By Jake Donovan (photo by Chris Farina)
Hard work pays off.
It’s the lesson we’re always taught in life, and one that came as part of the sales pitch in claiming Urbano Antillon as one of the sport’s future stars.
The Mexican-born lightweight contender still boasts that potential, but the coronation will have to wait a little while longer, thanks to a shocking upset and highlight reel 9th round knockout suffered at the hands of Miguel Acosta on Saturday evening at the Grand Mayan in Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit, Mexico.
The bout served as the makeshift co-main event for the Latin Fury 10 pay-per-view telecast. It was originally to be headlined by Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, who pulled out of the show last week after citing a rib injury reportedly suffered in training camp.
Acosta, 133, Caracas, Venezuela, offered lateral movement in the early going, expressing little interest in engaging in any exchanges with the fire breathing Antillon, who remained on the hunt for much of the opening round.
Antillon, 135, Maywood, Calif., began to close the gap in round two, connecting with several body shots in the first half of the round. Acosta always managed to jab his way out of trouble, at which point he would immediately jump on his bicycle and circle to Antillon’s left.
The hunter versus the prey routine continued in the third, although Acosta’s movement proved to be less and less effective with each passing round. There are few in the sport better than Antillon when it comes to cutting off the ring, a trait that served him well in the third, often pinning Acosta along the ropes, landing right hands upstairs in addition to a ferocious body attack.
Moving to Antillon’s left wasn’t quite working out, so Acosta began circling in the opposite direction in the fourth. It was effective from a defensive standpoint, but did little to discourage Antillon from stalking and throwing.
Body shots were eventually taking their toll on Acosta, who was hurt and nearly dropped at rounds end and refused to sit on his stool in between rounds. His corner gave him a pep talk, insisting that he was winning and urging the Venezuelan not to throw away the fight.
It apparently took, as Acosta came out far more purposeful in the fifth. A right hand turned the tide midway through the round, at which point Acosta let his hands go while Antillon momentarily stopped punching. The Mexican rode out the storm and throwing back with mean intentions late in the round.
The brief momentum shift was enough to spook head trainer Rudy Hernandez, who told Antillon he was possibly down on the cards and needed to immediately turn things around.
Action slowed in the sixth, as Acosta jabbed from the outside while Antillon looked less like a stalker and more like a plodder, offering next to nothing in return. The crowd didn’t quite like what they were seeing but still found the energy to urge on their countryman, offering chants of “Me-Xi-Co,” though to no avail.
Things began to go from bad to worse for Antillon, who looked frustrated in receiving a low-blow warning from referee Russell Mora. Acosta’s confidence increased, moving gracefully around the ring and landing with fluidity whenever he decided to dart inside.
Antillon landed a right hand late in the round, but was immediately countered with a three punch combo. Another right hand appeared to produce the first knockdown of the fight, as Acosta stumbled to the canvas, but was instead ruled a push, with replays indicating Antillon extended his right hand on Acosta’s chest to produce the fall.
With the fight slipping away, Antillon ramped up his attack in the eighth. Not much was landing, but his ability to close the gap caused Acosta to clinch too frequently for the referee’s liking, who offered two separate warnings and threatened to begin taking points. Acosta responded by jumping on his bike, at least when he wasn’t slipping to the canvas, which also seemed to occur far too often.
What appeared to be a pivotal round instead became a mirage of the worst kind.
Antillon went on the attack in the ninth, but Acosta discovered his second wind at the most opportune time. Planting his feet and standing his ground, Acosta withstood Antillon’s best, and made him pay big time. A perfectly timed right uppercut caught Antillon coming in, sending the Mexican reeling to the canvas.
Antillon arose at the count of nine, but was clearly out on his feet. This much was recognized by referee Russell Mora, who waved off the fight without another punch being thrown.
The official time was 1:47 of round nine.
Acosta racks up his 17th consecutive win, though certainly none bigger than this one. He improves to 26-3-2 (20KO), and did so by riding out the storm and carrying out his corner’s instructions.
“I knew that I had to do my job,” said Acosta, who picks up an interim version of the lightweight title presently held by lineal champion Juan Manuel Marquez. “My corner kept telling me to just box him, he’ll come to me and I’ll eventually get in my shot. I didn’t know if it would eventually happen, but I kept listening to my corner, but I got my shot and the knockout win.”
The shot produced an instant entry for Upset and Knockout of the Year contention come year-end awards time. Given their respective knockout percentages, an early exit wasn’t very shocking. The final result was, and none stunned more so than Antillon.
“He caught me with a punch that I’ve never seen,” insisted Antillon, who loses for the first time as a pro in falling to 26-1 (19KO). “I thought I was alright to continue, but the referee chose otherwise. He did his job, unfortunately we couldn’t do ours any longer in the fight.”
There’s no question that Antillon will get a chance to once again do his job. Few in the business do it with as much passion, or as much class, as exuded in the gratitude extended towards his opponent.
“There’s no excuses, he had the same drive,” said Antillon in response to a softball question tossed by Bernardo Osuna in citing a reportedly difficult trek from California to the Mexican resort town.
“(Acosta) came out and he did his job.”
And in a rare instance, he did it better than one of the hardest workers in the sport.
UNDERCARD
Giovanni Segura made the first defense of his alphabet junior flyweight belt with a punishing sixth-round stoppage of late sub Juanito Rubillar.
A typical free-swinging knockout artist, Segura took a couple of rounds to settle down, sacrificing way too much defense in pursuit of a knockout. He successfully closed the gap in round three, and the fight never swung back in Rubillar’s favor.
Two-way action was offered in the sixth, but it proved to be Rubillar’s last stand. A follow up attack by Segura prompted Rubillar’s corner to throw in the towel at 2:04 of the sixth round.
Segura improves to 21-1-1 (17KO). Rubillar drops to 46-13-7 (22KO). The Filipino southpaw took the fight on less than 48 hours notice after countryman Sonny Boy Jaro was scratched due to visa issues. It took two tries for Rubillar to make the 108 lb. limit.
Alberto “El Topo” Rosas posted his best win in more than five years with a punishing ten-round decision win over Alejandro Martinez in their televised flyweight bout.
Scores were 99-92, 99-91 and an odd 100-87, despite no knockdowns being scored.
Rosas dominated the night save for a brief stretch in the middle rounds when Martinez remembered to box. Most of the night was spent with the more experienced Rosas (now 30-5, 25KO) bullying the untested Martinez (16-2-1, 11KO), including a punishing attack over the final two rounds.
A far more competitive bout was to be found in the televised opener, even if not reflected on the scorecards, as undefeated super flyweight contender Hernan “Tyson” Marquez took a 10-round decision over former title challenger Juan Esquer.
Scores of 98-92, 99-91 and 100-91 were accurate, though Esquer (25-6-1, 19KO) was competitive in nearly every round. Marquez (25-0, 18KO) was forced to fight three minutes of every round, and survived a brief scare in the seventh round to ultimately prevail in an entertaining bout.
Off television, former heavyweight titlist Samuel Peter (31-3, 24KO) delivered one of his best performances in years with a third-round knockout of Marcus McGee (22-17, 11KO).
Peter, whose weight of 243 lb. matched the lowest he’s weighed in eight years, scored three knockdowns to score the stoppage win, the fight-ending sequence courtesy of a left hand that put McGee flat on his back.
The win halts a two-fight losing streak in what served as Peter’s debut with promoter Top Rank.
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.
