Cancio and Zenunaj In Slugfest at Fantasy Springs; Kamegai Loses

INDIO, CALIF-Desert fighter Andrew Cancio won the battle between super featherweight strong boys in a withering back and forth battle against hard nose Dardan Zenunaj and it was possibly the end of an era for a Japanese warrior on Friday.

Cancio (19-4-2, 14 KOs) usually runs over those who dare stand in front of him, but Zenunaj (14-5, 11 KOs) survived a rocky first two rounds to give the Blythe prizefighter all he could withstand at Fantasy Springs Casino.

Neither fighter emerged unscathed.

After Cancio blasted Zenunaj’s head during the first two rounds with uppercuts and four-punch combinations, the former Albanian native merely shook his head and invited Cancio to continue and the two unloaded.

Cancio was the more accurate fighter in the first half of the 10-round affair, but Zenunaj began gathering momentum in the second half. Each was able to land but Zenunaj’s seemed to have more power behind them. Cancio was more accurate and busier with the output while sliding left and right.

The best round was the ninth with Zenunaj gaining momentum Cancio planted his feet and the two unloaded massive shots. Neither fighter let up. Even when the bell rang both were still flailing away with blows. Each had welts and cuts from the brutal exchanges and both hugged each other in admiration.

After 10 blistering rounds the crowd eagerly applauded the action-packed performance.

Two judges scored the fight 99-91 and the other 97-93 for Cancio. The large crowd for Cancio was delirious when the decision was rendered but the loser was upset.

“The decision was horrible, the fight was a draw. 99-91 was an atrocious score,” said Zenunaj. “We did great. I take nothing away from Andrew Cancio, he was a warrior.”

Cancio was pleased with the fight and the crowd

“I’m very pleased with the victory, we worked very hard for this. It was a very hard 10 rounds. No matter how hard we train and spar you have to dig deep and fight hard in a fight like this,” said Cancio. “I’m going to sit down with my manager to see what’s next. We want a world title.”

Kamegai Considers Retirement

Japan’s Yoshihiro Kamegai (27-5-2, 24 KOs) was mistreated badly by New England’s Greg Vendetti (20-2-1, 12 KOs) who used his head and body to bull his way through and simply tired out the Japanese warrior.

Early in the fight Vendetti lowered his head and then used short quick punches to connect through much of the fight. Neither fighter was ever seriously hurt but Vendetti always seemed the fresher fighter.

Kamegai had his moments midway through the fight but could not sustain the energy to match Vendetti who kept boring in with his head down and punches flowing. After 10 rounds two judges scored it 98-92 and the other 97-93 for Vendetti.

After the loss, the warrior from Tokyo announced he is considering retirement. He’s had an illustrious career that saw him fight among the best in the world.

“My best fight was the first fight with (Jesus) Soto Karass,” said Kamegai, 35, after the fight. “This time I didn’t think he (Vendetti) was very good, but I didn’t do what I wanted. That’s why I’m thinking of retirement.”

Had Kamegai won, it was mentioned that he was a possible foe for WBC super welterweight titlist Jaime Munguia.

But it wasn’t to be.

Other Bouts

A battle of counter-punchers saw Luis Feliciano (8-0, 5 KOs) stand his ground and floor Dominican Republic’s Jonathan Fortuna (8-2, 5 KOs) with body shots to win by knockout. A left hook by Puerto Rico’s Feliciano to the body sent Fortuna down in the fifth round. He beat the count and was subsequently dropped with a thudding right to the body again for a knockout win at 2:38 of the fifth round.

Anthony Reyes (3-0, 2 KOs) connected with the first cross he fired on Tijuana’s Luis Montellano (0-3-1) and it was downhill for Montellano from there in the four round super bantamweight fight. Reyes, 19, fights out of Coachella but was unable to score his third successive knockout. Montellano proved too strong though he ate combination after combination in the fight. All three judges scored it 40-36 for Reyes.

Shakhram Giyasov (4-0, 3 KOs) stormed through Ghana’s veteran Albert Mensah (31-7-1, 15 KOs) like a southwestern monsoon in winning by knockout in the welterweight clash. Uzbekistan’s Giyasov connected with left hook after left hook with impunity against Mensah. After two dominant rounds Giyasov opened the third round by sliding through the ropes like a baseball player during one exchange. After laughing it off he then fired a left hook and a chopping right that floored Mensah for the count at 1:56 of round three. It was Giyasov’s third knockout win in four fights.

Photo credit: Tom Hogan / Hogan Photos / GBP

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