JUAN MA DOES NUMBER ON LEUVANO
New York, NY– Juan Manuel Lopez, 125.5, Caguas, Puerto Rico TKO 7 Steven Luevano, 126, La Puente, CA. (WBO 126 lb. title) Lopez (28-0, 25 KOs) was aggressive from the start as Luevano (37-2-1, 15 KOs) was content to box from the outside. The bout turned for Lopez in the third after he hurt Luevano in the middle of the ring. With his wife sitting ringside, Leuvano fought timidly afterward as Lopez pursued effectively. A right uppercut from Lopez hurt the former champion in round seven, a follow up flurry sent Luevano to the canvas prompting referee Benji Estevez to stop the fight at the 44 second mark.
YURI STAMPS OUT FORMER LOPEZ FOE!
Yuriokis Gamboa, 126, Miami, FL. TKO 2 Rogers Mtagwa, 122.5, Philadelphia, PA. (WBA 126 lb. title) Gamboa (17-0, 15 KOs) takes out an unusually fragile Mtagwa (26-14-2, 18 KOs). The victim of a knockdown late in the opening round, Mtagwa wasn’t allowed to recover and the end came at 2:35 of #2. Seeing Juan Manuel Lopez “struggled” with Rogers last time out, Yuri dominates him. Is this a barometer indicating Yuri is better than Juan Ma?
UNWILLING DUDDY GETS YET ANOTHER “WORK” FIGHT
John Duddy, 160.5, New York, NY. TKO 1 Juan Astorga, 155.5, TX. Duddy (28-1, 18 KOs) runs over an inept Astorga (14-4-1, 9 KOs) in 1:55. If it was anybody other than the Irish hope, it would be time to step up. But this is John Duddy!
WEIGHT WOES HURT VILORIA
Manila, Philippines– Carlos Tamara, 108, North Bergen, NJ. TKO 12 Brian Viloria, 108, Waipahu, Hawaii (IBF 108 lb. title) Unknown mandatory challenger Tamara (21-4, 15 KOs) “shocked the world” by dethroning highly regarded champion Viloria (26-3, 15 KOs). Viloria stepped up his attack with heavy body shots in the fourth round and dominated thru the 8th, a big round for Viloria. The bout began to turn when Tamara began to rally in rounds nine and ten. In the next round an obviously fatigued Viloria got rocked. Tamara continued to pummel Viloria into the 12th until the defenseless ex-champion was saved at 1:45 of the round. After collapsing in his dressing room, Viloria was listed in stable condition in the hospital.
OTHER PINOYS DID WELL!
Donnie Nietes, Negros Occidental, Philippines TKO 10 Jesus Silvestre, Nayarit, Mexico. WBO champion Nietes (26-1-3, 15 KOs) took out late unrated sub Silvestre (15-2, 12 KOs) in a dominant opening round flooring him in the process. The non-title fight (because of Silvestre’s rating) was called at 1:37 when Silvestre spent too much time in his corner getting his mouthpiece replaced.
Jimrex Jaca, Cebu, Philippines KO 5 Ramadhan Weriu, Merauke City, Indonesia. Lightweight Jaca (29-6-3, 14 KOs) showed little if any rust after a 15 month layoff, knocking out the outclassed Weriu (13-3-1, 12 KOs) impressively in the fifth round. A huge uppercut followed by a combination finished matters at 2:58.
Edwin Ayala