bey to take a knee in the second round, and had him in serious trouble, but for the most part the fight went Bey's way. He never looked truly comfortable in there, but the Cleveland native deserved the win, and Bey improves to 18-0-1 (9 KO). Still, he has a lot of issues, and the Floyd Mayweather Sr-taught style he employs doesn't really seem to suit him at all. Velazquez is 36 years old and has really slowed down, and had a lot of success in this fight. Plus, we saw Bey get a very lucky draw earlier this year with Jose Hernandez, a gritty, tough fighter, but not one of any great skill. It's been a rough year overall, and I think Bey exits 2011 without gaining anything career-wise, and his prospects have probably taken a hit.
Junior Middlweights: Jose Pinzon UD-8 Larry Smith
Like the Omotoso fight, this one wasn't seen on the live stream. Pinzon improves to 20-2-1 (12 KO) with the win. Fight was said to be very dull.
Super Featherweights: Ivan Otero MD-4 Gino Escamilla
Otero (7-0, 1 KO) was the better fighter, and this was a fun scrap, but Escamilla (5-11-1, 2 KO) gave him some problems and made him uncomfortable winging shots. That combined with Otero's utter lack of power don't speak well for Otero as a serious prospect.
Welterweights: Alex Saucedo TKO-1 Cedric Sheppard
Saucedo made his pro debut here, and totally overwhelmed Sheppard, blasting him with nice combinations and stopping him at 2:28.
Light Heavyweights: Marcus Johnson UD-6 Billy Bailey
Johnson (21-1, 15 KO) won on scores of 60-53, 60-53, 60-52. This was the first fight he's had since losing to Dyah Davis in April.
Featherweights: Luis Zarazua UD-4 Ricardo Avila
Not quite the thunderous impression Zarazua made in his pro debut on October 29, but he swept the cards.