CHICAGO ? Who says the hometown fighter is always on the gracious end of a bad decision?
In what was an absolute stunner, the Co-main event of ESPN?s ?Friday Night Fights? between Adrian Granados and Kermit Cintron was announced as a split draw Friday with the three judges having it 96-94 for Granados, 97-93 for Cintron, and 95-95. Maxboxing had the fight 97-94 for Granados.
For most the fight, Granados was seemingly in control. The 23 year-old slugger from Chicago relied on his speed and superior reflexes to outbox Cintron from a distance.
Cintron, however, did have his moments. In rounds four and five, Cintron landed the heavier blows that appeared to hurt Granados. Cintron?s lankiness was also effective when the former world champion tied Granados up on the inside.
Granados readjusted in the following rounds and took advantage of Cintron?s inactivity. Granados, 146, constantly landed the cleaner punches in moments where the action lulled. In round six, Granados came out much more aggressive and landed a series of punches that hurt Cintron.
Cintron recovered well and arguably stole round seven by negating Granados? aggression. Still, Cintron remained inactive in the following rounds and Granados took advantage of it.
The draw is neither the first of either man?s career. In 2009, Cintron received a very generous draw in a bout with now Middleweight champion Sergio Martinez. Granados received his first draw in a disputed decision against Lanardo Tyner.
The fight was Cintron?s first fight in 16 months and first at Welterweight since 2008. Granados previously fought in December, stopping Chicago fighter Antonio Canas in the sixth round.
Here is the official score-sheet from the bout:
Sergio Montes de Oca vs Hairon Soccaras
Featherweights Hairon Soccaras and SergioMontes de Oca opened up ESPN 2?s ?Friday Nights Fights? with an entertaining four round bout that resulted in Soccaras, 7-0 (5), earning a unanimous decision by scores of 40-35 across the board.
Soccaras scored a flash knockdown in the first after de Oca, 7-2-1 (1), lost his balance from a right hand. It was the start of what would be a dominant night for Soccaras as he controlled the fight from close quarters. A cut opened over Soccaras? left eye in round two from an accidental headbutt, but it wasn?t bad enough to stop the fight.
Jose Arambula vs Jacob Akin
In the first fight of the evening, Chicago lightweight Jose Arambula, 3-0 (2), dispatched Jacob Akin, 0-2, with relative ease for a first round knockout. Armbula, 20, landed a lead right hand sent Akin down towards the end of the round. The official time of the knockout came at 2:46.
(More to come?) Questions and comments can be sent to Matt at [email protected]. You can follow him at www.twitter.com/Mparas1432.
Please visit our Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/MaxBoxing, where you can discuss our content with Maxboxing readers as well as chime in via our fully interactive article comments sections.
