Review of current news affecting San Diego’s boxing community
Local boxers went to the East Coast, the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey to make some money.
It took a little while, but Brandon Rios (R) eventually imposed his will on Urbano Antillon (L).
Lots of interesting fights this past weekend highlighted by the WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios successfully defending his belt with an emphatic third round TKO victory over Urbano Antillon at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA.
On that undercard:
The former world welterweight titleholder Kermit Cintron (32-4-1, 28 KOs) returned to action after a 14 month layoff and after a few rounds he probably wished he hadn’t. Cintron faced the upset minded Carlos Molina (19-4-2, 6 KOs) from Chicago, Illinois by way of Patzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico, a fellow who hasn’t lost since February 2007.
Carlos Molina (L) demonstrated his superior boxing skills against the veteran Kermit Citron.
After the opening round the action picked up with Molina becoming the clear aggressor working well to the body and just outworking Cintron who seemed tentative. At the 1:10 mark of the fifth round, Molina landed a right hand and a combination that hurt Cintron sending him back into the ropes. Molina came forward with a flurry and snapped back Cintron’s head with an uppercut. By the close of the round, Cintron was bleeding from the nose. In the 8th round, Cintron appeared to tire as Molina kept up the pressure. Knowing it would take a knockout to win, Cintron showed some life in the final round. Molina fought that round as he had the prior rounds coming forward.
It only took three rounds for Mercito Gesta (L) to secure his 12th knockout.
Twenty-three year-old Mercito Gesta of San Diego, by way of Mandaue City, Cebu, Philippines, impressed us again; by now it’s what we’ve grown to expect. Gesta (22-0-1, 12 KOs) is special and more than willing to mix it up early. Under the tutelage of Vince Parra, his trainer, he’s been doing whatever it takes. Before Saturday’s bout was stopped in the third round, Gesta had knocked his opponent, Jorge Pimentel (23-11-0), off his feet in the first, the second and the third round.
In this photo we see Matt Korobov (R) landing a low blow against Lester Gonzalez (L).
Another San Diegan, veteran middleweight Lester “El Cubanito” Gonzalez, now 33 years of age, didn’t fair as well against the 28 year-old Matt Korobov of Saint Petersburg, Florida by way of Orotukan, Russia. The former Russian amateur standout fought with patience, choosing just the right moment to unload his three punch combinations, the ones with maximum impact.
Gonzalez showed an admirable persistence by staying on the attack throughout, even when he got behind on the scorecards. The KO minded Gonzalez often pinned Korobov against the ropes. This was especially true in the seventh round when Gonzalez force-fed Korobov some head snapping overhand rights in a valiant effort to pull out the victory.
Back east at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey
Throughout their bout, it appeared Erslandy Lara (L) was beating Paul Williams (R) to the punch.
I’m sure we won’t be hearing the last of that Paul Williams gift decision over Erislandy Lara in Atlantic City, N. J. There was also a tape delay of Lucian Bute beating of Jean-Paul Mendy in Romania. The current IBF super middleweight champ retained his title with a vicious fourth round knockout.
Here we see Rico Ramos (R) catching the unsuspecting Akifumi Shimoda with a perfectly leveraged left hook.
On the Undercard
Rico Ramos represented So Cal in a big way by knocking out Akifumi Shimoda of Tokyo, Japan to win the WBA version of the World Super Bantamweight title.
Akifumi Shimoda wasn't going to get up after that punch.
It was a left hand to the jaw that put Shimoda down and flat on his back in Round 7. He remained down as the count reached 10. At the time of the knockout, Ramos trailed heavily on all three score cards.
Rico Ramos is surrounded by well wishers after defeating Akifumi Shimoda to win WBA Super-Bantamweight crown.
According to The Ring Magazine, Shimoda entered the fight as the #2 ranked junior featherweight in the world. Ramos, the new WBA world champion, was unranked by the same publication.
Even the great one, Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola (33-2-0, 28 KOs) of Escondido had to go East to make a buck. Arreola won a 10 round unanimous decision victory over Friday “The 13th” Ahunanya (24-8-3, 13 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nevada by way of Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
More local news:
Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero and Marcos “El Chino” Maidana formally announced their upcoming fight which is scheduled for August 27. The clash between the former three-time champion Guerrero and Maidana, will be televised on HBO.
Former WBC welterweight title holder Andre “The Beast” Berto has agreed to challenge IBF welterweight championDejan Zavec for his belt on September 3 at a location to be announced.
The Last Chance Qualifier for the Olympic Team Trials was held in Cincinnati, Ohio featuring the 108, 114, 123, 132 and 178 pound weight divisions with the semi-final action to determine who gets the final invitations to the Olympic Team Trials to be held July 31-August 6 in Mobile, Alabama.
