Fast Results from the Bubble: Takam UD 10 Forrest; Castro Dismantles Juarez

Another edition of Top Rank’s semi-weekly ESPN summer series took place tonight in the so-called Bubble at the MGM Conference Center in Las Vegas. Heavyweights Carlos Takam and Jerry Forrest topped the bill.

In a slow-moving fight, 39-year old French-Cameroonian globetrotter Takam, subbing for Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller, improved to 39-5-1 with a unanimous decision. Takam (pictured on the right) dominated early, but he slowed down after suffering a cut below his right eye from an accidental clash of heads and Forrest, although out-weighed by 20 pounds, seemingly clawed his way back into the fight. However, Takam’s big early lead proved insurmountable as evident by the scorecards: 98-92, 97-93, 96-94. Forrest, from Newport News, Virginia, entered the fight having won 19 of his previous 20, but against very soft opposition. With the loss, his record fell to 26-4.

Co-Feature

In the co-feature, Phoenix featherweight Carlos Castro turned in a very impressive performance, stopping Cesar Juarez whose corner pulled him out after the fourth round. Castro, who improved to 26-0 (11), took control from the get-go with a very balanced attack. Although Juarez (25-9) isn’t a full-time boxer – he’s a practicing attorney in Mexico City – he had some good wins on his ledger and previously went 12 with Nonito Donaire.

Castro entered the contest ranked #3 by the WBC, #7 by the IBF, and #8 by the WBO. With Emanuel Navarette abandoning the 122-pound class, Castro appears poised to fight for the title that Navarette is vacating.

Other Bouts

In a six-round junior lightweight class between former state Golden Gloves champions, Joshafat Ortiz improved to 7-0 with a majority decision over Joshua Orta. The scores were 57-57 and 58-56 twice.

Ortiz, a Puerto Rican from Reading, Pennsylvania, had longer arms and quicker hands. The hard-trying Orta, from Springfield, Mass., suffered his first pro loss, declining to 6-1.

The TV opener was a 6-round middleweight contest between Cleveland’s Fred Wilson Jr. and Donte Stubbs of Riverside, CA. Wilson had a five-inch height advantage and a better amateur pedigree, but he had no antidote for Stubbs’ high-pressure attack and suffered his first pro loss after opening his career 6-0-2. Stubbs knocked Wilson down with a sweeping right hook late in round three and again late in round five and Wilson had a point deducted for excessive holding in round four, a dubious call by Celestino Ruiz, a newcomer to Nevada’s pool of referees. Stubbs, who lost a close fight to Isiah Jones nine days ago, advanced to 7-1 by scores of 58-54 and 58-53 twice.

Off TV

The welterweight contest between Corey Champion (2-3) and Peter Cortez (2-2) lasted less than one full round, but it was quite a barnburner. There were four knockdowns in all, three by the victorious Champion, including a rare double knockdown that was caught on tape.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams for Top Rank

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