by James Slater, photos by Sumio Yamada- Two Mexican warriors thought to have seen better days earned somewhat surprising victories in Quintana Roo, Mexico last night. Former world champions Oscar Larios and Guty Espadas Jnr won by stoppage – Larios with a 5th round TKO over Colombian Feidir Viloria and Espadas Jnr with a 2nd round TKO of Japan’s Naoki Matsuda. In winning, both men re-emerged as top class fighters in the featherweight division. Larios is now the interim WBC champ at 126-pounds, while Espadas Jnr is now the mandatory challenger for the WBC belt – currently held for real by 22-year-old Jorge Linares.
Larios, who took his fight on short notice after Linares was forced to pull out with a shoulder injury, won in slightly controversial fashion. Opening up with a burst of punches in the 5th, the referee suddenly dived in and called a halt to the bout, causing Viloria’s team to go crazy at what they felt was a stoppage that was premature.. Whatever the case, the once believed finished “Chololo” is now back on top of the world – albeit in an interim fashion. Now 61-6-1(38), the 31-year-old Larios was badly beaten in his last but one fight, when full WBC champ Linares stopped him in ten rounds. Before this loss “Chololo” had also suffered defeats at the hands of Manny Pacquiao and Israel Vazquez, results that led many to think he was a fighter heading towards retirement. Last night’s win proved otherwise, however.
As for Espadas Jnr, he was deemed to have been in worse shape than Larios. After being stopped in just two rounds by Rocky Juarez in December of 2004, the 33-year-old quit the sport for over two years – only to come back in March of last year. Winning three in a row against limited opposition, Espadas was not expected to blow the capable Matsuda (unbeaten for over six years) away in such quick fashion. Now Espadas is the mandatory challenger to WBC champ Linares – who is currently unbeaten at 25-0(16). It seems the rest he took in 2005 and 2006 may have done Espadas – a fighter who has battled the likes of Erik Morales (twice) and Clarence “Bones” Adams during his career – the world of good. Now 42-7(27), the 33-year-old will be relishing a shot at the much younger Linares.
All in all it was a very interesting night of boxing last night in Mexico – with results that not too many fight fans would have predicted beforehand. A good night indeed for two veteran Mexican warriors!