newsmakers: Luis Nery, Jose Uzcategui, Jorge Ruiz, Jaime Munguía
Athletes of note usually have that one photo which their most zealous fans always associate with their hero. Here we have the four classic photos we believe are associated with the following newsmakers: (l to r) Jaime Munguia, Luis Nery, Jorge Ruiz and Jose Uzcategui.
Bring back that wondrous night when Luis Nery had his arm raised in the air after he soundly defeated Shinsuke Yamanaka in Japan to win the WBC World Bantamweight Title. Nery and his supporters are now lamenting that lost memory. That thrill of victory seems so far away at this juncture. Luis Nery is now an ex-champ, like an ex-husband or a dethroned monarch, all because he couldn’t monitor his own weight and the people helping him with his nutrition were obviously not qualified to give him the proper advice.
Luis Nery lost his World Title on the scale
Today, Tijuana’s Luis “Pantera” Nery lost his WBC World Bantamweight Title on the scale in Japan. The former world Bantamweight champion inexplicably arrived at today’s weigh-in ceremony weighing 123 pounds, which would make him a featherweight, five pounds over the maximum limit of 118 lbs. for a Bantamweight. And, at a second weigh-in two hours later, he could only drop 2 pounds to reach 121 lbs. which still had him at Super Bantamweight. And so, as a consequence, Nery now has to leave his belt on the scale. For Nery to seek a title in any way, shape or form, he’ll now have to start battling it out in the higher weight class, that being a Super Bantamweight or perhaps lose the additional three pounds to reach 118 lbs. And what if no one is willing to fight him? Knowing the WBC they’ll likely come up with another of their names for one of their silver/diamond or emerald belts. After a while, it sounds like rock, paper, scissors; paper or plastic. Perhaps, they should start pimping the “I don’t give a rat’s a..” belt. That is if Japan’s Shinsuke Yamanaka is gullible enough to give in to their crazy requests for adjustments and end up fighting someone who it now appears is a bigger, heavier man.
In the video that his promoter made available, we see Jorge Travieso Arce trying to console Nery after they had him unsuccessfully try to lose the remaining weight. Nery, obviously very weak, had his head resting on the hotel room’s bureau which he sat alongside. So, all of his training for this fight, his many sacrifices to prepare for the defense of his World Title, it all went for naught.
The next controversy on the docket involves that crazy mess between Super Middleweight Jose Uzcategui and Andre Dirrell. It’s certainly taken a long time for the powers to be to reschedule this fight but here it comes on Saturday, March 3, 2018, in New York.
The ill-fated fight of May 20, 2017, saw Jose Uzcategui well ahead on two of the three scorecards when the fight was stopped after a punch by Uzcategui landed after the bell. The only way Dirrell could have won that fight was by having Uzcategui disqualified. A short time later, Uzcategui was being punched in the face by this blockhead Leon Lawson after Dirrell had already won on the disqualification of Uzcategui. This Mr. Lawson hit the unsuspecting Uzcategui with a left hook followed by an even harder bare-knuckle right, which then sparked a brawl. At that time, the gents were fighting for the interim IBF World Super Middleweight title.
In good spirits, we see Jose Uzcategui (r) and his trainer Jose Cital (l) in San Diego preparing for the rematch against Andre Dirrell at which time the USA interim IBF World Super Middleweight Title will be on the line.
(l to r) On this day, it appears we have a bunch of patriotic flag wavers, Jose Uzcategui with his Venezuelan flag, stablemate Orlando Salido, cornerman Jose Fernandez and coach Jose Cital favoring Mexico’s red, white and green colors.
Off they go! (l to r) Jose “Bolivita” Uzcategui’s manager, then cornerman Jose Fernandez, the 27-year-old, 6’2″ tall Jose Uzcategui (26-2-0 with 16 KOs) who is surprisingly ranked as high as #26 in the world, and finally Jose’s most loyal confidant Jose Cital, his trainer. Their opponent, the 34-year-old, lefty, Andre “The Resurrected” Dirrell (26-2, 16 KOs) hails from Flint, Michigan and he’s ranked #6 in the world. You might also remember Dirrell from his appearance in that Showtime Super Six, Super Middleweight tournament. The one where Andre Ward won all of the marbles.
They say we are judged by the company we keep. Jorge “Tito” Ruiz (11-3 with 5 KOs) has been training with the number five ranked lightweight in the world, 36-year-old, 5’8″ tall Raymundo “Sugar” Beltran (35-7-1, 21 KOs), the WBO World Title holder and his son with whom he has established a lasting friendship. Eyewitnesses have seen the three birds of a feather running around a high school track in Phoenix, Arizona. Ruiz has an important fight coming up at the Grand Hotel in Tijuana with Dilan Valdez on February 12, 2018. Addendum: Ruiz defeated Valdez by way of TKO in round three to improve his record to 11-3-1, with 5 KOs.
In these photos, you can see the maturation of Tijuana’s Jaime Munguia who at 20 years of age now has a record of 27-0 with 23 knockouts. This undefeated top prospect was recently featured on the cover of Ring Magazine. In his last outing, Munguia stopped Jose Carlos Paz in the third round at the Oasis Arena in Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Munguia has said he’s pleased with his performance thus far, but he’s also aware that if he wants to become a world champion, he’ll need to further refine and polish his skills with more work in the gym. There are a great many believers in this young man and with his current record a title shot is certainly a possibility.
