Articles

Centeno Is Da Boss, One Shot Drops ‘N Stops De La Rosa

Published

10 years ago

December 7, 2014

Hugo Centeno of Cali met James De La Rosa of Texas in a middleweight scrap in the second TV bout on HBO, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Saturday night, in front of 6,532 patrons of pugilism, and proved himself boss of that squared circle.

After four mostly semi-boring rounds, Centeno ended it at 2:26 of the fifth, with a chin-checker which decked DLR, sending him face first to the mat, like he’d been tased.

In the first, Hugo, so much taller, snapped a jab. DLR then went down off a jab, his balance compromised. Hugo went to the body nicely.

In the second, Hugo kept on dictating the distance between them. In the third, DLR couldn’t come up with a plan to get going. In the fourth, DLR ate a left hook, and Hugo danced, and looked like he was having fun. In the fifth, a left hand, thrown from a lefty stance, as he dipped low and right, face-planted DLR. Game over…

Centeno is a cool customer, and his range and smarts make him a player in the division. Manager Joel De La Hoya has a solid hitter under his umbrella in Centeno.

I spoke to De La Rosa manager Adrian Clark, a young gun up ‘n comer building up a stealth stable.

“Hats off to Hugo Centeno Jr for a masterful performance,” Clark told me. “Clearly his power was under estimated and he capitalized with a perfectly timed punch. I want to be known as manager who gets my guys big opportunities and 2015 will be a year of opportunity for my young undefeated guys Ray Ximenez Jr, Oscar Mojica and Stevie Belmontes. Jerry Belmontes and James De la Rosa will get more opportunities but they have to show they can be entertaining and let their hands go.”

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