By Cliff Rold (photo by Chris Farina/Top Rank)
Officially his fourth fight on U.S. soil, Venezuela’s 27-year old Edwin Valero (25-0, 25 KO) made the most of what was his true debut on American soil after years of waiting and fan anticipation, obliterating 39-year old the Colombian born Mexico resident Antonio Pitalua (46-4, 40 KO) in only the second round to capture the vacant WBC Lightweight belt on Saturday night at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas.
Pitalua was supposed to be a serious test for Valero, entering the bout off of a career best knockout win over former World title challenger Jose Armando Santa Cruz in 2008, but Valero’s power was everything it was advertised to be. With the win, Valero adds a second title belt to his collection, having previously held the WBA crown at Jr. Lightweight.
More importantly, Valero emerges as a tantalizing threat to reigning lineal World Lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KO).
Valero entered the bout just below the division limit at 134 ½ lbs., Pitalua on the mark at 135.
Pitalua began at a distance, wary of the vaunted southpaw power of Valero but tasting it anyways in the form of a long left to the body. His chin dangerously high in the air, Valero’s lunging straight shots kept the veteran from getting anything serious off. A low punch rate from both men brought boos from the crowd until Pitalua’s right forearm swung across the face of Valero to bring a whoop from the stands.
It was no forearm landing for Valero to start the second and the crowd never had a chance to anything but shout in awe. A blinding right hand was followed by a missing straight left before a crushing right hook raked the jaw of Pitalua and melted him into the floor only seven seconds into the round. Pitalua got up on shaky legs and fell face first into the ropes before pushing himself erect into the corner as referee Laurence Cole gave him a mandatory eight. Pitalua stumbled forward nodding his okay to continue and Valero charged in with a flurry of bad intentions, repeatedly blasting lefts into the face of Pitalua until the Colombian collapsed to his right knee.
Bouncing up right away, Pitalua motioned as if to say he’d slipped but Cole counted to eight again. Pitalua would survive for only a few more ticks. Valero stepped in with wildly pumping fists, teeing off with the left before a right hook and final left on the ropes sent Pitalua sprawling face first into the arms of a waving Cole who signaled the bout closed at :49 of round two.
Valero looked as intense after the fight as he had during. “I really demonstrated there is a lot of power in my hands. I said in the press conference, as soon as he made a mistake I can land one big punch and he would go. And not only him but anybody.” Asked if that meant he could perform the same against the elite stars around his weight, Valero responded, “If I connect the punch, it’s going to be the exact same result all the time, any time.”
Valero made clear he’s ready for a shot at the division’s World Champion, Marquez, but indicated it wasn’t up to him alone. “If it was up to me, yes, I would do it but it’s really not. It’s up to (promoters) Bob Arum and Golden Boy to see whether they can make it happen.” Valero also answered positively when asked if he’d like a crack at the winner of May’s World Jr. Welterweight title bout between champion Ricky Hatton and the consensus pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao.
Of course he would. Considering the money either man brings, who wouldn’t? Beginning Saturday, U.S. fans are being provided reasons to want to pay to see it. Valero had previously been unable to fight in the U.S. after a 2004 MRI showed brain irregularities as the result of a severe motorcycle accident in 2001 which resulted in a skull fracture and surgery to remove a blood clot. It remains unknown how many states in the U.S. will license Valero going forward but he will at least have a fistic home in Texas.
A Mexican born Austin resident, and 36-year old former 130 and 135 lb. titlist, Jesus Chavez (44-5, 30 KO), 136, entered Saturday’s chief support bout with the hometown and experience edge. What he lacked in the end were the legs and firepower to prevent the prevailing of youth as 28-year old Australian Michael Katsidis (25-2, 21 KO), 135, rebounded from some tough early rounds to overwhelm the veteran in seven.
The first round found the local hero playing the aggressor, jabbing and winging to the body while Katsidis often covered up and looked for counters. Katsidis showed more fire at the start of the second, chopping with a right while Chavez responded with a left. At the halfway mark, they exchanged big shots again, Chavez nailing Katsidis with a right and Katsidis leveling a pair of left hands. Chavez countered a job with a quick right and absorbed a right and left near the ropes while looking for the ribs of Katsidis.
In the third, it was Katsidis coming forward and Chavez was fine with it. Using an assortment of jabs, uppercuts and body blows, Chavez controlled the bulling Katsidis for most of the round and scuffed the skin beneath the younger man’s left eye. Katsidis would have his moments, most notably a crackling left hook while Chavez lay against the ropes in the final ten seconds. Chavez responded with an overhand right. Chavez continued to outbox Katsidis in the first two minutes of the fifth but the Australian was relentless. An accidental headbutt opened a cut on the hairline of Chavez with a minute to go and Katsidis stepped on the gas at the sight of blood, finding a home for his hooks in the final minute and driving Chavez to the ropes with a left and right in the final seconds.
Chavez answered the sight of his blood with two crowd pleasing rights hands at the start of the fifth but Katsidis shook them off and landed a mean left hook and right hand shortly after. A jab and right hand from Katsidis, followed by a learned shoulder, pushed Chavez to the ropes but the veteran worked off. Blood streaming down his forehead, Katsidis used his jab to pin Chavez and land a series of rights before a left and a left right closed the frame.
Katsidis continued to work the right in the sixth, snapping shots to the head and body as the first minute unfolded. A short left hooked chopped away inside and Chavez held on before using a quick break to relodge a forgotten mouthpiece to attempt to relocate his jab. Chavez, appearing arm weary, increasingly missed the mark with wide shots while Katsidis popped him with short power shots inside, forward momentum behind them all.
Chavez slapped with a lead right to initiate the seventh, then landed a hard version of the blow, before a Katsidis left put him back on the defense. As the seconds ticked by, Chavez increasingly replaced with punches with clinches as Katsidis alternately fired power shots and bumped him with the shoulder. With blood still flowing from Chavez’s head, the Katsidis right continued to rain home and, after eating a left hook and final right at the bell, Chavez waved his hand with a look of discouragement and defeat on his face. Never sitting down in the corner, Chavez shook his head, the corner informing referee John Schorle that Chavez’s night was over, Katsidis awarded a seventh round stoppage.
The local fans booed the outcome and decision not to continue but had seen a quality contest and ultimately cheered Chavez when he rose from the corner to wave at them. Katsidis leaves with a much needed second consecutive victory after having lost twice in 2008 to former Lightweight champions Joel Casamayor and Juan Diaz.
It would not the only crossroads thriller on the night.
In a tribute to the sort of gutsy warrior he’s been for a career, 38-year old former IBF 130 lb. titlist Carlos Hernandez (43-8-1, 24 KO), 135 3/4, of West Covina, California, pushed 27-year old 2004 U.S. Olympian Vicente Escobedo (20-1, 12 KO), 134 ¼, to the limit for ten thrilling rounds. That he fell just short in the scoring did nothing to diminish a courageous, educating performance which will serve Escobedo well as his career continues.
The bout began with the younger Escobedo circling and jabbing while the veteran pressured, bulling forward from a crouch. Escobedo took advantage of Hernandez’s aggression in the final twenty seconds, coming off the ropes with a right hand to send Hernandez to the floor. Hernandez rose as referee Ruben Carrion counted out the mandatory eight and the bell sent him to the corner.
The right would pay dividends again as the second round reached a minute passed and while Hernandez rose again, there was no bell to relieve him. Escobedo let loose with more right hands, backing Hernandez to the ropes. The elder man covered up and moved the fight back to mid-ring but with 45 seconds to go nearly dropped again when a short right uppercut sent him stumbling into the chest of Escobedo. Escobedo closed the round with a booming left, then a right and another left, to buckle Hernandez again.
Hernandez came out fast to start the third, rushing Escobedo towards the ropes only to eat a counter left hook. Hernandez would take another left before nailing Escobedo with a pair of echoing body shots. Still in close quarters, an accidental elbow from Escobedo drew blood from Hernandez’s left eye and the crimson raised Hernandez’s spirit. A massive left hook at the midway point drove Escobedo to the ropes and Hernandez sent another left to the ribs for good measure. A right uppercut exploded next and the younger man was suddenly reaching out to clinch. Hernandez stayed to the body and head with hooks while Escobedo searched for his legs, pulling his hands in high and tight. It paid off for fighter and fans as the final twenty second saw both men plant and land hard hooks.
They continued to fire hard hooks at the bell for the fourth as the crowd sounded it encouragement and over it, and the fifth, Escobedo sought to rearrange the geography of the bout, jabbing and seeking room while Hernandez patiently stalked, letting his hands go in calculated spurts.
Escobedo returned to the trenches fully in the sixth, squatting and hooking with Hernandez. It was a tactic which set him up for a bad turn on the scorecards. Stepping on Escobedo’s right foot, Hernandez landed a right hook to the ribs and Escobedo fell backwards into the ropes for what was ruled a knockdown. Escobedo argued the call to no avail but fought well when the action resumed, nailing Hernandez with a hard right seconds before the bell.
Moving and looking for counters at the bell for seven, Escobedo scored with a whipping right and landed a pair of left hooks about a minute in. A left from Hernandez rocked Escobedo near the ropes and Escobedo clinched before letting a long right go. A short right uppercut caught Hernandez coming forward and the punch landed twice more as Hernandez’s right and left eyes increasingly swelled and his posture showed the slack of fatigue. Whenever close, Hernandez continued to shoot to the body but the earlier authority they’d held seemed dissipated.
The frequent punishment of the late seventh round mounted in the eighth. Escobedo’s left hook and right hand jarred Hernandez over and over, leaving the former titlist backing up for the first time, his footwork a prayer for Escobedo to walk into a fight changing counter Escobedo’s feet didn’t take him towards.
Between the eighth and ninth, the ring doctor visited the corner of Hernandez but allowed him to continue. Hernandez showed the fighting heart beneath his swollen features early in the ninth, dropping his head and landing a left hook in the first minute of the frame. Escobedo took the shot and boxed from the outside, drawing blood from Hernandez’s nose and deepening the purple beneath Hernandez’s right eye. The final ten seconds saw Hernandez take a left and right hook in succession.
A respectful hand tap at mid-ring to start the tenth and final round instead became a hug between two warriors, a respectful gesture followed by a final three minutes of attempts to bludgeon. Hernandez scored with a big right in the first minute and then two lefts before the round was half over, everything he had laid out in pursuit of victory. Another pair of jolting hooks got Escobedo’s attention and then it was the younger man letting both hands go, driving Hernandez backwards and towards the corner. They finished the fight with arms flailing and the fans on their feet, neither man succumbing to the other as the final bell rang and both raised their arms in victory.
In the end, it would be Escobedo whose triumphant pose proved correct as unanimous scores were awarded to him at 96-91, 94-93, and 95-91. The crowd booed, as they often do, in favor of an underdog who fell just short.
The televised portion of the show began, in a contest between Southern California staples, with an upset which might herald a career end for the defeated and a long awaited first title shot for the victor. 29-year old two-time former IBF Lightweight titlist Julio Diaz (36-5, 36 KO), 136 ½, of Coachella, suffered the fourth stoppage of his career, and second in his last four bouts, at the hands of 30-year old Rolando Reyes (31-4-2, 20 KO), 135 ½, of Oxnard. Adding to the surprising result, Reyes was in the ring as a late replacement for the training injured former World Lightweight Champion Joel Casamayor.
The boo birds were out early in the first as the bout got off to a slow start but a Reyes one-two combination brought some brief life to the masses. The methodical pace, with Reyes continually backing to the ropes as Diaz jabbed, settled back in almost immediately. Little changed in the second round as both fighters stayed at range, probing with left jabs and finding few opportunities for big contact.
The third and fourth rounds continued at a contained pace, and the crowd continued to boo, as Reyes looked for the right hand and Diaz increasingly scoring with fluid combinations to the body off his quick left jab. In the fifth, Reyes would make a deciding adjustment.
In the fifth, Reyes began finding a home for his left hook at the end of flurries and as the punch found its mark more often, so too did the right. At the halfway mark, fighting off the ropes, Reyes shot an uppercut which was blocked but followed with a left hook and Diaz stepped straight back with his hands too low. Another right uppercut crashed into the cheek of Diaz and the former titlist’s legs looked gone. Another right struck and Diaz reached out to clinch but Reyes spun out of his arms, landing one more right and then a jarring left to send Diaz into the ropes and onto the floor.
Diaz rose as the referee led Reyes to the neutral corner and returned to toll out the count beginning at six. The mandatory eight concluded and Diaz nodded his readiness to continue. Reyes pounced with fury, unleashing a long right which just missed and then slamming a right uppercut to the chin. A wild flurry of shots sailed around the head and body of Diaz missing the mark before a massive right sent Diaz into the ropes. A final right hand and left hook sent Diaz to all fours on the mat as referee Gregorio Alvarez waved the bout over at 2:17 of round five.
Reyes, who sounded almost choked up, reflected with pride on the biggest of five straight victories since a 2006 decision loss to former World Lightweight champion Jose Luis Castillo. “I came ready to give it all I got. The first couple rounds I was studying him, seeing what he had that I didn’t know of before. In the fifth round, my trainer told me, ‘You know what. You came here to fight. Let’s do it already,’ and that’s what I went out to do in the fifth round.” Asked about the future, Reyes stated he felt ready for anyone and hoped for a title shot. He made a heck of a case for one on Saturday. Diaz had entered the bout rated near the top of the IBF ratings, a title currently vacant at 135 lbs.
The card was televised as an independent pay-per-view by Golden Boy Promotions in concert with HBO.
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
