By Cliff Rold
The fans in house at the Wicomico Civic Center in Salisbury, Maryland as well as those watching the ShoBox telecast were treated to a pair of excellent showdowns between up and coming undefeated fighters on Friday night. In a punishing main event, 20-year old Welterweight James De La Rosa (17-0, 12 KO) of Harlingen, Texas kept his record intact with a narrow unanimous decision win over 24-year old Tim Coleman (14-1, 3 KO) of Baltimore, Maryland.
Both men weighed in near the Welterweight limit, Coleman firm at the 147 lb. line and De La Rosa two pounds over a t 149.
Coleman seized the advantage early with superior speed and timing, a right hand ratcheting off the head of De La Rosa. De La Rosa returned fire later in the round with a clean left hook. Regularly working behind the jab, the 5’7 Coleman coolly outboxed the three inches taller man to capture the first frame.
There was less technical Boxing early in round two as each man settled to trade on the inside. Coleman landed the cleaner blows, slashing with rights and lefts to the gut and landing flush rights over the top. De La Rosa landed well in spots as well, connecting with more lefts hooks and closing in the final thirty seconds with a flurry of blows downstairs and lefts to the chin.
The vicious infighting continued through the third and fourth, neither man giving quarter as the tide of the bout subtly shifted back and forth from Coleman to De La Rosa. A short shoving match between the two rounds presented a sign of the terse battle unfolding. De La Rosa’s increased work to the body began backing Coleman up in round four and by the fifth Coleman was pressed to the ropes for much of the frame. The left hook upstairs landed more frequently as the body punishment multiplied and round five closed with Coleman’s legs briefly unsteady as he backed away along the ropes to weather what was becoming a storm.
A long right hand a minute into the sixth sent sweat flying from the head of Coleman but the home state local shortly after found his footing to mount an offensive comeback. De La Rosa suddenly was being forced to step back again, Coleman landing hard to the body and mixing in some snapping right hands. De La Rosa planted hard in the closing seconds with a hard left hook and digging body blows to make it anyone’s round.
Back to the phone booth they went in round seven and at the halfway point two echoing right hand bombs by Coleman brought affection from the paying mass. De La Rosa responded inside the final minute with a harsh right to the body and an exchange of blows finished with another rash right from Coleman. Each man landed their best punch, Coleman a right and De La Rosa a left, to close another grueling three minutes.
Coleman, who throughout the bout switched back and forth between southpaw and orthodox stances, missed a wild lead hook early in round eight before circling the ring and calming the torrid pace momentarily. It did not remain that way. Just past the middle point, the sound of leather connecting increased its repetition once again, Coleman landing the right upstairs and De La Rosa connecting with a damaging left to the body. Coleman tossed a right-left to close the round but both blows were blocked by De La Rosa’s gloves and the Texan stuck out his tongue in mockery.
The wearing nature of the bout again meant a slower start in round nine but the action remained ample as De La Rosa had one of his better rounds of the bout. A long right hand in the final minute opened up a round affirming offensive with De La Rosa pinning Coleman to the ropes, going downstairs with both hands and using his jab upstairs to keep Coleman pinned down.
The final round saw the customary touching of gloves began the tenth and final frame as each man avoided that marked much of the bouts earlier rounds. De La Rosa fought tall, working his jab from distance, while Coleman circled and looked for chances to leap in and score with flashy pot shots. In the final thirty seconds, he did just that with a big right and bigger left but De La Rosa appeared to control the bulk of the round on the way to the official scoring.
It would turn out to be enough to win the fight, though for a moment it sounded like it went the other way, literally, as the ring announcer read the scores as unanimously 96-94 across the board before saying “Tim,” prompting celebration in the Coleman corner before his last name was read. The last name never came as the ring announcer quickly adjusted to sound out the name “James De La Rosa.” It was the sort of bout where either name announced would have been fair.
The televised opener also featured a pair of undefeated hopefuls as 21-year old hometown favorite Fernando Guerrero (10-0, 9 KO) heard the judge’s scorecards at the finish of a night for the first time. While he didn’t win a round, 28-year old Tyrone Watson (7-1, 3 KO) of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania showed commendable courage and guile in lasting all of the scheduled eight Middleweight rounds.
Guerrero, 159 ¼, came out the aggressor with Watson, 161 ¾, tentative behind a pawing jab. A southpaw lead right to the body struck for Guerrero near the minute mark but the local favorite seemed comfortable looking to land one at a time. His posture changed in the final thirty seconds with some brief flurries but as the first round closed, it was unclear if the feeling out process was done just yet.
Mere seconds into round two, Guerrero imposed clarity on the question. The rabid crowd thundered to their feet repeatedly as Guerrero applied a steady stream of punishment to the head and body of Watson. Punching through and around the defenses of Watson, and sliding to mix in a triple left hand, Guerrero left his opponent little chance to fire back.
A lead right hook whipped Watson’s head back early in the third but he responded with courage in the face of onslaught. A long right landed for Watson but did nothing to stop Guerrero’s momentum. At the midway point, Guerrero trapped Watson on the ropes and appeared to hurt him with a right but Watson survived and got back to ring center. Watson continued to try and hammer in with his right, but the body work of Guerrero forced him again to the ropes in the closing seconds where a right-left-right combination did damage.
Watson again stood his ground in the fourth, eating a torrent of blows but refusing to submit, firing back and landing with a right hand short on the mustard it needed to turn the tide. While not winning many seconds, much less rounds, Watson was providing Guerrero with valuable rounds, taking him into the fifth for the first time.
With a minute left in that fifth, following a countless assortment of blows, Guerrero landed a counter right hook and again whipped Watson’s head around beginning an assault through the final minute in which Watson finally showed signs the beating was catching up. A volume of blows connected as Guerrero chased him along the ropes. Watson’s legs were rubbery as he headed to the corner.
And yet there he was for round six, meeting Guerrero at ring center and landing a right hand early. Both young men showed fatigue, the pace slowing and clinches employed for deep breaths. Guerrero accelerated again in the final minute, banging with rights and lefts against a proud Watson who didn’t want to go anywhere.
Guerrero did his best in the seventh to try and change his mind. With utter disregard for what Watson was firing back, Guerrero took avoidable right hands while loading up with power shots over and over. As the final round got underway, Guerrero’s perfect knockout percentage, if not his perfect winning percentage, were in jeopardy.
Watson landed two hard right hands in response to some early Guerrero salvos but largely played (standing) heavy bag. The crowd chanting his name, Guerrero emptied his tank in pursuit of a decisive finish. It was just not to be. Two hard lefts in the final thirty seconds did little to change Watson’s sense of gravity and victory came for the first time by long route. The unanimous decision victory was almost an afterthought at 80-71 and 80-72 twice.
The athletic and crowd-friendly Guerrero showed a number of the assets which make him one of Boxing’s most intriguing new prospects while also having exposed some areas for improvement. His failure to stop Watson may well have reflected on inconsistent and sometimes altogether lacking use of the jab. The number of right hands he was open for and the failure to tuck his chin could be harbingers of later difficulty but, only ten fights into his paid tenure in the sweet science, having things to work on isn’t so bad.
The card was televised live on U.S. premium cable outlet Showtime as part of its ShoBox series, promoted by Duva Boxing.
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
