Jermell Charlo and Rigondeaux Deliver Smashing Knockouts at Mandalay Bay

Sunday was not a good day for Mexican fighters in Las Vegas. Former WBC 154-pound champion Jermell Charlo rebounded from his first pro loss with a highlight reel knockout of Jorge Cota. In the co-feature, Cota’s countryman Julio Ceja suffered a similar fate. In an unexpectedly action-packed fight that was fought at close quarters, Ceja was KOed in the eighth round by Guillermo Rigondeaux. The bouts were the main attractions of a 10-fight card promoted by Premier Boxing Champions at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Jermell Charlo (32-1, 16 KOs) was making his first start since Dec. 22 when he was shorn of his title in his fourth defense by Tony Harrison at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The unanimous decision favoring Harrison was a head-scratcher. As noted by Thomas Hauser, the general consensus among his fellow ringside scribes was that Jermell Charlo won nine of the 12 rounds (re-visit Hauser’s ringside report here).

Sunday’s fight was meant to be a Charlo-Harrison rematch but Harrison, who was seated at ringside, was forced to pull out with an ankle injury. In stepped Los Mochis’ Cota who brought a fine record (28-3, 25 KOs) but was out of his league. Midway into the third stanza, Charlo decked him with a punch that appeared to land on Cota’s chest. When Cota got up, he was greeted with a vicious right hand to the jaw. The Mexican was out before he hit the canvas. Referee Jay Nady didn’t bother to count.

Rigondeaux

Heading into Sunday’s fight, Guillermo Rigondeaux was known as a great technician, a euphemism for saying that his style wasn’t fan-friendly. But “The Jackal,” now 38 years old, contradicted that perception, engaging in a slugfest with Ceja, a former interim WBC 122-pound champion, who appeared to be ahead on the scorecards until Rigondeaux closed the show with a looping left hook. The official time was 2:59 of round eight. It came after a strange sequence in which referee Russell Mora deducted a point from both fighters for low blows.

A Cuban defector who resides in Miami but trains in Houston under Ronnie Shields, Rigondeaux (19-1, 13 KOs) won his first world title in his seventh pro fight. His next bout is expected to come against the winner of the July 13 match between Mexico’s Rey Vargas and Japan’s Tomoki Kameda. The undefeated Vargas (33-0) will be making the fifth defense of his WBC 122-pound belt.

Other Notable Bouts

The preliminaries gave no indication of the fireworks that were to come. Three undefeated fighters – Joey Spencer, Chris Colbert, and Leduan Barthelemy – were extended the distance in bouts that were rather humdrum.

In his hardest fight to date, Joey Spencer (8-0, 6 KOs) absorbed some punishment while yet prevailing over Milwaukee’s Akeem Black (5-3).  Spencer won the 6-round middleweight bout by scores of 59-55 on all three cards.

The 19-year-old Spencer is considered one of boxing biggest stars. From little Linden, Michigan, he now resides in the East Bay area of Northern California where he trains under the tutelage of Virgil Hunter who previously tutored Andre Ward.

Chris Colbert (12-0, 4 KOs), a 22-year-old southpaw from Brooklyn, “pitched a shutout” (80-72 x 3) over game but overmatched Alberto Mercado (16-3-1) in an 8-round lightweight match. Mercado had fought all but one of his previous fights in his native Puerto Rico.

Super bantamweight Leduan Barthelemy (15-0-1, 7 KOs) likewise won every round in his 8-round math with Tijuana’s Jose Cayetano (21-8). The youngest of the three fighting Barthelemy brothers, Leduan, a southpaw from Cuba, resides in Las Vegas where he is a member of Floyd Mayweather’s Money Team.

Photo credit: Andy Samuelson / Premier Boxing Champions

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