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2012-10-25 Las Pulgas, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Azteca America aired this card 2 days later on their usual Saturday slot. This card was special in that it was entirely composed of female fighters, judges, referees, and ring announcers. And if there wasn't enough pink on location, the Azteca team made sure their television graphics were loaded with it.
Sandra Robles UD4 Kealoni Vanderleest
After a closer opening round between these two southpaws, the shorter Robles proved to be far more accurate in round 2 as Vanderleest often walked in without properly defending herself. The counter punching of Robles combined with her head movement and balance proved more than Vanderleest could handle through the remainder of the fight. Only 1 of the 3 judges found a single round to award to Vanderleest.
Angelica Dominguez UD4 Abigail Castaneda
Whoever got let their hands go the most seemed to win each round of this fight as the taller Dominguez took the 1st while the resilient Castaneda came back in the 2nd. Round 3 was close and while the judges likely favored the busier Dominguez the Azteca America commentators could see what I saw, a bunch of very wide shots that weren't particularly clean or effective. It was the same story in round 4 but Dominguez may have been too busy to not deserve it. When Castaneda heard the 2 shutout cards she knew the fix was in. Only 1 of the judges found a single round to award to Castaneda although she easily could have walked away with a draw or a victory herself.
Brenda Flores SD4 Carmen Paloma Lopez
In a tight fight scored 3 rounds to 1 by each judge (although one in the other direction) Flores pulled out a 4 round split decision victory over Lopez, likely due to her aggression. Round 3 was the only round that Lopez made a point to consistently come forward and is likely the only round each judge scored for her. Although Flores was very wide with her shots I honestly didn't see Lopez offer enough back to score the fight differently than the official verdict.
Kenia Enriquez TKO2 Carol Castro Madrid
Castro, wide and slow, telegraphed her punches and made it easy for Enriquez pick them off and fire back straight down the middle. Castro also left her chin out to dry and her defense was next to non-existent. Eventually the referee stepped in and waved the fight off as she felt Castro was out classed and couldn't properly defend herself, even though she was far from knocked out in any sense of the words.
Jolene Blackshear TKO1 Lili Barajas
In a battle of youth vs experience, youth lost. A counter over hand left hook (out of an orthodox stance no less) caught Barajas coming in, busted her nose open, and sent her to the canvas. Although she easily beat the count the referee immediately took her over to the ringside doctor and the bout was stopped. Aside from the blood from Barajas' nose, this was a clean and swift victory for the 42 year old Blackshear (IFBA champion back in the ‘90s).
Joselyn Arroyo Ruiz TKO2 Yadira Trejo
In the main event of the evening the undefeated Ruiz dominated the overmatched Trejo and easily won the vacant NABF female flyweight title. Ruiz had physical advantages in just about every category imaginable and was the superior technician to top it off. It was obvious Trejo had no chance (other than a Sunday punch) merely seconds into the fight. In round 2 a short right hand hurt Trejo and staggered her into the ropes covering up. Follow up right hooks to the head and body took Trejo to her knees and ended the fight as she was in no condition to continue after beating the 10 count. Former multi-time world champions Jackie Nava and Erik Morales were acknowledged before the fight and Nava actually presented NABF belt to the winner.
2012-10-26 Holiday Inn, Pointe-Claire, Quebec, Canada
This card was streamed live by boxingchannel.tv with Al Bernstein and Corey Erdman on commentary.
Steven Wilcox UD6 Carlos Martinez
In a fight that was neither entertaining nor competitive Wilcox easily coasted to a wide decision victory. He was too tall and long for his opponent who honestly didn't even belong in the weight division this was held at (a little above the lightweight limit). Martinez was soft around the midsection and jovial in his facial expressions after rounds would end or when he got caught by embarrassing shots. He acted as if he was happy to be a sparring partner. I certainly wasn't happy to watch this sparring session. Every judge scored this fight a shutout, and rightfully so.
Mian Hussain TKO2 Arnoldo Poblete
"Super Mian" dominated but didn't appear particularly super despite the 1st round knockdown and 2nd round stoppage. Poblete was dropped at the end of the 1st partially due to a push and balance issues. In the 2nd Poblete wasn't in danger at all when the bout was stopped but the referee's hand was forced when Poblete's corner requested it.
Tyler Asselstine TKO3 Ramiro Andres Campos
Asselstine, a southpaw with a snapping jab, dominated Campos with combinations to the head and body. Body shots put Campos down twice in the 3rd round and ended the fight with no time left on the clock.
Ghislain Maduma TKO7 Sergio Omar Priotti
As was the case with every prior bout, it didn't take long to realize who was going to win this fight. So a few rounds in I got bored and decided to peruse Priotti's resume. I came to the conclusion that Maduma may be the 3rd best fighter that Priotti has had the privilege of losing to. No one would argue that Maduma rates below Lucas Martin Matthysse and most would agree he's still not quite on the level of a 2010 Paulus Moses. I'd like to know who the better fighter between Maduma and Cesar Rene Cuenca is. Cuenca, now 43-0 like Floyd Mayweather, defeated Priotti back in 2011. If you think Mayweather has been protected to get that far, wait until you check out Priotti's resume...
Anyways, let's get back to the Maduma-Priotti whitewash itself. Both fighters were fairly even defensively but the hand speed and higher activity from Maduma made the fight easy to score. Hooks to the body put Priotti down in the 7th round and although he beat the count he was in no shape to continue.
Dierry Jean TKO11 Ivan Cano
In a somewhat dirty fight, which Cano is no stranger to, Jean's power and skills were the difference. Ivan, brother of Pablo Cesar, came into the fight with the mindset that he needed to knock Jean out to win. But after tasting Jean's power early Cano mostly fought to survive. It was ironic that Cano seemingly didn't want to be there as Jean was the one roughly 5 minutes late even getting to the ring. Jean took so long to get to the ring that they actually had to restart his entrance music.
However, once the fight did start, Jean stalked Cano around the ring and beat him up. Jean's offense was stifled a bit by Cano's lateral movement and Jean's lack of cutting off the ring. Jean consistently attacked the body throughout the fight and sometimes accidentally strayed low. Cano took these opportunities to complain (fishing for a DQ) and take as much time as he needed to regain his wind. But the only point deduction in the fight came after a low blow from Cano, which appeared intentional and retaliatory to getting hurt at the end of round 7.
In any case, legal body shots ultimately ended the fight and awarded Jean the victory. Body shots softened Cano up in round 11 and a series of right hands to the head sent him to his knees. He beat the count but didn't want to continue and walked back to his corner as soon as he got up. Jean successfully defended his NABF light welterweight title and picked up the vacant NABA title in the process. This effectively makes Jean a player in both the WBC and the WBA where Danny Garcia holds titles in both sanctioning bodies. However, since Garcia is the super WBA champion the regular title is still available and is scheduled to be fought for if Joan Guzman and Khabib Allakhverdiev mix it up a month from now. I'm rather looking forward to that fight.
2012-10-26 Tecnópolis, Villa Martelli, Buenos Aires, Argentina
TV Publica televised the main event and chief supporting undercard.
Ricardo Marcelo Ramallo MD8 Abel Nicolas Adriel
In a seemingly evenly matched contest 11(10)-3 Ramallo narrowly escaped 11(3)-4-2 Adriel. In any fight that Ramallo can't KO his opponent his chances of winning are pretty slim, but luck was on his side this night. Two of the judges, who scored it wide for Ramallo, apparently didn't much care for Adriel's good defense and clean counters since he rarely came forward in the process. Honestly it was just one of those fights that could be fairly scored for either fighter.
Carolina Raquel Duer UD10 Marisa Johanna Portillo (97-92, 97-92, 97-92)
Carolina Raquel Duer made the 6th defense of her WBO female super flyweight title by overcoming her talker, longer, and much younger opponent with timing and range control. Although Portillo had the ability to land punches from further away than Duer could, Duer stayed outside of Portillo's range, frustrated her, a picked her spots to come in and land something of her own. This however was by no means a flawless or masterful performance by Duer. Portillo often found success when she let her hands go and punched in combination as Duer pulled straight back.
Unfortunately Portillo often carelessly rushed in too close and ended up headbutting Duer in the process. The referee took a point from Portillo for a head clash in round 6. In the 10th round I witnessed something I'd never seen before when the referee's clip-on mini-microphone ended up stuck in Duer's hair after he separated the two women from a clinch. Portillo, who needed a knockout to win, fought aggressively in the remainder of the round but wasn't very effective and got countered.
2012-10-27 Arena Cuidad de Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
The main and co-main events aired on Mexico's TV Azteca and wbcboxing.tv.
Edgar Sosa MD10 Myung Ho Lee
Edgar Sosa looked to be an entire division smaller against his taller and younger opponent but narrowly managed to overcome his physical disadvantages with his superior boxing skill set. Azteca7 had the fight a draw as did one of the official judges but there were a lot of swing rounds that could have easily gone either way. Azteca7 didn't give Sosa a round until the 4th when he hurt Lee. Sosa would learn that Lee could not fight very well going backwards. Although taller fighters are born with an advantage to fight off the back foot they still have to be taught how and Lee apparently never learned. With the fight on the line I felt Sosa clearly pulled out the last round and deserved the nod. This was a very good fight and the last round was an all-out war.
Cristian Mijares TKO9 Rafael Marquez
In what was actually a great opening round for Marquez, an accidental clash of heads opened up a cut on Mijares and cost Marquez a point. I'm pretty sure the deduction wasn't up to the referee's discretion and he simply followed standard WBC protocol. Marquez's momentum continued into round 2 and he continued to press forward working behind his jab and punching in combination when he closed the gap. Mijares spent a lot of time focusing on defense, seemingly counting on Marquez to wear himself it. Sure enough Mijares did finally let his hands go in round 3 while Marquez was sucking air. Age and age management proved to be the deciding factor in the fight. Marquez, 6 years older, was still trying to fight like a younger man while Mijares had fully embraced an energy conserving older style. Mijares spent most of rounds 4 and 5 making Marquez miss often without making him pay and arguably let them slip away from him.
But the general gist of the rest of the fight was already established. A gassed Marquez would press the attack while Mijares would slip, pull out of range, and counter when he felt like it. Sometimes Mijares countered enough to win rounds, sometimes he didn't. Hell, sometimes Mijares was gassed as well and just ate punches flush. This was a good, close fight that either fighter was capable of winning up until the 8th round where Marquez was hurt and on shaky legs despite never retreating. Mijares hurt Marquez again in round 9 with a big left hook that sent Marquez reeling. Mijares quickly jumped on him and flurried until the referee stepped in. Nothing nearly as effective as the initial left hook landed afterward but Marquez wasn't throwing punches back and gave the referee little choice but to step in as Marquez couldn't properly defend himself. The stoppage may have been a tad early but I felt the outcome was inevitable.
Azteca7 actually had Marquez ahead at the time of the stoppage as did one of the official judges. All scores were respectable whether I agreed with them or not. Ultimately the better man won, but in no way, shape, or form is he remotely capable of beating Nonito Donaire. If Mijares gets his wish and the Donaire fight is made anyway, I suspect Mijares won't even do as well as Omar Narvaez. Cristian's fighting style is effective against slower / tiring / less busy / technically deficient fighters. Donaire doesn't fit any of those descriptions. Nonetheless Mijares is the new WBC United States (USNBC) featherweight champion. Marquez-Mijares was originally scheduled for the WBC Silver title at super bantamweight and it's unknown to me at this time when things changed or if anyone had problems making weight.
2012-10-27 Aviator Sports Complex, Brooklyn, New York, USA
World Kid Promotions put this over-priced Integrated Sports PPV together. The PPV buy count could not have been good considering higher profile "free TV" cards were in competing time slots. But WKP counted on television money from the Middle East to take the finances of the event out of the red.
Steven Gamache UD4 Jose Angel Ortiz
3-0 Gamache did what he was expected to do and shut 4-10-1 Ortiz out. Ortiz didn't let his hands go and thus didn't put himself in a position to win rounds. He sure knew how to survive them though.
Michael Constantino TKO2 Nathan Ortiz
In this cruiserweight mismatch the MUCH smaller Ortiz was stopped in round 2 after apparently quitting. He was simply out classed, kept getting hurt, and had no chance of winning. Oddly enough there was some discussion between Ortiz and his corner before the fight ended and Constantino tried to take Ortiz's head off while he was turned away. Action was never paused but Ortiz looked annoyed that Constantino tried to hit him again. Apparently he thought it was obvious that he already quit.
Anyways the bigger story here is Constantino. Michael, 33 years old, won his pro debut this night despite the fact that he was born with only one hand. Canstantino is taped in a way that effectively simulates a hand although his right arm is still significantly shorter than his left. Canstantino primarily fought out of an orthodox stance but switched to southpaw when he wanted to make his left hand the power hand rather than a jabbing hand. Canstantino mostly just used his right hand for defense and to blind his opponent. His best punch was his left hook.
Ramadan Yasser UD6 Tim Johnson
3x Egyptian Olympian Yasser improved his pro record to 8-0 and should probably consider stepping up sooner rather than later due to his age (32). Honestly Yasser should have taken Johnson out in the very 1st round when he hurt him then dropped him inside the first minute. But the Philadelphian and boxing genes in Johnson, nephew to Jersey Joe Walcott, got him through the round and the entire fight. It actually ended up a competitive slugfest in spots where Johnson even had Yasser in trouble. But unfortunately Johnson couldn't sustain his offense and wound back up on the canvas again in round 5. This was actually Johnson's 33rd birthday. Doubtful he ever predicted his birthday present would be getting beat up by someone called "The Holy Man."
Santander Silgado UD8 Joell Godfrey
Merely a few months ago Silgado already dominated Joell Godfrey and defended his WBC FECARBOX cruiserweight title in the process. This fight was merely a repeat without a title on the line. Godfrey had brief moments of success, but nothing sustained. Nonetheless Silgado's record "improved" to 23-0.
Sadam Ali KO2 Ronnie Warrior Jr
In the main event of the evening Ali's hand speed, activity, and punching power was too much for the reluctant Warrior. The only criticism Ali's corner had for him after the 1st round was that he sometimes reached with his shots as Warrior tried to stay out of range. A left uppercut took Warrior's legs out and produced the first knockdown and a right hand sent him down again to end the fight with 1 second to go. With the victory Ali's record improved to 16-0 while Warrior dropped to 13-8-1 and is now on a 6 fight losing streak. Warrior has another 8 fights earlier in his career that were ruled no contests/decisions. After the fight commentator Benny Ricardo opened his post-fight interview announcing Ali as the youngest active boxing promoter in the world and congratulated him on his performance. But once the order numbers come in for this pay per view, I doubt anyone will congratulate him further.
2012-10-27 Centro Internacional de Convenciones , Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Parts of this card were televised by Mexico's Televisa but I've only seen the main event at the time I've written this. Fox Deportes was also scheduled to broadcast, but I believe they saved it for another day.
Sergio Thompson TKO5 Luis Armando Juarez
Thompson walked Juarez down and wore him out round by round with shots to the head and body. A jab to the body took Juarez to his knees early in round 5. He beat the count but the writing was on the wall and Juarez continued to take a beating until a right hand to the head followed by hooks took him to his knees again near the end of the round. Although he beat the count again Thompson jumped on him immediately and put him down for the last time with a lead straight right hand to the body. The referee waved the fight off immediately. With the victory Thompson successfully defended his WBC International Silver super featherweight title.
2012-10-27 Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio, Texas, USA
Telefutura's Solo Boxeo Tecate televised the main event and one of the undercards.
Julian Ramirez TKO5 Steve Gutierrez
Steve Gutierrez, down multiple times in multiple rounds, was saved from further punishment in the 5th when his corner threw in the towel. It was a bit surprising it lasted as long as it did.
Rocky Juarez KO8 Antonio Escalante
Rocky Juarez, who I thought was retired before this bout was announced, had not won a fight since 2008. This was a battle between two fighters notorious for coming up short in their biggest fights. For Juarez, Escalante was far from one of his big fights. However, Juarez was washed up to a point where it didn't really matter who he faced anymore. He was expected to lose. He hadn't won a fight in 4 years and had already lost to fighters with lower profiles than Escalante. I don't care what any revisionist has to say about this fight, it was an upset. I just wish Rocky would retire on it (this time for real). Unfortunately he'll probably go back to losing again...
As for the fight itself Juarez dropped Escalante in round 3 with a left uppercut/hook and took him out with a flurry in round 8. This was yet another fight where Juarez let most rounds slip away where he didn't hurt his opponent but fortunately was able to hurt Escalante enough to take him out and not risk losing another decision.
If a bout is not mentioned which took place on one of the above cards it's most likely because I haven't got around to watching it yet. In the event that I do watch such a bout at a later time it's still unlikely I will update this recap. My recaps will be posted on Mondays and Wednesdays, devoted to cards that most casual American boxing fans haven't seen or heard of. For available footage of the previously reported bouts follow @sweetboxing on twitter.