It was quicker than expected, perhaps, but pitiless Giovani Segura played hanging judge to Ivan Calderon last night at the Auditorio del Estado in Baja California, Mexicali, Mexico, dropping the veteran Puerto Rican down the hatch via a clean third-round KO. The official time of stoppage was 1:39.
It was the second consecutive loss for Calderon?both coming against Segura?whose best days can now only be seen in a rear view mirror. At 36, unfortunately, ?Iron Boy? no longer fits his nickname in any way.
For two rounds, however, Calderon, 107 1/2, tried to circle, potshot, and counter Segura as best he could. He appeared a little slicker than he did in the first fight?at least for the opening round?and he tried hard to smother Segura, 107 3/4, as much as possible on the inside, but doing so successfully is in itself a wearying tactic. At close quarters Segura is full of malice, lashing shots in volleys, leaning in to get leverage, and alternating from head to body with equal spite. Just before the bell the two exchanged punches, but Segura seemed a little more convincing, if possible, while swapping leather.
Apart from a few jabs and a neat three-punch combination early, Calderon did little in the second round to slow his dour opponent, who pursued him like the grim reaper with a scythe. Make that two scythes. Segura, after all, is a two-handed puncher from both sides?southpaw or orthodox?and he went to work with either hand at a rate that would have embarrassed a thresher. From the perimeter Segura, Bell, California, via Mexico, landed jabs and looping shots; inside he smashed home hard blows to the body with unerring accuracy, except for the fact that a few of them appeared to be borderline. With less than a minute to go in the second, referee Sammy Viruet warned Segura for a low blow, and Calderon, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, was given a brief respite. When the action resumed, Segura shifted to orthodox and landed a quick straight right that backed Calderon up.
There was an air of inevitability about the fight when the bell rang to open the third. Already Calderon seemed to have lost his zest for hanging in close to Segura in hopes of tying up his man and negating bodywork. About a minute into the round, Segura forced Calderon back to the ropes with a barrage to the ribs and a hook to the head. Calderon, now 34-2-1 (6), managed to escape, but moments later a hard right snapped his head back and sent him reeling. Segura kept his hands churning while in pursuit, finally landing a right to the body that left Calderon sagging. He dropped to the canvas on his hands and knees. Calderon has been a credit to the game over the last few years?not the Hall of Fame legend the kneejerk prattle on about?but the truth is he appeared resigned to losing as Viruet counted ?10? over his career.
And why not? Across the ring stood a man ready to redouble his bruising efforts and that certitude seemed to weigh heavily on Calderon as he remained on his knee. Who among us would knowingly walk into an wildfire whose only possible outcome is incineration? The greatest or the maddest, perhaps, but Calderon does not fit either description, and, last night at least, he was better off possessing neither attribute.
As for Segura, who improved to 27-1-1 (23), the quarrelsome thin man from Mexico can knock the humdrum out of most of the straw headliners in boxing simply by answering the opening bell against anyone headstrong enough to face him down. A bleak prospect for flyweights all over the world, no doubt, but for the rest of us, maybe, something to celebrate.
