Unbeaten junior middleweight prospect Julio Cesar Chavez Jr overcame a seventh round ankle injury to knock out Italian boxer Tobia Guiseppe Loriga in the penultimate ninth round on Saturday night at the Plaza de Toros Jurquilla in Queretaro, Mexico.
Chavez 36-0-1 (29) whose path to the top has taken longer to unfurl than the plot of TV?s Lost, impressed as the headliner of Top Rank?s ?Latin Fury? PPV card as he pounded the hard working but light fisted Loriga 24-1-1 (6) through nine rounds of a scheduled ten. He boxed in a deliberate and disciplined fashion until he rolled his ankle in the seventh round ? a nagging injury which didn?t stop him from knocking out the Italian after a punishing assault two rounds later.
Surely going forward, his feathered fight record will be tested more heavily ? having spent over four years and 33 fights feeding, sometimes lazily, on inferior opposition, utilizing his famous name and little else to sell tickets and PPV broadcasts. Tonight, however, he showed glimpses of his talent.
?I?m a lot happier with this performance tonight,? said Chavez after the contest. ?I tried to box a little more because a lot of people said I couldn?t move in the ring. Unfortunately by the seventh round I couldn?t do that anymore. I was really hurting and I couldn?t move like I wanted to.?
A fight with this evening?s co-headliner Hector Camacho Jr is being touted as a possible next step and, on the back of this improved outing, it seems both a very winnable and ladder climbing fight for the young Mexican.
?You know I?m ready for it,? said Chavez when asked about the possibility. ?It would be a great fight so let?s make it happen.?
To begin this evening?s contest, Loriga shot his jab in the general direction of his adversary from the opening bell and he moved well away from the right hand of Chavez early on. The Mexican blocked the right hands that infrequently came his way and connected with a well placed left hook to the body midway through the round. Chavez eventually got his own jab going and snapped back the Italian?s head when it landed but neither man connected with much in this patiently fought frame.
What he lacked in power, Loriga seemed to make up for in guile and he moved beautifully to start the second, shooting right hands behind his jab. In a careless moment, however, he walked into a stupendous counter right hand in the opening minute and found himself on the canvas, clearly hurt. He waited until eight, got up and to his credit began throwing punches. Chavez responded to the body with short hooks but the Italian soon had his opponent against the ropes and scored with a series of punches as he attempted to get himself back into the fight.
Loriga came out aggressively for the third but he missed with a majority of his loosely thrown punches and ate another counter right hand in the opening seconds. Chavez looked comfortable by now and he connected well to the body in this frame, forcing Loriga to lower his hands at times. With blood trickling from his nose, Chavez was effective, if not outstanding, throughout the three minutes ? consistently beating the Italian to the punch and deflecting most of Loriga?s punches
It was surprising, however, that the 22-year-old did not press home his advantage in that third frame and Loriga had completely recovered in the fourth. Chavez, however, was still landing the heavier punches and he continued to do so in this round. Connecting with a straight right at the minute mark and a left hook not long after, Chavez was winning the contest but Loriga kept coming forward and swatting at the Mexican against the ropes ? scoring at times but nowhere near enough to worry Team Chavez.
Chavez peppered his foe with damaging punches to begin the fifth but Loriga fought back bravely and caught his opponent with a handful of counter punches throughout the first half of the round. A stiff right hand seemed to hurt the European, however, in the final minute and Chavez picked his spots with ease for the remainder of the frame ? alternating to the body and head with accurate shots that were clearly having an effect on Loriga.
The Italian continued to work hard in the middle rounds but he was persistently caught with hard punches as Chavez fought effectively on the inside. Loriga was performing well but the punches that he landed were not strong enough to damage Chavez and he was paying a heavy price by the seventh round. He took a number of jarring punches and looked in all sorts of trouble until lady luck shined upon him. After beating Loriga for a full two minutes, Chavez rolled over on his ankle and fell to the floor. He got up but was moving gingerly – an opportunity for Loriga late in the fight.
In the eighth, with a wounded ankle, Chavez leaned against the ropes and beckoned Loriga forward. Both guys traded shots in what was a competitive exchange. After a minute or so, the Mexican moved around the ring to test his ankle, but he wasn?t throwing ? clearly a result of the worrying injury, and Loriga duly took advantage by outscoring the home favorite for the first time in the fight.
In the ninth, however, Chavez seemed to have overcome his injury and he blasted Loriga with a massive right hand in the opening minute. The Italian was badly hurt and Chavez pressed forward, battering his opponent until the beaten 31-year-old took a knee. There he stayed until referee Guadalupe Garcia reached the count of ten ? Loriga getting up too late and then protesting his own mistake with the ref.
Time of stoppage: 1:47 RD9
Other Results
In the co-feature, habitually underachieving middleweight Hector Camacho Jr out-pointed limited American Kenny Kost over eight rounds in what was an improved showing from his recent mediocre performances.
Camacho 45-3-1 (25) apparently seeking to set up a fight with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, dropped the tough-as-nails underdog Kost 14-4 (6) in the second and third rounds en route to a commanding points victory.
After an extravagant ring entrance it was down to business for Camacho and he emerged for the opening round well and ripped a straight left hand into the American?s face early on. Kost, not to be outdone, responded with a right hand to the body of Camacho. In what was a slow-paced first frame, the Puerto Rican southpaw found himself against the ropes in the final minute, but Kost?s punching was inaccurate and soft and posed little trouble for his opponent.
In the second round, the fight seemed to settle into a lazy and predictable rhythm with Camacho shooting straight left hands down the middle whilst Kost flicked out his jab and occasional shots to the soft body of his opponent. A huge left hand, however, dumped the American on the seat of his pants in the final minute ? a perfect shot that hurt Kost, but Camacho was unable to inflict further damage as his opponent held on.
Kost still did not look fully recovered as the fight entered the third round but he did move to the left, away from Camacho?s money punch throughout the three minutes. Zipping in to shoot his own punches, Kost was consistently caught with short right hooks, but it was a thudding left hook to the body that had him down for the second time in the fight. Camacho pounced on him for the final thirty seconds and battered him upstairs and down with combinations ? opening a cut below the left eye of the American to cap off an impressive round for the Puerto Rican.
Camacho slowed his output in the fourth frame, deliberately electing not to attack in a reckless fashion. Instead he picked his spots as Kost walked forward ineffectively throughout the round. Waiting until the final twenty seconds to unleash a steady attack, Camacho combined both hands to score beautifully as Kost bent over and allowed his opponent to punch unmolested.
As the fight passed the halfway point, Camacho, enjoying the benefits of a healthy lead on the scorecards, pressed the cruise control button and allowed Kost to score with his jab and occasional straight right hands. The American?s output was nothing spectacular but he arguably won the fifth frame and held his own on the inside in the first half of the sixth frame. From there, though, Camacho seemed to wake up and he pasted Kost with combinations to the body and stung the Minnesotan with uppercuts on the inside until the bell ? absorbing only occasional light right hooks in return.
With only two rounds left, Kost needed a knockout and he gave it a go in the seventh as he ripped Camacho with a left hook as the 29-year-old lefty rested against the ropes. Most of what he threw was either ducked or blocked by Camacho, however, and the Puerto Rican never looked in trouble. At least Kost was trying and, in the eighth and final round, he continued to press forward in an attempt to land something big. It was Camacho, however, that almost sent the American to the deck with a left hook in the final minute ? a punch that effectively discouraged Kost from attacking for the remainder of the frame.
In a bizarre moment of comic relief, Kost?s team were unaware that the fight was over after the eighth round. They worked on their man?s cut and prepared him for a phantom ninth frame ? almost celebrating when they saw Camacho?s team in the ring, thinking that the Puerto Rican had quit.
Scores: 78-74; 79-71; 79-71
In a battle of former world title challengers, Mexican featherweight Orlando Salido overcame the awkward challenge of Panamanian Renan Acosta in impressive style, hurting his opponent often before stopping him in the fourth round of a scheduled ten.
Salido 30-9-2 (19) is hoping to set up another world title challenge this year and did himself the world of good this evening as he dominated proceedings against the wiry Acosta 21-6 (6) ? pounding the Panamanian to the jaw for three-and-a-half rounds before putting him away with a combined body and head attack late in the fourth.
Salido pressed the action from the opening bell whilst Acosta pawed out his jab in an unsuccessful attempt to keep the Mexican at bay. Salido chopped away at the head of the Panamanian in the opening round and he snapped his head back on numerous occasions with uppercuts and hooks ? forcing his opponent to the ropes where he unleashed scoring combinations.
With only six stoppage victories in his 21 wins, Acosta was never likely to trouble world rated Salido and the Mexican knew it. He kept up the pressure on his opponent, sporadically sapping up lightly toasted single shots from Acosta, but hurting the Panamanian in the second round with a sequence of head punches in the final minute. Acosta, to his credit, was wobbled but he bobbed and weaved away from the surging Salido in an awkward but effective fashion until the bell.
Salido again hurt his opponent in the third round as he pounded him against the ropes with hard combinations. Beginning with an uppercut/straight right hand sequence, the Mexican tagged Acosta and scored heavily but refused to press home his advantage by ripping the wounded fighter to the body which allowed Acosta to move in that unorthodox fashion ? again hearing the bell without taking a trip to the canvas.
Even though Acosta scored at times to the body, this was pretty much one-way traffic and Salido continued to damage his foe in the fourth round. He trapped Acosta against the ropes in the final minute and this time he ripped his man to the body giving the Panamanian nowhere to go. After soaking up a fifteen second artillery barrage, Acosta?s corner stepped up and stopped the fight.
Time of stoppage: 2:39 RD4
In a junior featherweight contest, Freddie Roach trained young star Bernabe Concepcion needed just two rounds to defend his NABF 122lb title by dispatching of American veteran Torrence Daniels.
Concepcion 25-1-1 (13) wobbled his opponent with a damaging right hand in the final minute of the second frame and put his man away seconds later after a sustained follow-up assault. Daniels 10-4-1 (4) with Roger Mayweather in his corner actually performed well until he got caught and actually stunned his 20-year-old foe with a left hook in the second round.
The opening portion of the fight was closely contested as Daniels, a former amateur standout, scored well with his jab whilst Concepcion responded with thudding hooks to the body and straight right hands upstairs. The Filipino was clearly thinking of the later rounds as he concentrated on the midsection of the slick moving American throughout the first and second rounds although Daniels seemed to stun his opponent with a left hook in the final minute if the second frame.
It was a stinging punch that had Concepcion holding on briefly but, shortly thereafter, a stunning, short right hand knocked Daniels to the floor. He got up, but was clearly wounded and Concepcion pounced with a damaging flurry of shots against the ropes ? forcing referee Ruben Carrion to stop the contest.
Time of stoppage: 2:42 RD2
Unbeaten 18-year-old junior welterweight prospect Omar Chavez, the younger of Julio Cesar Chavez? fighting sons, scored a controversial four round unanimous decision victory over feisty fellow Mexican Marco Nazareth in an entertaining contest.
Both guys were slinging bombs at each other in the opening round, although it was Chavez who landed more impressively. He was cut, however, on his left cheekbone late in the frame and seemed to be trying too hard to score an early knockout ? missing with a lot of his lunging right hands as Nazareth scored with shorter, more accurate punching.
Nazareth was holding his own in this fight and he tagged Chavez with combinations against the ropes early in the second frame. Chavez answered back with thumping shots to the body but his opponent would not be intimidated and he scored well with both hands throughout the frame. Nazareth harassed Chavez along the ropes throughout the final minute and Chavez looked uncomfortable as he took a handful of heavy shots until the bell.
Nazareth again attacked aggressively to start the third, but a left hook backed him off and Chavez scored well in the first minute with a number of hard right hands that landed against the head of his opponent. Nazareth shot back in spirited fashion and made Chavez work consistently, which he did ? thudding hooks to the body of the smaller man in the second half of the frame. Short combinations by Nazareth again found their target in the final thirty seconds as Chavez covered up in a corner ? making this an extremely difficult encounter to score.
The fight seemed to be hanging in the balance as the fight entered the fourth and final round and Nazareth emerged with urgency to begin with ? swinging often and landing his fair share of punches against the retreating Chavez. Nazareth ate a huge right uppercut at the midway point and backed off a little, allowing Chavez to catch his breath but, in the final minute, he snapped his opponent?s head back with a right hand and left hook. Both guys traded for the final seconds but it was Nazareth who surely won the round. Given, however, that this was a Chavez son, on what was essentially a Chavez show, there was surely no way he would get the decision.
To their credit, fans in the audience booed the decision ? announcer and former junior lightweight world champion, Genaro Hernandez, translating the crowds chants of ?It?s a sin? when the decision was announced.
Scores: 39-38; 39-37; 39-37.
