We all know that when you pit a top Mexican against a top Puerto Rican you will end up with a fight to remember and that's exactly what we got as Roman Martinez (26-1-1, 16) faced Miguel Beltran Jr (27-2, 17) in a bout for the vacant WBO Super Featherweight title.
The bout started brilliantly with Martinez looking to control the bout behind his powerful straight shots whilst Beltran showed impressive handspeed and combinations rocking Martinez late in the round. Despite the bright start the second round was somewhat more ame as neither man did a great deal, however it was to be the calm before the storm.
Martinez stepped on the gas in round 3 as he started to effectively stalk Beltran and force the Mexican on to the ropes. On the ropes both guys started to mix it up and through the middle rounds the fight just started to get progressively better with the both men hammering away each other other with no respect for the other mans power. The fourth round saw both men rocked to their boots and it seemed almost impossible that the bout was going to go on too long as they teed off on each other in a slug fest.
With the fourth round being amazing the fifth some how got better as the fight became a full on brawl with both men going toe-to-toe in one of the rounds of the year. Despite Beltran being forced on to the ropes for much of the round he was punching off them with great effect landing to both the head and body of Martinez. Martinez however had the biggest success of the round with a nasty cut forming around the left eye of Miguel Beltran, a cut that seemed almost certain to eventually stop the bout.
Despite it seeming ridiculous both men continued at the hectic pace they had set for themselves and both of them refused to slow down as every round become a mini war. Every time one guy was rocked he other came back and shook the other man as they relentlessly battled.
Somehow we'd managed to get into the championship rounds and the pace was just as crazy as it had been in round 5 with neither man showing any signs of fatigue. Sadly it was in round 11 that the fight was effectively decided with Russell Mora taking a point away from Miguel Beltran Jr for leading with his head, this point would sadly decide the outcome of the fight.
Having gone toe-to-toe with each other for 12 none-stop rounds, neither man genuinely deserved to lose however we had a split decision with cards of 116-111 (Beltran) and two of 114-113 (both to Martinez). Sadly the deduction in round 11 cost Beltran a well deserved draw, shame on Russell Mora.
Hopefully, due to the excitement of the bout, we will get a rematch as every fan will be wanting on and I doubt either fighter will complain as they genuinely seemed to enjoy beating the snot out of each other in a real Fight Of The Year Contender. If any fight fans missed this, I advise you to hunt it down immediately!
Showing posts with label Title fight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Title fight. Show all posts
Saturday, 15 September 2012
Sunday, 19 August 2012
Juan Carlos Salgado v Jonathan Victor Barros
In arguably the fight of the weekend Mexico's Juan Carlos Salgado (26-1-1-1, 16) successfully defended his IBF Super Featherweight title in an enthralling battle with Argentina's Jonathan Victor Barros (34-3-1, 18) which saw both men freely landing on the other.
The defending champion got off to a very quick start throwing a huge number of punches in the first few rounds as he attempted to mentally break the challenger. The tough Barros failed to break and in the middle rounds, as Salgado slowed slightly Barros started to get into the bout, using a high guard to protect from Salgado's attack whilst landing his own blows on the inside. Salgado, who looked huge compared to the challenger was still the aggressor and still winning the majority of the rounds, though he was starting to get tagged himself.
It was during those middle rounds that the bout really warmed up and started to live up to expectation as the fighters took it in turns to land combinations on each other as Barros started to bag a round here and there. It was during these rounds that Salgado suffered a nasty looking cut around his left eye that bled through to the end of the fight and left a stream of claret running down the side of his cheek. Whilst the cut never really threatened to end the fight it was nasty and it gave heart to the challenger who seemed to up his own work afterwards.
Despite closing up on the score cards Barros' fate was sealed in round 8 with a point deduction that effectively left him with a lot to do in the last 4 rounds. Though he tried hard the tough Argentinian failed to reel in Salgado over those rounds, actually losing a number of them as the crowd helped carry the champion to the victory with scores of 116-111 (twice) and 115-112, a pretty fair reflection on the competitive nature of the fight which despite having a clear winner was competitive throughout.
The defending champion got off to a very quick start throwing a huge number of punches in the first few rounds as he attempted to mentally break the challenger. The tough Barros failed to break and in the middle rounds, as Salgado slowed slightly Barros started to get into the bout, using a high guard to protect from Salgado's attack whilst landing his own blows on the inside. Salgado, who looked huge compared to the challenger was still the aggressor and still winning the majority of the rounds, though he was starting to get tagged himself.
It was during those middle rounds that the bout really warmed up and started to live up to expectation as the fighters took it in turns to land combinations on each other as Barros started to bag a round here and there. It was during these rounds that Salgado suffered a nasty looking cut around his left eye that bled through to the end of the fight and left a stream of claret running down the side of his cheek. Whilst the cut never really threatened to end the fight it was nasty and it gave heart to the challenger who seemed to up his own work afterwards.
Despite closing up on the score cards Barros' fate was sealed in round 8 with a point deduction that effectively left him with a lot to do in the last 4 rounds. Though he tried hard the tough Argentinian failed to reel in Salgado over those rounds, actually losing a number of them as the crowd helped carry the champion to the victory with scores of 116-111 (twice) and 115-112, a pretty fair reflection on the competitive nature of the fight which despite having a clear winner was competitive throughout.
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