By Jake Donovan

Now that he was able to come home, Giovanni Segura is now fully prepared to clean house.

Fighting in his birth state of Guerrero, Mexico for the first time in his career, the free swinging junior flyweight titlist gave his countryman a homecoming to remember with a vicious three-round assault of Panamanian contender Walter Tello in the main event of Saturday’s show at Discoteca El Alebrije in downtown Acapulco.

Both fighters weighed in at the junior flyweight limit of 108 lb. for their title fight, which aired live on Fox Sports En Espanol.

Segura began the bout fighting the only way he knows how – swinging for the fences with every punch. Tello was far too game for his own good, leading to considerable damaging blows landing early and often.

An uppercut had the Panamanian on rubber legs a minute into the bout, with Segura also scoring with right hooks and overhand rights. Tello somehow managed to gather his faculties well enough to score with a flurry in the final thirty seconds, but only prompting the pro-Segura crowd to rally behind their home state hero with chants of “Gio-vanni!”

Action was fast and furious in the second, with both fighters letting their hands go from the moment they arose from their corner stools. Tello was the busier fighter, but wide with a lot of his punches, allowing Segura to come up the middle with uppercuts and digging body shots.

Tello showed boatloads of heart after twice being out on his feet, courtesy of right hooks. He came back on both occasions, though an untimely commercial just before rounds end denied televised viewers the full effect of his potential comeback.

Whatever Tello offered, it didn’t carry over into the third. Segura went back on the attack, landing at will and leaving Tello to stagger about the ring. The challenger went down twice, but referee Luis Pabon failed to acknowledge either instance as a knockdown.

It wouldn’t matter, as Tello was never going to make it out of the round. Segura kept tossing bombs for as long as his opponent served as an inviting target. Tello’s body finally gave in, as he froze just long enough to prompt the referee to come to his rescue.

The official time was 1:56 of the third round.

Segura improves to 23-1-1 (19KO) with the win, his fourth straight in the span of just under a year. All of his wins among his current streak have come south of the border, though this bout marked his first in his birth state of Guerrero.

Naturally, he would’ve preferred to come home long ago, but is fine with the way things have worked out.

“I had to conquer the American dream,” says Segura, who now lives and trains in California. “Now, I come here and they see me as a world champion. What better dream that I could’ve accomplished than to present this type of fight for my people.”

Tello falls to 14-4 (6KO), with three of his losses having come in his last six bouts. He scores points for bravery, but in the end learned the same painful lesson as nearly every other opponent Segura has faced – standing in the way of that kind of incoming isn’t the best laid plan for success.

“Once you get hit by me, you’re not the same,” vows Segura, though acknowledging that his game can use an extra dimension or two. “I know I have to work on my defense… I need the experience and I’m still working on everything.”

As he continues to work, he continues to win in highlight reel fashion. The win marked his fourth straight knockout since suffering the lone loss of his career at the hands of Cesar Canchilla last summer.

He avenged the loss in his very next fight to both claim the alphabet belt he still carries as well as ignite the current win and knockout streak he’s riding. But it still took for a loss to force him to reload and comeback stronger.

“I had to learn the hard way in losing that fight, but I put my heart out there and came back strong, like the Aztec Warrior that I am.”

He now wants to put that warrior heart to the test against the division’s very best.

“I want (lineal junior flyweight champion) Ivan Calderon. I’m a puncher, and can bring an exciting fight to him. It’s up to him to make the fight; I’m right here holding my ground.”

UNDERCARD

Lightweight contender Urbano Antillon has waited a long time to find his way back to the win column after suffering the first loss of his professional career last July. Once given the opportunity, he wasted no time in announcing his return, making quick work of Luis Arceo in the televised co-feature.

Antillon, who was stopped in nine rounds by Miguel Acosta in his last bout, was in control for the duration of the aborted affair with Arceo. The bout came to a sudden close in the third when a cut suffered by Arceo – caused by a punch – was deemed too severe to continue.

The official time was 2:25 of round three.

Antillon improves to 27-1 (20KO) with the win as he embarks on a run towards a second crack at alphabet glory. Arceo falls to 22-10-2 (15KO).

With plenty of time to spare between the chief support and the main go, a pair of swing bouts was granted airtime. Neither of them lasted very long or were particularly competitive.

Undefeated welterweight prospect Omar Chavez (20-0-1, 15KO) made quick work of local club fighter Eugenio Lopez (12-16-1, 8KO). The younger son of future Hall-of-Famer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. ended matters with a left hook upstairs, at just 1:44 of the opening round. 

Promising 17-year old newcomer Adrian Young (6-0, 6KO) scored his sixth knockout in as many pro fights, stopping local tomato can Orlando Garcia in the third round of their scheduled four-round featherweight bout. Young dominated nearly every second of the fight, putting matters to an end with a right hand that sent Garcia stumbling into the ropes, prompting a stoppage at 2:39 of the third round.

 

The show was presented by Top Rank Inc.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .