Former WBC super bantamweight kingpin Oscar “Chololo” Larios, who is now campaigning in the featherweight ranks, kept his May date with the hardened WBC 126-pound titlist Inji Chi alive by scoring a hard-fought decision over game Luis Cid in a ten-round fight at the Convention Center in Cancun, Mexico on Saturday night.
Larios, now 59-5-1 (37), kept the May 26th date with the respected Korean veteran with a unanimous decision over the relatively inexperienced Cid. Official scores were not announced.
Larios looked sharp against Cid, now 6-4 (6) in the first round, putting in his usual high punch output against a strong-looking opponent. After taking a break after a low blow in the second round, Larios suffered a cut over his right eye due to a blow not called as either by design or accident. The long-armed Larios worked the angles well, trying to avoid any further punishment on his eye as the potential fight against Chi for the title this coming May hanged in the balance.
Larios worked the uppercuts and body shots well in the fourth frame as the cut stopped bleeding and seemed not to be any further problem. Cid looked much slower by round’s end due to the work put in by the ex-champ.
Larios worked the guard high, looking for the hooking counter punch, as Cid pressed, throwing straight one-twos upstairs.
Larios continued his non-stop attack, gradually wearing down Cid, who looked ready to throw in the towel by the end of the sixth round. Jabs kept Cid at effective punch range as Larios easily avoided an increasingly wild-punching foe.
Sensing a possible stoppage, Larios head hunted, rocking Cid from pillar to post unable to put away his game opponent away for good in the round.
Cid’s only time to rest came when the referee called a time out to have Larios hand wraps re-taped a few times through the rounds completed. Cid made a gallant stand in the eight, letting it all go, with Larios withstanding the attack and coming back with his own to control the second half of the round. Although the cut over the eye posed no more problems, Larios did end up the round with a small cut on his lip.
Larios landed a very good uppercut in the ninth which stiffened Cid’s legs up, who somehow managed to make it out of the round throwing wild overhand rights against a counterpunching Larios.
Cid came out strong in the final round, clocking Larios early in the round, with Larios returning the punishment, landing a series of hooking crosses trying his hardest to define the fight by stoppage- which did not materialize.
ESPADAS WINS COMEBACK FIGHT
In the co-featured bout, former WBC featherweight champion Guty Espadas Jr. improved to 39-7 (24) by outpointing a gutsy Moises “Cucharas” Perez (now 4-2, 4 KOs), coming back from a two-year layoff. Despite the fact that Perez only had five pro fights, Espadas had to work extra hard, and dig deep to win the bout.
Espadas, who helped Marco Antonio Barrera prepare for Juan Manuel Marquez last month, looked to be in good shape, but it was obvious the inactivity has slowed him down as the much less experienced opponent was able to mark him up during the scheduled ten-round bout. Both men landed their fair share of punches with Espadas staying on top of the fight, landing the more telling shots, with both fighters ending the fight clocking each other and bleeding from their respective nostrils.
On the undercard, Japanese featherweight contender Naoki Matsuda improved to 27-7-3 (10) stopped former WBC featherweight titlist Rudy Lopez in the fifth round, after landing a devastating right cross which disconnected the Marco Antonio Barrera-managed fighter from all senses.
Matsuda survived a first-round knockdown to score the upset victory.
Lightweight Omar “Terremoto” Chavez, the younger sibling of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., and to those in the know the more technical boxer of the two fighting sons of the Mexican great, stopped Oscar Sanchez at 2:49 of the first round.
Chavez is now 2-0 with 2 KOs.
