Boxing Odds and Ends: Thurman-Barrios, Cuadras-Rodriguez and More

Boxing Odds and Ends: Thurman-Barrios, Cuadras-Rodriguez and More

Two fighters made great gains this past weekend — a veteran who recaptured lost luster and a newcomer who turned in a masterclass against a battle-hardened campaigner.

The veteran, Keith Thurman, was seemingly on the cusp of super-stardom after nipping Shawn Porter in a doozy of a 12-round fight at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center in May of 1995. The riveting scrap, in which the combatants combined to throw more than 1,200 punches, was witnessed by 2.12 million on CBS – the first boxing match televised in primetime by the network since the first Ali-Spinks fight in 1978.

Rather than build on that triumph, however, Thurman became something of an afterthought. In part because of elbow and hand injuries, he fought only three times in the next five-and-a-half years. A split decision over Danny Garcia drew catcalls from the pro-Garcia crowd, he survived a treacherous seventh round to win a majority decision over Josesito Lopez, and then he fell from the ranks of the unbeaten, his record blemished by ancient Manny Pacquiao.

Meanwhile, as Thurman was becoming an after-thought, Errol Spence Jr’s reputation grew in leaps and bounds and Terence Crawford burst on the welterweight scene with a flourish after unifying the 140-pound title. For the last several years, all the talk about welterweights centered around Spence and Crawford and whether they would meet up while still in their respective primes.

Keith Thurman (pictured) was favored to turn away Mario Barrios this past Saturday, but the consensus was that it wouldn’t come easy. At age 26, Barrios was the younger man by seven years. Although he was moving up in weight, he had the bigger frame. His lone defeat had come at the hands of the formidable Gervonta “Tank” Davis – no shame in that — and this would be Thurman’s first fight in 31 months.  In theory, he would need several rounds to shed the rust and by then he might be too far behind on the scorecards to pull the fight out of the fire.

So much for theory. Thurman, whose receding hairline makes him look somewhat older than his 33 years, turned back the clock. “[He] moved around the ring like he used to, planting his feet long enough to land hard, accurate punches and then using them to dance out of harm’s way round after round,” wrote Michael Rosenthal for a story that appeared on Yahoo. He won 10 of the 12 rounds on two of the cards and nine rounds on the other, advancing his ledger to 30-1.

It goes without saying that Keith Thurman wants to fight the winner of the forthcoming title unification fight between Errol Spence and Yordenis Ugas (pegged for April 16 in Arlington, Texas, at the home of the Dallas Cowboys), but he may not want to wait around that long. A match between Thurman and Jaron “Boots” Ennis would be a delicious pairing. In fact, if the fight could be made (don’t hold your breath), it would undoubtedly attract more buzz than Spence vs Ugas.

Jesse Rodriguez

“Jesse Rodriguez scores stunning upset of Carlos Cuadras” read the headline above another Yahoo story that originated elsewhere.

Well, no.

This was no upset. Some people with deep pockets unstrapped the rubber band and chunked it in on Rodriguez who closed at better than a 3/1 favorite. Moreover, in the deepest pre-fight survey of boxing writers, the respondents were overwhelmingly in favor of Rodriguez. Someone was paying attention when the respected trainer Robert Garcia called Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez the most talented fighter in his stable.

But while this was no upset, the word “stunning” was entirely fitting because of the way the bout played out.

True, at age 33 Carlos Cuadras was exhibiting signs of being a bit shopworn, but the 14-year vet, who carried a 39-4-1 record, had been in with a bunch of tough hombres including the likes of Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez when Chocolatito was widely considered the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world. One could easily build a case for him considering that Rodriguez took the fight on short notice, had done most of his fighting at the next weight class down, and had answered the bell as a pro for only 62 rounds.

But lo and behold, Rodriguez won this battle for the WBC super flyweight title with room to spare, prevailing by a margin of 7 points on two of the scorecards (“3” on the other, which was too generous to Cuadras). The knockdown he scored in round three was a beauty, especially considering that he is a southpaw. Displaying nifty footwork, he pivoted to his right Lomachenko-style to set up the angle and nailed Cuadras with a short right uppercut that landed right on the button.

Rodriguez

“Bam” Rodriguez, who hails from San Antonio and is the younger brother of another 115-pound title-holder, Joshua Franco, signed with Robert Garcia in 2016 shortly after winning the Junior Olympics in the light flyweight division. He just turned 22, making him the sport’s youngest title-holder.

Women’s Boxing

The Phoenix show headlined by Cuadras-Rodriguez was marred by a women’s bout between Jamie Mitchell and Carly Skelly that was an egregious mismatch. A glutton for punishment, Skelly bravely fought as best she could, but she was badly battered in a bout that should have been stopped well before the referee finally waived it off in the fourth stanza.

Mismatch aside, that this bout was sanctioned as a world title fight was yet another atrocity by the putrid World Boxing Association. Heading in, these ladies, both in their mid-30’s, had only 14 pro fights between them – only three against opponents with winning records.

The good news for fans of women’s boxing is that 2022 shapes up as a breakthrough year. Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano are headlining an April 30 card at Madison Square Garden heralded as the biggest fight in female boxing history. Later this year, two-time Olympians Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall will square off in a rematch of their 2012 encounter at an amateur tournament in China – Claressa’s lone setback in 77 boxing matches. But it says here that the women will never achieve parity with the men so long as match-ups like Mitchell vs. Skelly remain the norm in women’s championship boxing.

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