Avila Perspective, Chap. 344: Two World Title Fights at Fantasy Springs

Puerto Rico’s Oscar Collazo and undisputed female flyweight champion Gabriela “Little Poison” Fundora defend their respective world titles tomorrow (Saturday, Sept. 20) at the Fantasy Springs Casino Resort in Indio, the hub of California’s Coachella Valley. DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card.

Both can put on a show.

Collazo (12-0, 9 KOs) defends the WBO minimumweight title against Jayson Vayson (14-1-1, 8 KOs).

This is already his sixth world title defense despite only having a dozen fights. That tells you a little about Collazo’s talent. But at the lower weight classes there are always an abundance of possible usurpers.

Vayson hails from the Philippines and has traveled to other countries like Thailand and Japan and emerged victorious. That says a lot. But will he be able to handle the southpaw power of Collazo who is quite confident?

“I’m ready. We know I’m facing a tough opponent. We’ve seen him, we’ve studied him, and together with my team, Carlitos and Juan de León, we have a plan to emerge victorious on Sept. 20,” said Collazo, a very chatty and personable athlete.

Southern California currently has three other world champions in the lower weight divisions with world title belts including WBC flyweight Ricardo Sandoval, WBO flyweight Anthony Olascuaga, and unified super flyweight Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez who hails from San Antonio but lives and trains in SoCal.

Collazo wants to concentrate on his minimumweight division first.

“My goal at 105 pounds is clear: to unify all the titles and become the first Puerto Rican in the five-belt era to be crowned undisputed champion,” said Collazo erroneously forgetting that Amanda Serrano achieved that accomplishment first as a featherweight.

Also on the same fight card, Gabriela Fundora (16-0, 8 KOs) defends all the flyweight titles — WBA, WBC, WBO, IBF — against late replacement Alexas Kubicki (13-1, 2 KOs) of Canada.

They call Fundora “Little Poison” because her older brother Sebastian Fundora who currently holds the WBC super welterweight title, stands 6’6” in height. Gabriela is no shrinking violet at 5’9” in height and weighing the limit 112 pounds. They are the first brother and sister to hold world titles simultaneously.

Fundora has ravaged the flyweight division with her height, power and skill including two destructive wins over former world champions Arely Mucino of Mexico and Gabriela Alaniz of Argentina. You had to see those fights to believe it.

One of her secret weapons is a left hook from hell. Alaniz tasted that power and was seeing stars when they met in Las Vegas almost two years ago.

Fundora lives in the Indio area so expect a lot of support. Doors open around 2 p.m.

Canelo Aftermath

First, pro boxing is different from amateur boxing.

Amateur boxing is more about speed and touches. Pro boxing is about power shots and hurting the opponent. Once you know these facts, then you should understand how to score a fight in the pros.

It happens every time there is a big fight between a power puncher and a boxer.

When Terence Crawford and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez completed their 12-round fight I tabulated my scores and basically had the same score 115-113 as Max De Luca. It was a fairly close fight that saw Crawford win by unanimous decision. Yes, Crawford won.

Many fans and even commentators saw it one-sided for Crawford. They see what they want to see, which is Crawford landed more blows than Alvarez. Those are facts. But what isn’t told is Alvarez only throws power shots and when they connect, they are powerful and hurt. That is what the judges see and hear.

If you ever sit ringside, you can hear the blows connect. Many of Crawford’s combinations that landed were more of the touch variety. But what made Crawford win the fight was he mixed in those touch combinations with power. Otherwise, Alvarez would have overrun him.

Another overused term in boxing, especially by east coast commentators, is the phrase “ring generalship.” They love to use that term when describing a runner so that they can justify why they gave a particular fighter the round. Pro boxing is about contact. Whoever hurts the other guy more should win. Forget about ring generalship.

“He is dictating the fight” they claim. No, he is not fighting. He is dictating the non-fight. You don’t give a fighter points for not fighting. Period.

It is Crawford’s time now. Sadly, he is already 38. But his win over Canelo guarantees him at least a couple of massive paydays. What he accomplished is incredible. He is now in the same legendary status as the great Henry Armstrong.

Fight of the Year Candidate

The super middleweight showdown between Canada’s Christian Mbilli and Guatemala’s Lester Martinez was a brutal display of toe-to-toe boxing. Each fighter took his pound of flesh and after 10 savage rounds it ended in a majority draw.

It was no surprise for fans who had seen both fighters before. What wasn’t known is whose chin would survive the assaults. Both took some horrific blows to the body and head.

It was definitely one of the best fights of the year. I would put it up against Conor Benn and Chris Eubank’s clash last April in the United Kingdom.

R.I.P. Ricky Hatton

Former super lightweight champ Ricky Hatton passed away last week in Manchester, England. It was a blow to anyone who had seen him perform or met the British gladiator.

Hatton was part of several monster fights in the United Kingdom and USA including bouts in Las Vegas with Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Paulie Malignaggi. I attended all three of those spectacles and each was memorable in the amount of British fans that flew over to watch their hero perform. When Hatton met Pacman, Las Vegas ran out of beer. There were Brits sleeping on the casino floors everywhere and Las Vegas was swinging that weekend. The roar of the British fans was deafening when Hatton entered the arena. Though Hatton lost two of the three times he fought in Vegas, he was a fan favorite due to his fighting fervor and ability to connect to fans.

One night (I forget who was fighting), I saw a crowd of people in the MGM Grand casino bar. Hatton was sitting with about a dozen Chicano fans downing beers and tequila and laughing away. Several hours later, past midnight, Hatton was still there with a few of those same fans downing beers with those that could keep up. Several of the fans were slumped over with their heads down on the table as they slept in drunken slumber. It was a hilarious sight.

One more cheer for Ricky Hatton!

R.I.P. Tom Gerbasi

This week the boxing and MMA world lost one of the great writers in Tom Gerbasi who passed away at his home in the New York City borough of Staten Island.

For those who regularly read my column, his name is familiar because I recently wrote about his newly published book “Boxing: The 100 Greatest Fighters”. We messaged each other and I praised his work.

Gerbasi and I wrote for the same publications beginning 25 years ago with Maxboxing.com and later with The Ring magazine. We were two of the few journalists who covered women’s boxing and MMA. Later, Gerbasi worked for UFC as a publicist and we crossed paths often at many of the UFC events. He was recently voted into the International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame for his contributions to women’s boxing.

He was not only a great writer but an even better human being. Those who met Tom Gerbasi know what I mean. What a good soul.

Fights to Watch (all times Pacific Time)

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Gabriela Fundora (16-0) vs Alexas Kubicki (13-1); Oscar Collazo (12-0) vs Jayson Vayson (14-1-1).

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Tiara Brown (19-0) vs Emma Gongora (10-3-1).

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