By Michael Montero: The Los Angeles Matadors were back in action Monday night at the Avalon Hotel in Hollywood, where they took on the Memphis Force, the team that had upset them in week nine of the World Series of Boxing (WSB). The sellout crowd got their money’s worth as all five bouts entertained, three of them ending within the distance.
For those of you out of the loop, the WSB is a revolutionary league that brings together the excitement of professional boxing with the best features of the amateurs. Fighters don’t wear headgear or vests, and bouts consist of five three-minute rounds with professional style scoring (three judges applying the “ten point must” rule). There are five weight categories: bantamweight, lightweight, middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight.
Teams from three different continents compete with the winners of each division guaranteed a spot at the 2012 London Olympic Games. There are three conferences – The Americas, Asia and Europe – each with four teams. The LA Matadors were the early frontrunners in the Americas conference, but came in tonight having lost two matches in a row. A “match” in the WSB consists of one bout in each division between members of the two teams competing. Tonight the Matadors won all five bouts to climb back to the top of the conference standings. Overall, LA has won 7 of its 10 matches, going 35-15 in its bouts. Here are the night’s highlights…
Bout 1: bantamweights
Joseph Diaz (Los Angles) UD Ronny Beblik (Memphis)
The 18 year old Diaz (from nearby El Monte, CA) controlled the pace throughout by throwing the straighter punches. Although Beblik (of Germany) did some good work in the middle rounds and made it interesting, Diaz seemed to land the more telling blows. In the fifth round, an accidental head butt caused a bad gash over Diaz’s left eye, but he fought through it and finished strong. The judges scored it for Diaz 50-45 and 49-46, twice. I thought those scores were a bit too wide and saw it 49-47 for Diaz (one round even). Either way, the right man won and it was a great start for the night.
Bout 2: lightweights
Eric Fowler (Los Angeles) TKO2 Elian Dimitrov (Memphis)
Houston-bred Eric “fearless” Fowler brought his perfect WSB record into this bout against 19 year old Dimitrov, who’s yet to win this season. In the first round the Bulgarian native tagged Fowler with several crisp, flush shots – but they had little effect. Fowler charged out in the second and began to bully his opponent, pinning him on the ropes several times and then knocking him down with a barrage of punches. Although Dimitrov survived the round, his corner threw in the towels before the beginning of the third. Fowler is now 4-0 in the WSB with 3 KO’s.
Bout 3 : middleweights
Chris Pearson (Los Angeles) TKO4 Chris Jones (Memphis)
There was plenty of buzz centered on Pearson, who made his WSB debut tonight. Born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, he was selected for Northern Michigan’s prestigious boxing scholarship at the age of 18. Simply put – he’s the goods. He completely dominated Dallas native Chris Jones, who came into this bout 0-3 in his WSB run. From the outset, Pearson’s piston-like jab had his opponent confused and backing up. In the third round Jones was badly hurt and in survival mode, but he showed great heart and toughed it out. The fourth round was more of the same as Jones survived, but his corner had seen enough. They called the bout and Jones failed to answer the bell for the fifth.
Chris Pearson is definitely one to watch. I spoke with him a bit after the fight asked him about his goals. “I thought about going pro earlier this year, but I wanted to stay in the amateurs to get a shot at London in 2012”, he said. “I want to follow in the footsteps of Andre Ward, the last American to win a gold medal in the Olympics.” Ward was doing commentating on the card for the Versus Network tonight and interviewed Pearson in the ring just moments after his victory. For the 20 year old, it was a thrill. “I admire him”, he said, “I want to be like him and bring gold back to the USA next year.”
Bout 4 : light heavyweights
Vyacheslav Shabranskij (Los Angeles) TKO4 Anthony Mack (Memphis)
The man they call the “Ukraine Pain Train” came into this bout ranked #5 in the WSB at light heavyweight. With a very accomplished amateur record of 180-20, Shabranskyy (or “Slava”, as he’s also called) seems to be totally comfortable and at home in the ring. He used his longer reach to control the distance from the outside, showed good fundamentals and plenty of power. Anthony Mack, the third Texas native featured on tonight’s card, kept a high guard in attempts to block big punches, but the Ukrainian quickly caught on and made adjustments. He used lateral movement and began looping his shots to get around his opponent’s defense. It worked. By the fourth round Slava was dominating and Mack was completely in survival mode. Midway through the round Mack was pinned on the ropes and ate several unanswered power punches, prompting the ref to jump in and save him from further damage. With the stoppage victory, Slava kept his WSB record perfect at 4-0.
Bout 5: heavyweights
David Imoesiri (Los Angeles) UD Jovonta Charles (Memphis)
LA local Imoesiri (from nearby Long Beach, CA) isn’t the tallest heavyweight and often enters the ring as the smaller man, but he always takes it to his opponent. Charles has the build of an NBA player; he’s long and rangy and enjoyed a tremendous reach advantage. He attempted to use those tools to keep his opponent at bay, while Imoesiri tried to time him and lung in with flurries, then dart back out to avoid danger. This was the closest bout of the night as both men did good work in spots – Imoesiri on the inside and Charles on the outside. There was a lot of wrestling at times as the two fighters got tangled up quite a bit, but all in all Imoesiri appeared to do more work and earned a decision victory. The judges scored it 50-45 and 48-47, twice. I felt the 50-45 score was ridiculous, and saw it 48-47 for Imoesiri as well.
It was an entertaining night of world-class boxing at The Avalon Hotel in Hollywood. Next up for the Matadors is a grudge match with the Mexico City Guerreros on March 14th here in Los Angeles. The last time these teams met in week eight, Mexico City took the match 4-1. Currently the Matadors and the Guerreros are tied atop the Americas Conference; it’s safe to say the winner on 3/14 takes it. If you would like to learn more about the World Series of Boxing, check out the official web site at: www.worldseriesboxing.com
I welcome all comments, feedback or questions at monteroboxing@gmail.com
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