One Punch Ends Jorrin´s Title Reign

By Paul-John Ramos

02.11 - Sacramento, California - One minute and twenty-eight seconds was all that Oscar Larios needed to avenge his controversial loss to Willie Jorrin for the WBC Super Bantamweight Title in January of last year. Friday night's main event at the Arco Arena essentially lasted for one punch, as a right uppercut by Larios, from which Jorrin could not recover, jolted him onto the canvas.

Larios (46-3-1, 33 KOs) had shown grand Mexican chivalry over the past year by calling for a rematch of his unanimous decision loss in the same building that many felt was robbery. He had also kept busy over recent months with wins over Angel Chacon, Darryl Pinckney, and Israel Vazquez for the WBA's "interim" strap, whereas Jorrin (28-1-1, 12 KOs), had fought only once between January 2001 and November 2002, a draw with Osamu Sato in Tokyo. Due to the briefness of the rematch, there can be two explanations for its outcome. One is that Larios caught some luck and landed the big punch, but the other is that Larios has stayed persistent in his title hopes and caught an inactive belt holder off guard.

Regardless of which explanation is right, Larios's victory comes without excuse. The big punch was landed after one minute of action, when a right uppercut to the chin put Jorrin on his back. Larios, 122, Guadalajara, Mexico, kept to the attack and was briefly curtailed when Jorrin, 122, Sacramento, slipped and knocked both men off balance. Moments later, Larios was showering Jorrin with bombs in a neutral control, forcing referee James Jen-Kin, Jr. to call a stoppage. For Larios, the quick ending was a bittersweet victory. For the Arco fans, it meant more ticket money going up in smoke.