Fight fans were treated to a midweek thriller last night in Plant City, Florida, as 140-pounders Pablo Cesar Cano and Zachary Ochoa went at it over the course of (almost) six thrilling rounds that saw a whole lot of switching momentums.
In the end, blood pouring from a cut to his eye, Cano landed a wicked two-punch combo to the head that dropped Ochoa heavily, his head rolling as he hit down.
Amazingly, the Puerto Rican warrior from Brooklyn got up, but he was then blasted with a relentless follow-up barrage that promoted the referee to dive in and stop the fight.
Despite the number of shots he had taken during the fight-ending salvo from Mexico’s Cano and during the fight in general, Ochoa, who does have some astonishing ability to take shots, found the energy to complain about the stoppage! The time was 1:57 of the sixth, and fans really did get their money’s worth. Cano, who celebrated his 34th birthday last night, is now 35-8-1(25). Ochoa, who really was game, falls to 21-4(7).
From the start, Cano went looking for the stoppage, the veteran who has been in with the likes of Erik Morales, Paulie Malignaggi (who was co-calling the fight for ProBoxTV), Sugar Shane Mosley, and Jorge Linares not allowing the cut to his eye to bother him. In round two, Cano hurt Ochoa bad and he let loose with a ton of shots, up and down, most of which landed. But Ochoa, on the ropes both figuratively and literally, didn’t go anywhere. It was easily a round so one-sided it could have been, maybe should have been, scored 10-8 in Cano’s favor.
But Ochoa came back as the Mexican pressure fighter faded due to the way he had temporarily punched himself out, with Ochoa having himself a good third round. Ochoa was landing some chin-testers himself in the fourth and fifth sessions, and fans were now unsure where this one would end, or in whose favor. But then, in round six, Cano uncorked his savage one/two, his left and his right both landing on the button. How Ochoa got back up only he knows. But then Cano ended matters, seeing to it that he had a birthday to celebrate.
Last night’s slugfest came as a very real midweek treat, the kind we fans would readily welcome again. Cano has been around for a long time (since 2006), but “El Demoledor” showed last night that he still has a whole lot of fire in his belly. Ochoa needed a win last night, with him now having lost three on the spin. Ochoa may or may not take some solace from the fact that in defeat, he played his part in a great action fight.
