borikua
01-30-2005, 01:38 PM
While American fans witnessed a great card in Gatti/Leija and Ouma/Jantuah, Puerto Rico saw one hell of battle between arch rivals WBO Junior Flyweight champion Nelson "El Fueguete" Dieppa and challenger Alex "El Nene" Sanchez fought in nothing short of an explosive toe-to-toe war. Dieppa ultimately landed his equalizer right hand and ended the challenge 2:15 of the 11th round. So brutal was the knockout punch that Sanchez was laid out motionless for over 10 minutes and had to carried out on a stretcher with a local hospital being his next destination.
It was expected to be a war but it turned out to be no less than that as both men pounded each other with hard shots in the early going, but it was Dieppa who clearly had the edge in power and showed it in the fourth and fifth rounds. The WBO monarch bludgeoned his challenger who appeared to be on his way out but survived both rounds on sheer will power.
However Sanchez dug deep and amazingly took control of the fight between the sixth to ninth rounds, showing incredible resiliency and courage. Sanchez used great movement an educated jab followed by solid combinations to halt the champion's assault and appeared to have gotten his second wind.
It was turning around very nicely for "El Nene" until after a heated tenth round, Dieppa landed a crushing right that had "good night" written all over it, and so it was as Sanchez went down hard for what may well be the final time in his career as he could not respond for up to ten minutes after the conclusion.
The champion know 22-1-2 has thrown down the gauntlet to current 105Lbs champion Ivan "Iron Boy" Calderon should he decide to venture to his neck o the woods anytime soon otherwise he is looking to fulfill his mandatory against Hugo Cazares. For Alex Sanchez tonight's devastating loss should signal the end of his career.
On the under card Eric Morel put on a clinic and shut out game Mexican Juan Alfonso Keb Baas by unanimous decision with scores of 119-109, 119-109 y 119-110. It was all Morel from bell to bell as the Aztec could not overcome the cagey former world champion. Morel now looks towards a world title shot.
The fans were clearly looking for a head to head clash but the slower pace of the bout prompted some to boo repeatedly, however neither Morel or his opponent indulged the crowd and instead stuck to their respective game plans.
In a show of deadly force Jose Cotto (25-0, 17ko's) used his moneymaker right to knock out Panamanian Armando C��va with 1:27 remaining on the clock in round one. Cotto was calm and collected as he prodded hiss opponent. However as soon as he got his opportunity he took it and ended the fight. With the win Cotto improves his standing among his peers and looks to WBO champion "Mighty" Mike Achondo.
It was expected to be a war but it turned out to be no less than that as both men pounded each other with hard shots in the early going, but it was Dieppa who clearly had the edge in power and showed it in the fourth and fifth rounds. The WBO monarch bludgeoned his challenger who appeared to be on his way out but survived both rounds on sheer will power.
However Sanchez dug deep and amazingly took control of the fight between the sixth to ninth rounds, showing incredible resiliency and courage. Sanchez used great movement an educated jab followed by solid combinations to halt the champion's assault and appeared to have gotten his second wind.
It was turning around very nicely for "El Nene" until after a heated tenth round, Dieppa landed a crushing right that had "good night" written all over it, and so it was as Sanchez went down hard for what may well be the final time in his career as he could not respond for up to ten minutes after the conclusion.
The champion know 22-1-2 has thrown down the gauntlet to current 105Lbs champion Ivan "Iron Boy" Calderon should he decide to venture to his neck o the woods anytime soon otherwise he is looking to fulfill his mandatory against Hugo Cazares. For Alex Sanchez tonight's devastating loss should signal the end of his career.
On the under card Eric Morel put on a clinic and shut out game Mexican Juan Alfonso Keb Baas by unanimous decision with scores of 119-109, 119-109 y 119-110. It was all Morel from bell to bell as the Aztec could not overcome the cagey former world champion. Morel now looks towards a world title shot.
The fans were clearly looking for a head to head clash but the slower pace of the bout prompted some to boo repeatedly, however neither Morel or his opponent indulged the crowd and instead stuck to their respective game plans.
In a show of deadly force Jose Cotto (25-0, 17ko's) used his moneymaker right to knock out Panamanian Armando C��va with 1:27 remaining on the clock in round one. Cotto was calm and collected as he prodded hiss opponent. However as soon as he got his opportunity he took it and ended the fight. With the win Cotto improves his standing among his peers and looks to WBO champion "Mighty" Mike Achondo.