By Jake Donovan
Jose Nieves capped a memorable season of ‘Boxeo Telemundo’ with a highlight reel second round knockout of Glenn ‘The Rock’ Porras.
Consecutive right hooks sent Porras down and out early in the second round of their main event Friday evening at the Kissimmme Civic Center in Kissimmee, Florida.
Nieves set the tone early, flooring Porras – ironically nicknamed ‘The Rock’ – barely a minute into the contest, courtesy of a right hook to the temple. Porras immediately rose to his feet, more embarrassed than hurt as he attempted to box his way back into the fight.
He would fail.
Round two was barely underway when Nieves went back on the attack. The streaking Puerto Rican cut off the ring and cornered his fellow southpaw, scoring with a right hook upstairs. Sensing he was hurt, Nieves planted his feet and followed up with another right hook. The shot whistled through the air and crashed down on Porras’ unprotected chin, dropping the Filipino to his knees.
The referee issued a count before waving off the fight as Porras was clearly in no condition to continue.
The official time was 0:42 of round two.
Nieves picks up his fourth straight win as he improves to (21-2-3, 10KO). All four wins have come at this very venue and on this series, both serving as his good luck charm following a setback knockout loss to Chris Avalos nearly three years ago.
Porras heads home with his 15-fight win streak snapped as he falls to 28-4 (17KO). The bout was his third straight in the United States after having fought almost exclusively in the Philippines.
The televised co-feature saw Yordenis Ugas continue to rebound from the lone loss of his career suffered earlier this year. The thickly sculpted Cuban pounded out a unanimous decision over Cosme 'Chino' Rivera.
Scores were 97-93 (twice) and 98-92 for Ugas in a super lightweight bout that was downgraded from 12 rounds to ten.
Ugas briefly had Rivera in trouble early on, connecting with a straight right to rock the Mexican veteran towards the end of the third round. It was the closest either fighter came to a knockout, as Rivera made Ugas work every step of the day, despite the accurate one-sided scoring.
The win is Ugas' second straight as he improves to 13-1 (6KO). The (reportedly) 26-year old suffered an upset points loss to Juan Garcia earlier this year on Showtime.
Rivera appears to have hit the end of the road at age 36. The longtime gatekeeper looked old and slow for most of the fight, though some will argue it's how he's always looked dating back to his title fight knockout loss to Zab Judah nearly eight years ago.
Still, the Mexican brawler looked nothing like the fighter looked nothing like the fighter who has compiled a five-fight unbeaten streak over the past two years. Two of the fights came against fellow aged veteran Antonio Pitalua, who announced his retirement last week following a competitive points loss to Pablo Munguia.
Rivera might be best served to follow his ring rival out the door, as he falls to 35-15-3 (24KO).
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