By Cliff Rold
Reliably exciting 27-year old Lightweight Daniel Jimenez (18-3-1, 10 KO), a Puerto Rican residing in the Dominican Republic, put one in the win column after suffering two straight losses, decisioning 27-year old Shamir Reyes (18-6-2, 7 KO) of Brooklyn, New York in ten on Friday night at the Hilton Hotel in Ponce, Puerto Rico.
Jimenez came in just below the 135 lb. Lightweight limit at 134 ¾. Reyes was over at 138 ¼.
Jimenez came out stalking at the opening bell, working the left jab to open opportunities for lead left uppercuts and long right hands. Reyes circles away from Jimenez but ventured perilously close to the ropes, eating a particularly nasty left in the first minute. Reyes offered token offense by way of some wide left hooks to the head and body, but the difference in speed palpable. A Jimenez counter left hook landed in the closing seconds of the first, securing what had been an obvious round in his favor.
Trained by Evangelista Cotto, uncle of Welterweight star Miguel, the corner of Jimenez was subdued and professional en route to the start of the second round. In the first minute, the island nation native continued coming forward, patiently waiting for chances to land big shots and blocking most of Reyes’ incoming. The action would shift as the round wore on, Reyes warming up and beginning to land short, well timed punches from his southpaw stance. Jimenez was landing as well, but Reyes’ shots were cleaner and more eye-catching. A two way exchange was punctuated by a right hook rocked Jimenez’s head backwards in the closing seconds.
Bolstered with the confidence of the previous three minutes, Reyes came out intense to start the third and found success backing Jimenez up behind a double jab and hard right. Just past the midway point, a tactical exchange at mid-ring saw another Reyes right land as well as a Jimenez right uppercut to the body. In the fourth, it was Jimenez who commanded the bulk of the action, shortening the distance between he and Reyes to land short hooks from the left and right side.
The momentum built for the Puerto Rican in the fifth as Reyes exhibited signs of mental and physical fatigue. While not landing singular, knockout inducing punches, Jimenez remained relentless and was building an accumulation of damaging blows. A left hook in the first minute of the sixth shifted the direction of Reyes’ intended movement and a hard right snapped his head back against the ropes. Moving about the ring, Reyes kept things honest with a counter left but a right hand near the temple wobbled his legs.
The advantage remained in the seventh as Jimenez chopped away in search of a possible stoppage. The right hand sent sweat flying from Reyes into the crowd near the ropes; the left hook continued to disrupt his movement. A lead right uppercut underneath forced Reyes to stumble slightly towards the ropes but Jimenez resolved not to chase blindly. The nature of the bout remained all but identical in the eighth as again Reyes took the worst of it while his attempts push the fight in his favor receded further and further away.
In the ninth it was clear that the action was fully devolved into little more than a workout for Jimenez as he followed Reyes around the ring landing one, sometimes two hard shots at a time before resetting as Reyes circled away with increasing speed. A right hook to Reyes’ temple clearly stunned him in the final twenty seconds and he lunged to clinch, finding himself shoved to the floor. Rising and protesting, he returned to action only to be pasted with another right, driven into the corner where perhaps a few more seconds might have brought a real knockdown.
Reyes was rocked with two flush right hands right away in the tenth and final round, a frame whose story was entirely whether or not the New Yorker could survive. Gamely he would do so, mixing in enough movement and clinches to insure he heard the closing bell even if the end was in no doubt.
Official scores confirmed as much, favoring Jimenez at 98-92 and 99-91 twice.
Of note on the undercard was a devastating right hand that provided the cards brightest highlight. Youthful Featherweight Jayson Velez (4-0, 4 KO) of Puerto Rico, 125 ¼, was already having his way with countryman Ray Rivera (1-3-1), also 125 ¼, when a left hand along the ropes detonated Rivera’s already slim-and-none hopes for an upset and brought the bout to a sudden close at 1:02 of round three.
Other Televised Action
Welterweights: Irving Garcia (16-3-3, 8 KO) D TD2 Hector Munoz (18-1-1, 11 KO)
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com