When we talk about the most fun fighters in the sport right now it's hard to argue against anyone who says Leo Santa Cruz (26-0-1, 15) the WBC Super Bantamweight champion. Santa Cruz is usually an offensive machine who brings flat out pressure, relentless work rate and pure excitement. In the first defense of his Super Bantamweight title however Santa Cruz showed a different side to his boxing as he out pointed Puerto Rican Cesar Ceda (25-2, 17) by boxing as opposed to brawling.
The first 4 rounds of the bout so both men boxing. There was no flat out pressure from Leo though there was good boxing from both. Yes Leo was applying some pressure but it was much more controlled pressure than we are used to as he instead chose to fight at mid distance instead of turn the fight into a phone booth war. Through the first 4 it was difficult to separate the two men and scores of 40-36 either way would not have been that wrong.
Unfortunately for Ceda he couldn't even force Santa Cruz backwards. Instead Santa Cruz kept coming forward and landing shots upstairs and downstairs. Ceda, the faster man, was landing his own shots but every shot Santa Cruz landed seemed to be more notable and a lot of Ceda's shots were blocked or just flat out missed. The Puerto Rican was making things interesting but never managed to have the sustained success he needed to win any of the middle rounds.
What made things worse for Ceda was knockdown he had scored against him in round 5 that began Santa Cruz's run through the middle rounds, rounds of which he clearly won.
From round 5, a 10-8, through to round 10 Santa Cruz had piled up the rounds. Ceda had tried to win them but couldn't deliver the punches he needed to win them. It wasn't until round 11 that you could make a case for Ceda having won a round outside of the first 4. By that point, even being generous to Ceda, you had to have him needing a knockdown to get a draw, it was fair however to suggest he would need a knock out.
Ceda gave it a go in round 12 as the action heated up but Ceda simply didn't have the power to ever rocked Santa Cruz.
The fight was competitive but there was only ever 1 winner, this was reflected in the score cards which read 115-112, 116-111 and 117-110, all in favour of Santa Cruz who retained his WBC Super Bantamweight title.
This wasn't a typical Santa Cruz performance but it was still an impressive one and Ceda also covered himself in glory having put on a very competitive performance. Ceda would fit in with many of the top 10 in the division and will come again. He's improved markedly from his fight with Omar Andres Narvaez a few years ago, though will struggle with the real standouts in the division.
Showing posts with label WBC Super Bantamweight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WBC Super Bantamweight. Show all posts
Saturday, 14 December 2013
Saturday, 24 August 2013
Victor Terrazas v Leo Santa Cruz
Fast rising Mexican Leo Santa Cruz (25-1, 15) successfully moved to Super Bantamweight as he dominated fellow Mexican Victor Terrazas (37-3-1, 21) and claimed the WBC Super Bantamweight title in very impressive fashion.
The opening round was incredibly fun as both men went to war from the off and although Terrazas was having success he was taking more than he, himself was landing, and infact the shots he was getting hit with all looked heavier than anything he himself was landing.
If the first round was close the second really wasn't. Again Terrazas tried to be competitive but he simply couldn't stop the onslaught and by the end of the round his right eye was swelling shut from the damage he was being forced to take for all the head shots. Unfortunately for Terrazas he couldn't solely attempt to defend his eye as he was also being cracked to the body by Santa Cruz who was determined to make a big impression.
With Terrazas's eye swelling up he had a massive bullseye, excuse the pun, on his face, a target that Santa Cruz was happy to attack as he again went on the offensive. This time however Santa Cruz was happier to box at mid range using his jab to target the eye.
With hard shots coming in Terrazas went down, looking like a beaten man. Although Terrazas did get to his feet he barely landed another punch before he was down again. Though Terrazas got to his feet for a second time the referee, seeing an almost resigned look on Terrazas face decided to wave the bout off, declaring Santa Cruz the winner via 3rd round TKO.
Santa Cruz did say he'd stick at 122 for a few fights and defend the title though a move to 126 seems almost certain within the next year or two as he hunts down legacy defining fights.
The opening round was incredibly fun as both men went to war from the off and although Terrazas was having success he was taking more than he, himself was landing, and infact the shots he was getting hit with all looked heavier than anything he himself was landing.
If the first round was close the second really wasn't. Again Terrazas tried to be competitive but he simply couldn't stop the onslaught and by the end of the round his right eye was swelling shut from the damage he was being forced to take for all the head shots. Unfortunately for Terrazas he couldn't solely attempt to defend his eye as he was also being cracked to the body by Santa Cruz who was determined to make a big impression.
With Terrazas's eye swelling up he had a massive bullseye, excuse the pun, on his face, a target that Santa Cruz was happy to attack as he again went on the offensive. This time however Santa Cruz was happier to box at mid range using his jab to target the eye.
With hard shots coming in Terrazas went down, looking like a beaten man. Although Terrazas did get to his feet he barely landed another punch before he was down again. Though Terrazas got to his feet for a second time the referee, seeing an almost resigned look on Terrazas face decided to wave the bout off, declaring Santa Cruz the winner via 3rd round TKO.
Santa Cruz did say he'd stick at 122 for a few fights and defend the title though a move to 126 seems almost certain within the next year or two as he hunts down legacy defining fights.
Sunday, 21 April 2013
Victor Terrazas v Cristian Mijares
In an excellent but tragically over-looked bout for the vacant WBC Super Bantamweight title Victor Terrazas (37-2-1, 21) controversially became the new champion out pointing the unfortunate Cristian Mijares (47-7-2, 22) via split decision.
The bout started slowly for Terrazas as the speedy and wonderfully talented Mijares landed his sharp straight shots on his co-challenger. Terrazas tried firing back but unfortunately struggled to land much of note in the opener before starting to warm up and taking possible 3 of the first 6 rounds (which were mostly close). You could easily have made a case for either man to have been in the lead but neither was able to dominate (unless you like to watch fights like Stanley Christodoulou and fill in your card depending on which fighter you like the most).
Mijares then started to turn up the heat and after a close round 7 he appeared to dominate 3 of the final 4 rounds as he went on a very good run including and explosive round 12 (likely spurred on by the WBC open scoring) which saw him relentless attacking Terrazas and actually dropping his fellow Mexican though unfortunately he couldn't quite finish him off.
With the scorecards looking against against Mijares going into the final rounds his rally was exceptional especially considering he's not known as much of a finisher. He was unfortunate that the judges don't tend to really regard his work favourably and this isn't the first time that judging has been called in to question regarding Mijares bouts with the most infamous being a genuine "WTF?" card by Doug Tucker who had Jose Navarro pitching a shut out against him back in 2008.
Hopefully this loss won't be the end for Mijares who proved once again what a wonderful boxer he is despite his somewhat "none Mexican" style. Whilst it may be laughed at a Mijares v Rigondeaux bout could well be one of the best match ups to be made a 122lbs and with Terrazas supposedly facing Vic Darchinyan next it appears that the Super Bantamweight division has gotten 2 good looking bouts from this controversy.
The bout started slowly for Terrazas as the speedy and wonderfully talented Mijares landed his sharp straight shots on his co-challenger. Terrazas tried firing back but unfortunately struggled to land much of note in the opener before starting to warm up and taking possible 3 of the first 6 rounds (which were mostly close). You could easily have made a case for either man to have been in the lead but neither was able to dominate (unless you like to watch fights like Stanley Christodoulou and fill in your card depending on which fighter you like the most).
Mijares then started to turn up the heat and after a close round 7 he appeared to dominate 3 of the final 4 rounds as he went on a very good run including and explosive round 12 (likely spurred on by the WBC open scoring) which saw him relentless attacking Terrazas and actually dropping his fellow Mexican though unfortunately he couldn't quite finish him off.
With the scorecards looking against against Mijares going into the final rounds his rally was exceptional especially considering he's not known as much of a finisher. He was unfortunate that the judges don't tend to really regard his work favourably and this isn't the first time that judging has been called in to question regarding Mijares bouts with the most infamous being a genuine "WTF?" card by Doug Tucker who had Jose Navarro pitching a shut out against him back in 2008.
Hopefully this loss won't be the end for Mijares who proved once again what a wonderful boxer he is despite his somewhat "none Mexican" style. Whilst it may be laughed at a Mijares v Rigondeaux bout could well be one of the best match ups to be made a 122lbs and with Terrazas supposedly facing Vic Darchinyan next it appears that the Super Bantamweight division has gotten 2 good looking bouts from this controversy.
Saturday, 10 November 2012
Abner Mares v Anselmo Moreno
Mexican Abner Mares (25-0-1, 13) successfully retained his WBC Super Bantamweight title via a very controversial decision over Panamanian Anselmo Moreno (33-2-1, 12) with more than a little bit of help from referee Raul Caiz Jr who simply failed to be impartial. In fact it's fair to say that Caiz's job was almost as bad as that of Russell Mora who famously allowed Mares to get away with similar tactics against Joseph Agbeko.
The bout started very slowly with neither man taking control of the action in the opening few rounds. In fact the early rounds were highlighted by the fact that the fight failed to get going as the styles seemed to clash as opposed to gel. Sadly the issues with styles made the first few rounds very difficult to score as neither man really had any notable success.
In round 4 we sadly saw the start of the bouts controversy as Mares landed a very shot and instead of really telling Mares off, the referee decided that Moreno was to blame for the shot. Sadly Mares would land numerous low blows, at least double figures. Sadly it wasn't just the low blows that marred the bout but an awful knockdown call in favour of Mares in round 5, securing Mares a 10-8.
Following the knockdown Mares really started to step up the pressure and unleashing combinations to the body. Although Moreno slipped many of the shots going his way a fair few were landing, in fact Mares was getting more and more success as the bout went on. In round 7 however Caiz verbally warned Mares in fact stating "next time I'm taking a point" after another clear low blow. Sadly all subsequent low blows were ignored by Caiz despite Mares continuing to land them to the final bell on a semi-regular basis. Surprisingly however Caiz was more than happy to deduct a point from Moreno, with out a clear warning for holding the head down in round 10, further throwing coals on to the fire of Caiz being biased.
Mares continued to press the action late in the bout and although all the rounds were close it seemed that Mares had done enough to claim the bout, helped in part to the "knockdown" and deduction against Moreno. It had been close but those points had made things all but certain for Mares.
The scores were read out and unsurprisingly Mares was a winner by unanimous decision with 2 of the cards having the bout close but fair (116-110, 8 rounds to 4) however the final card was simply a joke that matched Caiz's refereeing giving Mares the bout 120-106.
Whilst it's easy to like Mares' style which is all action, it's impossible to like the number of breaks he gets. The fights with Vic Darchinyan, Joseph Agbeko (first fight) and now this one all raise eye brows as to the way they were officiated and scored and Mares may well be getting himself a reputation as one of Golden Boy's "protected" fighters in terms of officiating (though clearly not match making). If Mares gets to face Nonito Donaire, the fighter he called out after the bout, you can bet your bottom dollar that Bob Arum will want to be the promoter.
For Moreno it's likely he'll drop back to Bantamweight where he currently holds the WBA "super" title.
The bout started very slowly with neither man taking control of the action in the opening few rounds. In fact the early rounds were highlighted by the fact that the fight failed to get going as the styles seemed to clash as opposed to gel. Sadly the issues with styles made the first few rounds very difficult to score as neither man really had any notable success.
In round 4 we sadly saw the start of the bouts controversy as Mares landed a very shot and instead of really telling Mares off, the referee decided that Moreno was to blame for the shot. Sadly Mares would land numerous low blows, at least double figures. Sadly it wasn't just the low blows that marred the bout but an awful knockdown call in favour of Mares in round 5, securing Mares a 10-8.
Following the knockdown Mares really started to step up the pressure and unleashing combinations to the body. Although Moreno slipped many of the shots going his way a fair few were landing, in fact Mares was getting more and more success as the bout went on. In round 7 however Caiz verbally warned Mares in fact stating "next time I'm taking a point" after another clear low blow. Sadly all subsequent low blows were ignored by Caiz despite Mares continuing to land them to the final bell on a semi-regular basis. Surprisingly however Caiz was more than happy to deduct a point from Moreno, with out a clear warning for holding the head down in round 10, further throwing coals on to the fire of Caiz being biased.
Mares continued to press the action late in the bout and although all the rounds were close it seemed that Mares had done enough to claim the bout, helped in part to the "knockdown" and deduction against Moreno. It had been close but those points had made things all but certain for Mares.
The scores were read out and unsurprisingly Mares was a winner by unanimous decision with 2 of the cards having the bout close but fair (116-110, 8 rounds to 4) however the final card was simply a joke that matched Caiz's refereeing giving Mares the bout 120-106.
Whilst it's easy to like Mares' style which is all action, it's impossible to like the number of breaks he gets. The fights with Vic Darchinyan, Joseph Agbeko (first fight) and now this one all raise eye brows as to the way they were officiated and scored and Mares may well be getting himself a reputation as one of Golden Boy's "protected" fighters in terms of officiating (though clearly not match making). If Mares gets to face Nonito Donaire, the fighter he called out after the bout, you can bet your bottom dollar that Bob Arum will want to be the promoter.
For Moreno it's likely he'll drop back to Bantamweight where he currently holds the WBA "super" title.
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