By Joe Harrison
Friday night, at the Aragon Ballroom, 8 Count Productions provided six spectacular fights for boxing fans in Chicago, Illinois.
In the main event, top-ranked super middleweight Librado Andrade (24-0, 18 KOs) only needed one round to completely pulverize Richard Grant (19-14-1, 5 KOs) in the ten-round bout. Andrade was able to dictate the pace of the fight by using his aggression and power to keep Grant at bay. Grant showed a lot of heart, but had very little chance of getting back into the fight. Andrade eventually began connecting power shots to Grants face, causing him to go down. Grant could not beat the count.
In the co-main event, undefeated super bantamweight Abner Mares (9-0, 5 KOs) defeated Kevin Hudgins (5-6, 2 KOs) by an eight-round unanimous decision. In the earlier rounds, Hudgins was being dominated by Mares, taking many punches to the face and body. Halfway through the match, Hudgins did everything he could to fight back and turn things around, but continued to take punishment. Near the end, Mares began to look fatigued as Hudgins appeared to get his second wind and go after Mares. However the damage had been done. All three judges scored it 80-72, in favor of Mares
Earlier in the evening, Tavoris Cloud (12-0, 11 KOs) scored a fourth-round TKO over Tim Shocks (26-24-4, 15 KOs) in an eight-round cruiserweight bout. As Cloud was looking to take care of business, Shocks seemed more interested in taunting his opponent. Cloud had no problem going after Shocks, landing power shots to his head. Shocks went down, and the fight was stopped immediately.
Also, the six-round bout between featherweights Ivan Rodriguez (6-3-1, 3 KOs) and Vineash Rungea (1-2-1, 0 KOs) ended in a draw. Throughout the early rounds, Rungea was able to use his reach to stay away from Rodriguez and score points with his jab. Rodriguez occasionally got inside and was able to connect a few power punches, but still continued to take punishment for his lack of defense. During the fifth and sixth rounds, Rodriguez was able to get inside more and inflict pain upon Rungea, who was no longer able to keep a distance. In the end, the scores read 57-56 for Rungea, 59-55 for Rodriguez, and the third judge scored it 57-57.
To open the evening, light heavyweight Mateusz Masternak (3-0, 3 KOs) scored a first-round TKO over Jason Medina (1-8, 1 KO). The fight started off slowly, with both men feeling each other out. Then Masternak began pounding Medina’s head and body with power punches. It wasn’t long before Medina went down, and the fight was stopped.
In an eight-round super bantamweight match, Jonathon Oquendo (11-0, 6 KOs) earned a unanimous decision over Paulino Villalobos (25-33-2, 16 KOs). Most of the fight consisted of Villalobos charging Oquendo while throwing multiple punches and combinations, but his defense seemed non-existent. Oquendo was able to avoid these charges by moving side to side, connecting majority of the punches. However, Villalobos never gave up, and continued to pursue Oquendo doing everything possible to hurt him, but never succeeded. All three judges saw Oquendo as the winner, 77-74 and 78-74 twice.
