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Jorge Linares Unloads on Abner Cotto at Fantasy Springs

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INDIO, Calif.-Former world champion Jorge Linares looked far from over with a devastating knockout victory over Puerto Rico’s Abner Cotto in a super lightweight fight on Saturday.

Despite a loss to Vasyl Lomachenko several months ago, former lightweight world champion Linares (45-4, 28 KOs) moved up to super lightweight and looked strong in beating down Cotto (23-4, 12 KOs) before a stunned crowd at Fantasy Springs Casino.

Linares is back and he’s reloading.

“I feel stronger, I should have done this long ago,” said Linares, 33, a former WBA and WBC lightweight world titlist at 135 pounds who was successful six times defending the title until he was dethroned by Lomachenko this past May in a scientific seesaw battle where both were knocked down.

On Saturday night, Linares looked sharp from the opening bell and was extremely aggressive against Cotto who tried valiantly to match wits and punches with the Venezuelan boxing artist.

“I knew he wasn’t an elite fighter but I was aggressive with him to get a knockout,” said Linares. “But all fighters are dangerous.”

After a sharp first round that saw Linares control the action with precision shots, the second round saw him fire two successive long jabs then deliver a crisp right cross that sent Cotto down in sections. He looked severely damaged but was able to rise to his feet before the count of 10. Cotto survived.

The third round saw Linares deliver a long right cross followed by another right cross and down went Cotto a third time. He was able to beat the count again and Linares wasted no time unleashing a barrage of blows including a punch to the body. Cotto complained and while looking at the referee Linares unloaded 13 consecutive blows. Referee Raul Caiz was signaled by Cotto’s corner to stop the fight. The knockout was registered at 1:31 of round three.

“I feel good and ready to fight the best at 140 pounds. I’ve been hearing Mikey Garcia’s name and he’s been hearing my name. Maybe we can have that fight next year. I came in very well prepared to fight the best in the division,” said Linares. “Another fight that interests me is Lomachenko. He’s like a thorn on my side.”

Cotto was gracious in defeat.

“I came well prepared but he had a hard right hand we weren’t expecting. I’m young and I didn’t fight with just anyone. He’s a three-division champion,” said Cotto, 31, whose losses were all against former world champions. “I will sit with my team and see what’s next.”

Duno

Philippine knockout artist Romero Duno (18-1, 14 KOs) was unable to add another knockout to his record but nearly did against slick boxing Ezequiel Avilez (16-3-3, 6 KOs) of Ensenada, Mexico.

After three knockdowns Duno won by unanimous decision but never stopped trying for that knockout win. In the last second of the last round he connected with a barrage of blows that nearly sent Avilez to the floor. But the Mexican fighter, though staggered, maintained his footing. He won the battle but lost the war against the hard-hitting Filipino.

Avilez managed to avoid the knockout though knocked down in the first round and twice more in the sixth round/

“He’s so strong I never thought he could stand up, he’s a good boxer. I thank him for showing a good fight,” said Duno. “Next time I will show I can knock out an opponent. He had good condition.”

All three judges scored the fight 78-71 for Duno.

Duarte

Don’t get Oscar Duarte mad. After receiving an intentional head butt from Venezuela’s Roger Gutierrez (19-4-1, 16 KOs) in the fourth round, the Mexican fighter from Parral erupted with a volley of blows that left Gutierrez sunken on his stool when the round ended. He could not continue and the fight was ruled a knockout win for Duarte (15-0, 10 KOs).

Up until the fourth round Gutierrez was doing pretty well in a slow paced lightweight fight. At times the slower pace seemed to put Duarte into a slumber. But when the Venezuelan fighter lowered his head and rammed into Duarte, the referee quickly stepped between the two and then deducted a point from Gutierrez for the intentional foul. Once the fight resumed Duarte attacked like a junkyard dog and battered the somewhat surprised Venezuelan.

At the end of the fourth round Gutierrez was holding his belly and motioned to referee Ray Corona he could not continue giving Duarte the win by knockout.

Other Bouts

Travell “Black Magic” Mazion (14-0, 12 KOs) put some voodoo on Mexico’s Alan Zavala (15-3,13 KOs) with a sizzling first round knockout in their super welterweight fight. Up until this fight, the Tijuana fighter had never been knocked out even after clashing with current WBO super welterweight titlist Jaime Munguia.

That didn’t matter to Mazion who came out blasting and when the two exchanged simultaneously, it was Black Magic who connected first with a left hook bomb that left Zavala out for the count at 2:39 of the first round.

“My coach is always saying keep that jab and keep that distance. I never expect a knockout I expect a boxing expedition,” said Mazion who fights out of Austin, Texas.

Mazion knew about Zavala’s lasting the distance against Munguia and asked for a fight against the champ.

“I’m coming for you baby,” said Mazion.

A battle of southpaws saw Elnur Abduraimov (1-0) win his pro debut by knockout in the first round against Cincinnati’s Aaron Hollis (4-8, 2 KOs). After a few light exchanges Abduraimov unloaded a three-punch combination that finished with a left cross and sent Hollis to the canvas. He beat the count but another exchange saw a one-two wobble the Cincy fighter and referee Eddie Hernandez stopped the fight at 1:44 of the first round.

Photo credit: Al Applerose

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Mercito Gesta Victorious Over Jojo Diaz at the Long Beach Pyramid

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LONG BEACH, CA.-Those in the know knew Mercito Gesta and Jojo Diaz would be a fight to watch and they delivered.

Gesta emerged the winner in a super lightweight clash between southpaws that saw the judges favor his busier style over Diaz’s body attack and bigger shots and win by split decision on Saturday.

Despite losing the main event because the star was overweight, Gesta (34-3-3, 17 KOs) used an outside method of tactic to edge past former world champion Diaz (32-4-1, 15 KOs) in front of more than 5,000 fans at the Pyramid.

The speedy Gesta opened up the fight with combination punching up and down against the peek-a-boo style of Diaz. For the first two rounds the San Diego fighter overwhelmed Diaz though none of the blows were impactful.

In the third round Diaz finally began unloading his own combinations and displaying the fast hands that helped him win world titles in two divisions. Gesta seemed stunned by the blows, but his chin held up. The counter right hook was Diaz’s best weapon and snapped Gesta’s head back several times.

Gesta regained control in the fifth round after absorbing big blows from Diaz. He seemed to get angry that he was hurt and opened up with even more blows to send Diaz backpedaling.

Diaz targeted his attack to Gesta’s body and that seemed to slow down Gesta. But only for a round.

From the seventh until the 10th each fighter tried to impose their style with Gesta opening up with fast flurries and Diaz using right hooks to connect with solid shots. They continued their method of attack until the final bell. All that mattered was what the judges preferred.

After 10 rounds one judge saw Diaz the winner 97-93 but two others saw Gesta the winner 99-91, 98-92. It was a close and interesting fight.

“I was expecting nothing. I was the victor in this fight and we gave a good fight,” said Gesta. “It’s not an easy fight and Jojo gave his best.”

Diaz was surprised by the outcome but accepted the verdict.

Everything was going good. I thought I was landing good body shots,” said Diaz. “I was pretty comfortable.”

Other Bouts

Mexico’s Oscar Duarte (25-1-1, 20 KOs) knocked out Chicago’s Alex Martin (18-5, 6 KOs) with a counter right hand after dropping him earlier in the fourth round. The super lightweight fight was stopped at 1:14 of the round.

A battle between undefeated super welterweights saw Florida’s Eric Tudor (8-0, 6 KOs) emerge the winner by unanimous decision after eight rounds versus Oakland’s Damoni Cato-Cain.

The taller Tudor showed polished skill and was not bothered by a large cut on his forehead caused by an accidental clash of heads. He used his jab and lead rights to defuse the attacks of the quick-fisted southpaw Cato-Cain. The judges scored the fight 80-72 and 78-74 twice for Tudor.

San Diego’s Jorge Chavez (5-0, 4 KOs) needed less than one round to figure out Nicaragua’s Bryan Perez (12-17-1, 11 KOs) and send him into dreamland with a three-punch combination. No need to count as referee Ray Corona waved the fight over. Perez shot a vicious right followed by another right and then a see-you-later left hook at 3.00 of the first round of the super featherweight match.

Photo credit: Al Applerose

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Jojo Diaz’s Slump Continues; Mercito Gesta Prevails on a Split Decision

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At age 30, Jojo Diaz’s career is on the skids. The 2012 U.S. Olympian, a former world title holder at 126 and 130 pounds and an interim title holder at 135, Diaz suffered his third straight loss tonight, upset by Mercito Gesta who won a split decision at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, CA.. The scoring was strange with Gesta winning nine of the 10 rounds on one of the cards and only three rounds on another. The tie-breaker, as it were, was a 98-92 tally for Gesta and even that didn’t capture the flavor of what was a closely-contested fight.

Originally listed as a 12-rounder, the match was reduced to 10 and that, it turned out, did Diaz no favors. However, it’s hard to feel sorry for the former Olympian as he came in overweight once again, having lost his 130-pound title on the scales in February of 2021.

Diaz also has issues outside the ropes. Best elucidated by prominent boxing writer Jake Donovan, they include a cluster of legal problems stemming from an arrest for drunk driving on Feb. 27 in the LA suburb of Claremont.

With the defeat, Diaz’s ledger declined to 32-4-1. His prior losses came at the hands of Gary Russell Jr, Devin Haney, and William Zepeda, boxers who are collectively 83-2. Mercito Gesta, a 35-year-old San Diego-based Filipino, improved to 34-3-3.

Co-Feature

Chihuahua, Mexico super lightweight Oscar Duarte has now won nine straight inside the distance after stopping 33-year-old Chicago southpaw Alex Martin in the eighth frame. Duarte, the busier fighter, had Martin on the deck twice in round eight before the fight was waived off.

Duarte improved to 25-1-1 (20). Martin, who reportedly won six national titles as an amateur and was once looked upon as a promising prospect, declined to 18-5.

Other Bouts of Note

New Golden Boy signee Eric Tudor, a 21-year-old super welterweight from Fort Lauderdale, overcame a bad laceration over his right eye, the result of an accidental clash of heads in round four, to stay unbeaten, advancing to 8-0 (6) with a hard-fought unanimous 8-round decision over Oakland’s Damoni Cato-Cain. The judges had it 80-72 and 78-74 twice. It was the first pro loss for Cato-Cain (7-1-1) who had his first five fights in Tijuana.

In the DAZN opener, lanky Hawaian lightweight Dalis Kaleiopu went the distance for the first time in his young career, improving to 4-0 (3) with a unanimous decision over 36-year-old Colombian trial horse Jonathan Perez (40-35). The scores were 60-52 across the board. There were no knockdowns, but Perez, who gave up almost six inches in height, had a point deducted for a rabbit punch and another point for deducted for holding.

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‘Big Baby’ Wins the Battle of Behemoths; TKOs ‘Big Daddy’ in 6

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Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne weighed in at a career-high 277 pounds for today’s battle in Dubai with Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller, but he was the lighter man by 56 pounds. It figured that one or both would gas out if the bout lasted more than a few stanzas.

It was a war of attrition with both men looking exhausted at times, and when the end came it was Miller, at age 34 the younger man by nine years, who had his hand raised.

Browne was the busier man, but Miller, whose physique invites comparison with a rhinoceros, hardly blinked as he was tattooed with an assortment of punches. He hurt ‘Bid Daddy’ in round four, but the Aussie held his own in the next frame, perhaps even forging ahead on the cards, but only postponing the inevitable.

In round six, a succession of right hands knocked Browne on the seat of his pants. He beat the count, but another barrage from Miller impelled the referee to intervene. The official time was 2:33. It was the 21st straight win for Miller (26-0-1, 22 KOs). Browne declined to 31-4 and, for his own sake, ought not fight again. All four of his losses have come inside the distance, some brutally.

The consensus of those that caught the livestream was that Floyd Mayweather Jr’s commentary was an annoying distraction that marred what was otherwise an entertaining show.

As for what’s next for “Big Baby” Miller, that’s hard to decipher as he has burned his bridges with the sport’s most powerful promoters. One possibility is Mahmoud Charr who, like Miller, has a big gap in his boxing timeline. Now 38 years old, Charr – who has a tenuous claim on a WBA world title (don’t we all?) —  has reportedly taken up residence in Dubai.

Other Bouts of Note

In a 10-round cruiserweight affair, Suslan Asbarov, a 30-year-old Russian, advanced to 4-0 (1) with a hard-fought majority decision over Brandon Glanton. The judges had it 98-92, 97-93, and a more reasonable 95-95.

Asbarov was 12-9 in documented amateur fights and 1-0 in a sanctioned bare-knuckle fight, all in Moscow, entering this match. He bears watching, however, as Glanton (18-2) would be a tough out for almost anyone in his weight class. In his previous fight, at Plant City, Florida, Glanton lost a controversial decision to David Light, an undefeated Australian who challenges WBO world title-holder Lawrence Okolie at Manchester, England next week.

A 10-round super featherweight match between former world title challengers Jono Carroll and Miguel Marriaga preceded the semi-windup. Carroll, a 30-year-old Dublin southpaw, overcame a cut over his left eye suffered in the second round to win a wide unanimous decision in a fairly entertaining fight.

It was the sixth straight win for Carroll (24-2-1, 7 KOs) who elevated his game after serving as a sparring partner for Devin Haney. Marriaga, a 36-year-old Colombian, lost for the fourth time in his last five outings, declining to 30-7.

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