23.11.03 – By Carlos Kalinchuk – Photo Gallery: Rocky Juarez 19-0 (14 KO’s) won his fight on the scorecards but that was about the only place he won Saturday nights fight with Hector Velasquez 36-9-1 (27 KO’s). Although he officially won the fight with scores of 118-110, 117-111, and 115-113 this was clearly not what happened in the ring. Perhaps 115-113 could possibly be accepted but he did not fight well. He would often throw punches one at a time and he gave the fight away on the inside to the taller Velasquez. Perhaps if he had done in round 12, what he didn’t do in rounds 1-11, the fight would not have been in question but I had the fight an even draw after 12 rounds. Velasquez landed more body shots and he was the busier fighter throughout. Although his style won’t sell out any stadiums in the US, it was effective, as Juarez could not seem to get uncorked to throw any punches in bunches. I caught up with Velasquez after the fight and he had this to say, “I don’t think they gave him the fight, I know they gave him the fight.” When asked about the scores, “I felt I won every round except the last one. I was fighting in his house and the judges scored it that way.” I couldn’t agree more.
Bojado Dazzles, Moves, and Blazes to Easy 12 Round Unanimous Decision Victory!
In the co-featured bout of the evening, Francisco “Panchito” Bojado electrified the crowd with a solid performance over Juan Carlos Rubio in 12 rounds of Jr. Welterweight action. Although the fight was entertaining, Bojado clearly out-classed Rubio with his boxing skills, power, and speed. All three judges had Bojado winning unanimously with scores of 119-108 and 118-109 twice.
Bojado’s time with Mayweather has been well spent as he displayed his most dazzling defensive skills ever. He bent, dipped, moved, and slid his way into frustrating Rubio throughout. His physique looked great and looked to be in fantastic shape as he showed he could close strong by knocking down Rubio in round 11. He taunted Rubio momentarily as Rubio struggled to regain his footing. The bravado unfortunately continued though, as the fight ended, both fighters threw punches after referee Lawrence Cole stepped in between them. Bojado however, reached over Cole’s shoulder and sucker punched Rubio. To add insult to injury, Cole shoved Rubio away to prevent a further altercation after bell. The only problem was, he shoved Rubio into, and through the ropes and nearly out of the ring.
To summarize, Rubio fought a different Bojado this time around. He was not fighting the same immature, out of control, fat kid, who’s gotten high off the reflection in the mirror. No, this new look Bojado is fit, carries a shaved head, and is showing his detractors that he’s here to stay after an early lesson about life in the ring.
After the fight Bojado had this to say, “I want to thank all the people who came out and who saw the fight on Showtime, like always want to give my best in the ring. When I knocked him down it was just a statement to let him know that big Daddy’s on and I’m here and that you’re not going to hurt me! I still have my power so you better be careful. I knew he was going to get back up because I saw it in his eyes but it was a good feeling. I think his whole game plan with the taunts earlier in the fight was to make me lose my focus and trying to get me out of my game plan and make me get wild and try to punch myself out but I was in great shape and that wasn’t going to happen. I’m not disappointed that I didn’t knock him out. I want to show and prove to everyone that I’m improving and getting better with my offense and defense. I wanted to show the world I’m improving and I wanted to punish him a little bit. He’s a tall fighter so I knew if I stayed low he was going to miss a lot of his shots. I can do that with him but with a veteran, they know how to get around that so I won’t be going too low. It was really just for this fight. Training for this fight has been awesome. It’s been awesome. I’ve been a pound under weight his whole week so the weight wasn’t an issue and it wasn’t a problem for this fight. I want to thank all the fans. I’m going to keep training and working hard I hurt my hand on his head but I was here to win and put on a good show.”
Juan Diaz Goes to Battle with Joel Perez; Diaz Wins By TKO in 6!
In an awesome display of sizzling jabs and hooks to the body, Juan “El Torito” Diaz improved to 23-0 (11 KO’s) after head trainer Juan Lopez stepped through the ropes in round 6 to waive of the destruction of his fighter and ring veteran Joel Perez 34-7-2 (19 KO’s). Referee Tim Adams acknowledged the stoppage after several moments of not noticing Lopez on the apron waiving the white towel. Although Perez protested his corners stoppage, it was definitely the right call. Perez was bleeding from his eye, head, nose, mouth, left ear, and his eye was nearly swollen shut. The official stoppage was 1:27 of round 6. In spite of the mask of blood Perez was wearing, he fought his heart out and probably made his last fight as a professional a very interesting one.
Both fighters gave the fans a lot to cheer about as they often stood toe to toe in the middle of the ring. The only knockdown of the fight was in round two when Diaz caught Perez on the chin solid with an uppercut. Perez showed courage though and got up to fight some more, but it was not enough as Diaz hooked, moved, jabbed, and uppercut his way to victory. After the fight Diaz said, “I knew that he was going to be ready for this fight. We’re both two guys from Houston and I know he was going to give it his all. He came out just like we hoped he would and that’s good that he came to fight. I thought they would stop the fight earlier, but he kept telling his corner, ‘I’m okay’ and I knew if I just kept going, they would stop it sooner or later.”
Dominick Guinn Wins By Unanimous Decision In Uninspiring Performance!
In what started out as an apparent easy victory for Dominick Guinn 24-0, turned into a fight that drew the ire from the local fight fans when Guinn could take out the durable Derrick Banks 20-11-1 (7 KO’s) in 10 rounds. After a first found knockdown it looked as though Guinn would make quick work of Banks. Unfortunately for Guinn, the Director forgot to give Banks that part of the script as he hung in and gave Guinn a stiff test of endurance for all 10 rounds. Banks even managed to win one round on my scorecard (Round 9) but he was clearly outclassed by the jabbing, bigger, and more powerful Guinn. The official judges ruled unanimously in favor of Guinn with scores of 97-92 and 98-91 twice. A loud chorus of boos rained down on Guinn in rounds 8,9 and 10 for his inability send Banks to the showers early. Even though Guinn won the fight, he did not close as well as he should have and he did not rally fan support for his showing tonight. This is the second time Guinn has not been able to knock down an inferior opponent in his own backyard since moving from Arkansas. Thankfully, both fights have not been televised. Although this was clearly a stay busy fight for Guinn, he should have done more to win impressively instead of dragging Banks’s dead carcass across the finish line. The positives for Guinn in this fight are this; he looked stronger, he displayed his customary rapid-fire jab, and he used more of his own weight to manhandle the smaller Banks. Perhaps his next stop in Houston will be a better one. Let’s hope so!
Carlos “Stiff-jab” Kalinchuk
Contributing Writer & Photographer