Saturday night at Gila River Arena in Glendale Arizona, Jose Pedraza dethroned WBO lightweight champion Raymundo Beltran?
Saturday night at Gila River Arena in Glendale Arizona, in a fight televised live on ESPN, former IBF junior lightweight champion Jose Pedraza (25-1, 12 KOs), the hotshot southpaw from Caguas, Puerto Rico, dethroned WBO lightweight champion Raymundo Beltran (35-8-1, 21 KOs), the survivor?s survivor from Phoenix, Arizona, by way of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, after a back-and-forth war that went the distance.
The final scores after 12 bloody rounds were 115-112 and 117-110 twice.
Fighting out of the blue corner in red, white and blue trunks, 29-year-old Pedraza was younger than his opponent. He was also taller, longer, more athletic and more skilled. Pedraza can also execute a game plan, even if it means fighting another man?s fight. He may lack a heartbreaking backstory. But he?s a fighter with a big future ahead of him.
Thirty-seven-year-old Beltran, fighting out of the red corner in red and white trunks, fought more like a challenger than a champion. His fight plan doesn?t change from fight to fight. He relies on grit. He wears down opponents by sheer force of will. He doesn?t so much as walk through punches as walk into punches, before taking a step back before wading in for more.
Pedraza dominated the first third of the fight. He drew first blood in the second with a right hook thrown from the southpaw stance. It was gory, but it was a Beltran fight, and if bleeding is what it takes, Beltran is willing to get as good as he gives.
Beltran took the middle rounds. He stepped on the gas in the fifth, relying on pressure and thudding body shots. Pedraza was landing at a higher rate, but Beltran was busy and got stronger as Pedraza appeared to fade.
The fight was bull and matador, especially in the last third of the bout as the fighter?s traded punches and rounds. Beltran won rounds eight and 10. Pedraza won the ninth and dropped Beltran in the 11th with a career-ending uppercut. Beltran jumped to his feet and finished the round. Pedraza used the final round to send a message with his fists, to Ray Beltran, who was furiously eating punches at the bell, and to other titleholders in the division.
?We did everything that we needed to do to win this fight,? said Pedraza. ?We followed the game plan perfectly. I knew how tough Ray Beltran would be and at moments it got very difficult, but thanks to the focus and the guidance from my corner, we were able to win round by round and get the win?
Beltran?s disappointment was palpable. He was almost rendered speechless.
?I thought it was a good, close fight. The knockdown made the difference. I got caught with a really good shot.?
A jubilant Pedraza was asked about his plans. ?I want all the big names,? he said, while Lomachenko licks his chops on the sidelines.
