By Matthew Paras – If there’s one thing to do in boxing, never judge a fighter by his record. Moments before the opening bell sounded for Andrzej Fonfara (15-2, 6 KOs) to face Anthony Doughty (9-2, 8 KOs), there was speculation among writers ringside if Doughty had a chance to crack Fonfara’s chin early. 23 seconds later, Doughty was lying on the canvas out from a vicious right hand in the UIC Pavilion.
Fonfara, 175, came into the ring with Polish fans in the audience screaming his name. When the bell sounded, Fonfara wasted no time connecting a right hand to Anthony Doughty’s chin. That right hand was the only right hand thrown in the fight and it was the only right needed. Fonfara is now on a four fight win streak since his loss to Derrick Findley in 2008..
If anything, writers should have learned from the co-main event that a fighter’s record does not indicate how a fighter will do. Martin Tucker (7-7, 3 KOs) gave Ivan Popoca more trouble than was expected. Popoca dealt with a large gash over his left eye, but was able to gut out a unanimous decision by scores of 77-75 and 78-74 twice.
The fight was competitive throughout. In the first two rounds, Popoca established himself as the aggressor. Suffering a cut from Tucker’s quick punches, Popoca still had success bullying Tucker to the ropes. Here Popoca dug to the body, which set up overhand rights that blasted Tucker.
Tucker remained competitive with Popoca. In the third round, left hooks and straight right hands made Popoca’s eye really start to bleed. Popoca, who wasn’t as distracted by the cuts yet, made the round very close by landing his own number of clean shots.
The next two rounds Popoca continued battling through the cut, but he still managed to be the aggressor in those rounds landing the cleaner blows. However, in rounds six and seven Tucker made things interesting. Tucker’s footwork confused Popoca, allowing Tucker to sneak in right hand leads. Both fighters needed a good eighth and final round.
Tucker circled around Popoca, landing accurate counters for the majority of the round. Popoca showed heart, but didn’t have as many clean punches in the course of the round. Eastsideboxing had the fight 76-76, a draw, but more importantly the judges had the fight all for Popoca. Popoca in no means looked bad. He did show some defensive flaws, but he made up for it in heart. Certainly the decision wasn’t a robbery and because the third round was very close, it is arguable that Popoca did pull it out. Popoca improves to 15-0-1 (10 KOs).
Fonfara vs. Doughty and Popoca vs. Tucker were apart of Dominic Pesoli’s 8 Count Promotions’ Windy City Fight Night events.
Windy City Fight Night 13 Undercard Results
By Matthew Paras
Antonio Cansas vs Morris:
In his third professional fight, Antonio Cansas (3-0, 2KOs) defeated Gabriel Morris (3-8-2). The fight was fought at a high pace with Cansas being more active throughout. After a strong first round by Cansas, Morris fought back with connecting the right hand throughout. Cansas had success with the left hook, but scarcely landed it in rounds two and three. Cansas and Morris went at in the final fourth round with Cansas again being more active. Scores were a bit wide at 40-36 twice and 39-37.
Michael Jimenez vs Jessie Lewis
The crowd waited around twenty minutes for action to resume after a medical emergency in the locker rooms of the UIC Pavilionfor Chicago native Michael Jimenez(3-0, 3 KOs) and Jessie Lewis (0-2) to fight. The result was a highly entertaining 53 second knockout by the hands of Michael Jimenez. Jimenez, 167, landed an absolutely crushing right hand that put out Lewis on his feet. Instead of it being stopped immediately, Jimenez was able to land three or four more devastating right hands that put Lewis out on the canvas.
David Latoria vs James Porter
Undefeated Heavyweight David Latoria (7-0, 3 KOs)brought his win total to 7 after capturing a unanimous decision over James Porter (5-13-1, 1 KO). Latoria, 230, fought a scrappy but persistent battle as he dug to the body of James. The fight had some heated moments as James was deducted a point for low blows in round two and Latoria was deducted a point for leading with his head in round four. Latoria controlled mostly all of the fight. Scores were 39-35 across the board.
Mustafah Johnson vs Donatas Bondorvas:
Crowd favorite Donatas Bondoravas(10-1-1, 3 KOs) prevailed with a strong performance in the closing rounds to earn a unanimous decision victory over Mustafah Johnson (8-9-1, 2 KOs). Johnson, 157, was slicker than his 8-9-1 recorded indicated and presented problems early. Slipping shots and connecting with counter right hands seemed to control three out of the first four rounds. It was Bondoravas’ jab which took control of the fight. Bondoravas plodded along setting everything up with his jab, which was followed by a right hand. This simple one two combination was effective as it tired out Johnson. Still the fight seemed in the balance when in round seven, Bondoravas lost a point because of a low blow.
It seemed to come down to a competitive eighth round, but Bondoravas closed stronger with landing the cleaner blows. Scores were a respectable 77-74, a bit wider 78-73, and a mind boggling 79-72 all for Bondoravas.
Gabriel Mendez vs. Clifford McPherson
Hailing from Chicago, IL, Genaro Mendez (3-0, 2 KOs) came off the canvas to TKO Clifford P. McPherson (2-2-1, 1 KO) in 1:26 of round three. Mendez, 142, was in control of the whole fight except when McPherson landed a hail mary right hand that put Mendez down on the canvas in the second round. Mendez showed great heart by getting up and then hurting McPherson. Carrying off the momentum in the later stages of the second round, Mendez came out determined. A flurry overwhelmed McPherson and he was stopped on his feet.
Jaime Herrera vs Guadalupe Diaz:
Jaime Herrera (5-0, 3 KOs) and Guadalupe Diaz(5-8-3, 1 KO) battled it out in an entertaining brawl. Herrera, a prospect from Illinois, got the better of exchanges with short tight hooks throughout the fight. Diaz was game, but he could just not keep up with the constant onslaught of punches. Diaz, who went down at the end of round three, survived to the final bell. Scores were 60-53 with all three judges.
Other Results:
Sergey Kovalev TKO 2 Dallas Vargas (1:16)
Ramrio Carrillo TKO 1 Matthew Anthony Ellis (2:33)