Friday night wasn’t the most memorable one for Cuban standout Erislandy Lara, who seemed to be fortunate after struggling to a debatable majority draw with Chicago’s Carlos Molina. Facing off inside of the Chelsea Ballroom inside of the Cosmopolitan Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, Lara and Molina produced an interesting study in style clashes that left the spectators at hand curious as to the exact future of each man.
Entering the contest undefeated at 15-0 with 10 knockouts and having scored four first-round stoppages successively, perhaps Lara wasn’t expecting a rough night’s work but that’s just what he got from Molina. Despite his modest 17-4 record, with only five knockouts to his name, Molina has a skill set and courage about him that beguiles the assumptions you may have about him.
In the early rounds it appeared to be all Molina, who offered up a great blueprint on how to fight Lara by outworking him and giving him movement and angles. For as sturdy as he is and for as much stout power as he appears to have, Lara’s lack of activity were severely hampering him on this night.
In the fifth round Lara would eventually break through, stunning Molina with a left, and from this point on he seemed to fight with a much greater sense of urgency. The fight turned into a seesaw affair, with Molina carrying the action for long stretches and Lara seizing command on special moments, particularly when pinning his opponent to the ropes and firing shots from his southpaw stance.
As the championship rounds approached you could hear the frustration in Lara’s corner and his co-promoter Luis DeCubas could be seen pacing nervously on the sidelines. To his credit Lara did press the issue late in the fight but when the final bell had rung there was much confusion as to what the judges’ cards would read.
Scores of 97-93 for Molina and 95-95 twice were read, resulting in the majority draw that left each man likely unsatisfied after a hard night of action. Asked for his take on the evening’s proceedings, Lara admitted that he wasn’t in top form but hinted that perhaps his showing would be enough for some legitimate contenders in the junior middleweight rankings to finally give him a shot.
“I’m not disappointed,” he stated. “It was an off night but I thought I won seven rounds. I expected a tough fight. He was very unconventional. There was no way I thought it was a draw. Maybe now someone will fight me.”
Yudel Jhonson stops Richard Gutierrez controversially
Cuba’s Yudel Jhonson improved his record to 10-0 with 7 early outs but his seventh round stoppage of former contender Richard Gutierrez left a bad aftertaste. It was a contest that was dominated by Jhonson early on before we saw Gutierrez work his way back into the fight while eventually having the carpet pulled out from under him.
In the first round the southpaw Jhonson caught Gutierrez with a few telling blows that had the Columbian grinning. Jhonson seemed to be playing around and continued to land some heavy leather in the second round. It was clear that Jhonson’s edge in speed was going to be a big hurdle for Gutierrez to overcome.
Gutierrez’s frustrations continued to mount in the 3rd as he was being timed by Jhonson repeatedly with flush counter lefts. A questionable low blow would give Gutierrez a moment to recover towards the end of the round and it was clear that he was out of answers.
In rounds four and five Gutierrez did work his way back into the fight with steady pressure and his body punches appeared to be taking effect. The sixth appeared to be Gutierrez’s first clear round as Johnson looked to be the one winding down.
In the seventh controversy struck as the bout was called after Gutierrez absorbed a clean blow. Despite firing back and appearing to only be stunned, the bout was waived off to the displeasure of the crowd.
After the loss Gutierrez’s trainer Noel Carbajal told me that Gutierrez had no time whatsoever to warm up for the fight and was advised to wrap his hands just ten minutes before entering the ring. A horrible ending to what was shaping up as a decent comeback by Gutierrez.
More undercard action
– At 5’11, featherweight prospect Rances Barthelemy possesses great size and enough power to keep his opponents in check. He is one to watch out for and it took him just a few rounds to figure out South Carolina’s James Hope. Once he caught up with him he was able to score a 4th round TKO, raising his record to 11-0 with 9 early out.
– Houston’s Hylon Williams Jr. hadn’t fought in well over a year but the 20-year old had no problem in dominating Puerto Rico’s Jorge Cordero over six one-sided rounds. Williams’ speed and pinpoint punching easily carried the day as Cordero offered up little in terms of firepower.
Williams was hit with a vicious low blow in the 3rd round that saw Cordero lose a point. One round later Cordero was penalized severely for his continuous shots that strayed south of the border as referee Rusell Mora called the fight off due to disqualification.
With the win Williams moved to 13-0 with 4 knockouts and is slated to see action a month from now in the same building.
– Judging by his 0-2 record you might not have expected much from local fighter Frankie Ray Martinez but he laid everything on the line against Cuba’s Puro Pairol. I had spoken to his trainer at the nearby Pound 4 Pound gym and was promised that Martinez would would give account of himself and that proved to be the case.
Despite losing every one of the four rounds to Pairol on the judge’s scorecards, Martinez hung tough every minute of the fight. The most notable action, or lack thereof, came in the second round when a frustrated Pairol threw Martinez to the ground. Earlier in the stanza Pairol had success punishing Martinez along the ropes for a brief stretch.
Pairol did just enough to win but was far from spectacular. The 30-year old sees his record rise to 5-0-1 with 1 knockout. Martinez now sits at 0-3.
– Yunier Dorticos was solid all the way around in battering Jose Luis Herrera around the ring for a second round TKO. Herrera was known best for his upset over then-undefeated Aaron Williams a few years back but seems to be a different fighter these days. Dorticos sees his record rise to 12-0, all by knockout.
– In the evening’s swing bout we saw a battle of unbeaten light heavyweight prospects as 29-year old Hiromitsu Miura pulled out a six-round nod over 18-year old Todd Manuel, from Rayne, Louisiana. The fight was fought at a brisk pace but Manuel is still growing and blossoming as a fighter as wasn’t able to really break through despite a solid effort.
Miura sees his record rise to 6-0 with 3 knockouts while Manuel falls to 4-1 in what he can hopefully take as a great learning lesson.
