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OC’s Luis Ramos KOS Rodela; Rios Escapes Speedy

Published

13 years ago

October 1, 2011

COSTA MESA, CALIF.-Home cooking can be a very good thing.

Luis Ramos (20-0, 9 KOs) used the hometown crowd to inspire him past Oxnard’s hard charging David Rodela (15-5-3, 6 KOs) and in the co-main event Ronny Rios grabbed a puzzling unanimous decision over veteran contender Roger “Speedy” Gonzalez.

The home crowd pumped up left-handed Ramos from the opening bell.

Ramos controlled the fight with constant pressure against Rodela who seemed to be off target for the first three rounds and reaching. Combination punching by the Orange County fighter was pinpoint.

Rodela’s best round began in the third as he countered with some stiff lead rights that grabbed Ramos’ attention. The Ventura-based fighter smiled and raised his hand to show he had his best round.

“It was my toughest fight,” Ramos said of fighting Rodela.

Both fighters were expected to fight back in August so they knew what to expect inside the ring. Ramos seemed to be the quicker fighter but Rodela was not stepping back. In round five a left to Rodela’s body dropped the Oxnard fighter for the knockout at 1:57 of round five.

“My trainer Hector Lopez told me what to do and I did it,” said Ramos. “It was a jab and a left hand to the body and it landed on the dot.”

Rios vs. Gonzalez

In the co-main event the young undefeated Rios (16-0, 8 KOs) discovered what it means to move to the next level when he faced Gonzalez (27-5, 18 KOs) who was called in to fight the Orange County featherweight this week.

Rios attacked the body aggressively the first two rounds while Gonzalez picked some off with his elbows and occasionally countered with some withering combinations. It was obvious Gonzalez was the heavier puncher.

Gonzalez landed some big shots through Rios’ guard in round three as both banged away in close. It seemed Gonzalez found a better rhythm and a way to pierce Rios defense and won the round.

A 10-punch combo by Gonzalez forced Rios to hold and later a counter right uppercut scored for the Chino-based fighter. Rios tried to rally but was met by another 10-punch combo.

In the fifth round Gonzalez took the fight outside and began fighting with his hands down inviting Rios to attack. Rios seemed more hesitant in this round than any other. Gonzalez speed forced Rios backwards.

Round six and seven saw Rios moving backward for the first time in the fight. Gonzalez picked his spots and fired 10-punch combinations that put Rios in defense mode. Some withering shots by Gonzalez sparked the crowd. But Rios was not looking to cover up and resumed his attack to the body.

Rios burrowed in during the eighth and final round not going to depend on the judges. Gonzalez was calm and fired several speedy combinations that he had shown all through the fight.

When the scores were read there was a puzzling look on those on press row as Rios was declared the winner 80-72 by judge Fritz Werner, 78-74 by David Denkin and Fernando Villarreal. The majority in press row saw it 77-75 Gonzalez.

Home cooking can do that sometimes.

Other bouts

L.A. junior middleweight Brandon Adams (3-0) won by unanimous decision over Fontana’s John Worthy making his pro debut.

Laguna Beach’s Bobby Chavez (3-2) beat Sacramento’s Nick Balestra by decision.

Santa Ana’s Jose Chavez (6-2, 3 KOs) scored a technical knockout over Bakersfield’s Christian Gonzalez (3-3) in round one.

L.A. heavyweight Andrae Carthron scored a third round technical knockout over Big Bear’s Tyree Ortiz (5-1, 4 KOs).

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David A. Avila

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2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

9 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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