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The Avila Perspective, Chap. 53: Saul Rodriguez, Cancio, Ruiz and More

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Saul Neno Rodriguez 2018

Small town guys from Southern California wrapped up world title belts recently. Who’s next?

Riverside’s not exactly Blythe or Imperial, Calif. but when it comes to Southern California desert towns it qualifies heat-wise with temperatures near 100 and above for most summers.

Super featherweight contender Saul “Neno” Rodriguez hails from Riverside and he’s looking to be a world champion soon if not sooner. The heat is on.

Rodriguez (23-0-1, 17 KOs) meets Mexico’s Miguel Angel Gonzalez (24-4, 21 KOs) in a 10-round clash between hard-hitting super featherweights at Pechanga Resort and Casino on Friday, June 28. ESPN will televise. The main event features Richard Commey defending the IBF lightweight title against Raymundo Beltran.

You never know what to expect with Mexican fighters. Their records can be confusing because of their competition.

“He’s a tough person. He’s never been knocked out,” said Rodriguez of his next foe in the boxing ring Gonzalez. “I can’t take him lightly.”

This will be Rodriguez’s third fight since returning to the Top Rank banner and in each of the three fights, the lanky slugger has been assigned tougher and tougher opponents in incremental fashion. This one can tip the scale.

For the past several weeks Rodriguez spent training in the southern Florida area.

“We’ve been working mostly on a lot of defense,” said Rodriguez, 26, who is trained by his father Saul Rodriguez Sr. “We’ve had a lot of different kinds of sparring.”

During his first tenure with Top Rank, the Riverside prizefighter was rocketing up the rankings with some of the most sensational knockouts in all of boxing. British boxing pundits and Spanish television networks called him the most exciting knockout puncher back in 2014 when he blasted out four in a row. His knockouts were the envy of the boxing world.

After signing with Mayweather Promotions in late 2016 the parade stalled.

A near loss to Oscar Bravo and the inability to find suitable opposition put Rodriguez in a wayward path and a mutual parting of the ways with Mayweather Promotions was reached. No hard feelings.

Since returning to Top Rank the knockouts resumed with Rodriguez powering out Brazil’s Aelio Mesquita in five rounds. Now he returns home to Riverside County.

“It’s always good when I’m close to home so my friends and family can come and see me,” said Rodriguez. “My last two fights were in Texas and in Fresno.”

Today the super featherweight division has heated up with local fighter Andrew Cancio recently grabbing the WBA version of the title.

Rodriguez is familiar with Cancio, Gervonta Davis, Miguel Berchelt and all of the other top super featherweights.

“I’ve been sparring with Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Dominicans and of course Mexicans,” said Rodriguez. “We’re ready mentally for all obstacles.”

Rodriguez looks to ride the recent success wave that led to championships for Cancio and heavyweight Andy “The Destroyer” Ruiz. Southern Californians are rolling sevens and 11s.

More Cancio

After repelling Puerto Rico’s Alberto Machado’s attempt to regain the WBA title, Andrew Cancio now has a clear path to perhaps choose his next foe.

“I’d like to fight Rene Alvarado,” said Cancio of his former foe from Nicaragua. “He deserves it. He’s like me, he has been ranked for a while but hasn’t gotten his shot. I want to give him a shot.”

Back in December 2015, they fought each other at Fantasy Springs Casino. A cut near the eye of Alvarado caused by a Cancio punch ended the fight in the eighth round. Until the stoppage the two were engaged in one heck of a slugfest that both are famous for producing any time they enter the boxing ring.

“Alvarado is a lot like me. I know how he feels,” said Cancio who got his first crack at a world title this past February against Machado and was successful. “He deserves a shot.”

Alvarado’s last fight was a technical decision win in Nicaragua and he’s also defeated Los Angeles banger Carlos Morales and upset Denis Shafikov. The Nicaraguan has never fought for a world title.

The ball is in Golden Boy Promotion’s court. Don’t be surprised if it happens.

Andy Ruiz

Since winning the WBA, WBO, and IBF titles, Andy Ruiz has also captured the hearts and minds of mothers and daughters throughout North America. Maybe even South America too.

When I get a phone call from my mom asking about “this Chicano kid who won the world title” then I know the regular world has been shaken to its core. Boxing can do that even to moms that don’t watch television or read newspapers.

The recent hometown parade given to the big-boned Ruiz by the town of Imperial was heartwarming stuff and carried by numerous newspapers and television networks. Mothers everywhere were swooning over watching Ruiz take in the attention. Suddenly the new heavyweight champion has become the darling of anyone who knows his story.

Mothers, go let your sons and daughters grow up to be prizefighters.

Fights to Watch

Fri. 7 p.m. ESPN: Richard Commey (28-2) vs Raymundo Beltran (36-8-1); Saul Rodriguez (23-0-1) vs Miguel Angel Gonzalez (24-4).

Sat. 6 p.m. Showtime: Jermall Charlo (28-0) vs Brandon Adams (21-2).

Sat. 6 p.m. DAZN: Demetrius Andrade (27-0) vs Maciej Sulecki (28-1); Khalid Yafai (25-0) vs Norberto Jimenez (29-8-4).

Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel

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Argentina’s Fernando Martinez Wins His Rematch with Kazuto Ioka

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In an excellent fight climaxed by a furious 12th round, Argentina’s Fernando Daniel Martinez came off the deck to win his rematch with Kazuto Ioka and retain his piece of the world 115-pound title. The match was staged at Ioka’s familiar stomping grounds, the Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo.

In their first meeting on July 7 of last year in Tokyo, Martinez was returned the winner on scores of 117-111, 116-112, and a bizarre 120-108. The rematch was slated for late December, but Martinez took ill a few hours before the weigh-in and the bout was postponed.

The 33-year-old Martinez, who came in sporting a 17-0 (9) record, was a 7-2 favorite to win the sequel, but there were plenty of reasons to favor Ioka, 36, aside from his home field advantage. The first Japanese male fighter to win world titles in four weight classes, Ioka was 3-0 in rematches and his long-time trainer Ismael Salas was on a nice roll. Salas was 2-0 last weekend in Times Square, having handled upset-maker Rolly Romero and Reito Tsutsumi who was making his pro debut.

But the fourth time was not a charm for Ioka (31-4-1) who seemingly pulled the fight out of the fire in round 10 when he pitched the Argentine to the canvas with a pair of left hooks, but then wasn’t able to capitalize on the momentum swing.

Martinez set a fast pace and had Ioka fighting off his back foot for much of the fight. Beginning in round seven, Martinez looked fatigued, but the Argentine was conserving his energy for the championship rounds. In the end, he won the bout on all three cards: 114-113, 116-112, 117-110.

Up next for Fernando Martinez may be a date with fellow unbeaten Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, the lineal champion at 115. San Antonio’s Rodriguez is a huge favorite to keep his title when he defends against South Africa’s obscure Phumelela Cafu on July 19 in Frisco, Texas.

As for Ioka, had he won today’s rematch, that may have gotten him over the hump in so far as making it into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. True, winning titles in four weight classes is no great shakes when the bookends are only 10 pounds apart, but Ioka is still a worthy candidate.

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Emanuel Navarrete Survives a Bloody Battle with Charly Suarez in San Diego

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In a torrid battle Mexico’s Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete and his staccato attack staved off the herky-jerky non-stop assaults of Philippine’s Charly Suarez to win by technical decision and retain the WBO super feather world title on Saturday.

What do they feed these guys?

Navarrete (40-2-1, 32 KOs) and his elongated arms managed to connect enough to compensate against the surprising Suarez (18-1, 10 KOs) who wowed the crowd at Pechanga Arena in San Diego.

An accidental clash of heads opened a cut on the side of Navarrete’s left eye and forced a stoppage midway through the fight.

From the opening round Navarrete used his windmill style of attack with punches from different angles that caught Suarez multiple times early. It did not matter. Suarez fired back with impunity and was just as hungry to punch it out with the Mexican fighter.

It was savage.

Every time Navarrete connected solidly, he seemed to pause and check out the damage. Bad idea. Suarez would immediately counter with bombs of his own and surprise the champion with his resilience and tenacity.

Wherever they found Suarez they should look for more, because the Filipino fighter from Manila was ferocious and never out of his depth.

Around the sixth round the Mexican fighter seemed a little drained and puzzled at the tireless attacks coming from Suarez. During an exchange of blows a cut opened up on Navarrete and it was ruled an accidental clash of heads by the referee. Blood streamed down the side of Navarrete’s face and it was cleared by the ringside physician.

But at the opening of the eighth round, the fight was stopped and the ringside physician ruled the cut was too bad to continue. The California State Athletic Commission looked at tape of the round when the cut opened to decipher if it was an accidental butt or a punch that caused the cut. It was unclear so the referee’s call of accidental clash of heads stood as the final ruling.

Score cards from the judges saw Navarrete the winner by scores of 78-75, 77-76 twice. He retains the WBO title.

Interim IBF Lightweight Title

The sharp-shooting Raymond “Danger” Muratalla (23-0, 17 KOs) maneuvered past Russia’s Zaur Abdullaev (20-2, 12 KOs) by unanimous decision to win the interim IBF lightweight title after 12 rounds.

Both fighters were strategic in their approach with Muratalla switching from orthodox to southpaw at various times of the fight. Neither fighter was ever able to dominant any round.

Defense proved the difference between the two lightweights. Muratalla was able to slip more blows than Abdullaev and that proved the difference. The fighter from Fontana, California was able to pierce Abdullaev’s guard more often than not, especially with counter punches.

Abdullaev was never out of the fight. The Russian fighter was able to change tactics and counter the counters midway through the fight. It proved effective especially to the body. But it was not enough to offset Muratalla’s accuracy.

There were no knockdowns and after 12 rounds the judges scored it 118-110, 119-109 twice for Muratalla who now becomes the mandatory for the IBF lightweight title should Vasyl Lomachenko return to defend it.

Muratalla was brief.

“He was a tough fighter,” said Muratalla. “My defense is something I work on a lot.”

Perla Wins

Super flyweight Perla Bazaldua (2-0) eased past Mona Ward (0-2) with a polished display of fighting at length and inside.

Combination punching and defense allowed Bazaldua to punch in-between Ward’s attacks and force the St. Louis fighter to clinch repeatedly. But Ward hung in there despite taking a lot of blows. After four rounds the Los Angeles-based Bazaldua was scored the winner 40-36 on all three cards. Bazaldua signed a long term contract with Top Rank in March.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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Late Bloomer Anthony Cacace TKOs Hometown Favorite Leigh Wood in Nottingham

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Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions was at Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England, tonight with a card featuring hometown favorite Leigh Wood against Ireland’s Anthony “Apache” Cacace.

Wood, a former two-time WBA featherweight champion, known for dramatic comebacks in bouts he was losing, may have reached the end of the road at age 36. He had his moments tonight, rocking Cacace on several occasions and winning the eighth round, but he paid the price, returning to his corner after round eight with swelling around both of his eyes.

In the ninth, Cacace, an 11/5 favorite, hurt Wood twice with left hands, the second of which knocked Wood into the ropes, dictating a standing 8-count by referee John Latham. When the bout resumed, Cacace went for the kill and battered Wood around the ring, forcing Wood’s trainer Ben Davison to throw in the towel. The official time was 2:15 of round nine.

Akin to Wood, Northern Ireland’s Cacace (24-1, 9 KOs) is also 36 years old and known as a late bloomer. This was his ninth straight win going back to 2017 (he missed all of 2018 and 2020). He formerly held the IBF 130-pound world title, a diadem he won with a stoppage of then-undefeated and heavily favored Joe Cordina, but that belt wasn’t at stake tonight as Cacace abandoned it rather than fulfill his less-lucrative mandatory. Wood falls to 28-4.

Semi-Wind-Up

Nottingham light heavyweight Ezra Taylor, fighting in his hometown for the first time since pro debut, delighted his fan base with a comprehensive 10-round decision over previously undefeated Troy Jones. Taylor, who improved to 12-0 (9) won by scores of 100-90, 99-91, and 98-92.

This was Taylor’s first fight with new trainer Malik Scott, best known for his work with Deontay Wilder. The victory may have earned him a match with Commonwealth title-holder Lewis Edmondson. Jones was 12-0 heading in.

Other Bouts of Note

In his first fight as a featherweight, Liam Davies rebounded from his first defeat with a 12-round unanimous decision over Northern Ireland’s previously undefeated Kurt Walker. Davies, who improved to 17-1 (8), staved off a late rally to prevail on scores of 115-113, 116-112, and 117-111. It was the first pro loss for the 30-year-old Walker (12-1), a Tokyo Olympian.

In a mild upset, Owen Cooper, a saucy Worcestershire man, won a 10-round decision over former Josh Taylor stablemate Chris Kongo. The referee’s scorecard read 96-94.

Cooper improved to 11-1 (4). It was the third loss in 20 starts for Kongo.

A non-televised 8-rounder featured junior welterweight Sam Noakes in a stay-busy fight. A roofer by trade and the brother of British welterweight title-holder Sean Noakes, Sam improved to 17-0 (15 KOs) with a third-round stoppage of overmatched Czech import Patrik Balez (13-5-1).

Photo credit: Leigh Dawney / Queensberry

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