Fight of the Year? Segura Unifies in a Jr. Flyweight Classic
By Cliff Rold
In front of Puerto Rican fistic legends Carlos Ortiz, Wilfredo Gomez, and Felix Trinidad, Mexico’s 28-year old WBA Jr. Flyweight titlist Giovanni Segura (25-1-1, 21 KO) of Bell Gardens, California, sent 35-year old Ivan Calderon (34-1-1, 6 KO) a step closer to joining them at ringside on Saturday night at the Coliseo Mario 'Quijote' Morales in Calderon’s hometown of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.
Appearing, if not actually, behind on the cards and occasionally rubber legged from the effort he put forth, Segura turned the tide in round five and closed the show with vicious body work in the eighth to end the reign and undefeated mark of the lineal, Ring Magazine, and WBO Jr. Flyweight champion in what might be the new leader for 2010 Fight of the Year. It was Segura’s sixth consecutive win by stoppage since a lone, and since avenged, decision defeat to Cesar Canchila in 2008.
Calderon came into the bout at 107 lbs., Segura at 107 ¾, in the first Jr. Flyweight unification contest since a 2003 draw between then-WBA titlist Rosendo Alvarez and then-IBF titlist Victor Burgos. The action in the ring for Segura-Calderon was closer, in terms of drama and swings of momentum, to the 1993 Jr. Flyweight unification classic which saw then-IBF titlist Michael Carbajal come off the floor twice to stop then-WBC titlist Humberto Gonzalez.
The suspense of a match between pure boxer and rugged puncher began at the opening bell.
Calderon, four inches shorter at 5’0, began moving backwards as Segura charged to start round one. Holding the right arm of Segura inside, Calderon allowed referee Jose Rivera to call the break and then began to go to work. Flicking his southpaw right jab, Calderon peppered Segura with rights and lead left hooks while slipping away and blocking lead left hooks from Segura. Catching a Segura switching between orthodox and southpaw stance, Calderon rocked his man with thirty seconds to go and applied a few more precise blows before the bell.
Segura was already at mid-ring when the bell clanged to start round two and was heavy to the body of Calderon right away. Calderon used his elbows to stem the flow of hooks to the belly and shot short lefts and rights to the face. A wild power attempt from Calderon gave Segura a chance to land something big but Calderon held on before any damage could be done. As he had been in the first, Segura was warned in the second for punches straying below the belt. Calderon gave him nothing else in the frame.
Again in round three, Segura was already in the middle of the ring while Calderon was only easing from his stool at the bell. A glancing right from Segura got through near the halfway mark but Calderon popped right back with a right. His gloves all but glued to his head in defense, Calderon sent the wide Segura attempts he didn’t slip entirely sliding off his gloves, wisely clinching in spots when Segura got close.
Already easily ahead three rounds, brilliant might be understating the performance of Calderon in a thrilling fourth round. With just more than a minute to go, Segura landed a right from the southpaw stance he’d favored most of the night and appeared to catch the attention of Calderon. Letting loose with both hands, Segura poured everything he had into a relentless assault while Calderon began poking through the openings created with chopping counters while blocking and making Segura miss. Backing Segura up, Calderon increased his output and carved the Mexican up with surgical mastery. Segura went to the corner winded and frustrated.
The balance of brilliance would shift dramatically in the fifth round as the pressure of Segura overwhelmed the defense of Calderon. Eating rights and body shots in the corner, Calderon was in survival mode. Falling to the floor in the corner, Calderon’s was favored by a slip ruling and he kept his feet, only barely, down the stretch as the larger man imposed his will.
Complaining in the corner about a thumb to the eye, it looked like Calderon might not come out for round six but he did and then some. Segura battered away early but Calderon found his wind and had Segura stunned with a wicked counter left. Fighting often at close quarters, both men let loose with both hands, Calderon a step ahead in connects but Segura landing whatever he could on the flesh available.
The pace slowed considerably from the previous three rounds in the seventh and it played to Calderon’s advantage, the slickster able to move and land in spots as he seemed to put a round in the bank. It would be the last deposit he made on his side of the scoring.
Both eyes showing swelling, Calderon stayed near the ropes early in the eighth and looked exhausted. Segura seized the moment and went downstairs. Calderon tried to scoot away, applying the occasional counter, but Segura would give him no room. He stayed going to the body, a left to the belly folding Calderon forward in the corner and a right cracking off his side as Calderon melted to the canvas. Sitting on one knee, Calderon made no effort to rise as Ramirez tolled “eight, nine, ten” on his title reign at 108 lbs. at 1:34 of round eight.
While irrelevant to the outcome, Calderon was surprisingly behind on the scorecards at the time of the stoppage with a pair of scores at 68-65 and 69-67 for Segura. BoxingScene had the bout scored 69-64 for Calderon before the fateful eighth but the competiveness of the fight showed on both men’s bruised faces.
Segura, decked out in the garb of an Aztec warrior, entered the ring with Mexican fistic royalty, escorted by current, unified Bantamweight titlist Fernando Montiel and the previously mentioned Hall of Fame former World Jr. Flyweight champion Humberto “Chiquita Gonzalez. He joins Montiel as one of only six unified titlists in the sport right now and joins Gonzalez, who twice reversed his losses to Carbajal, in the sparse fraternity of men who have held two belts at 108 lbs.
Should Segura seek further unification, a potentially even more fan friendly war could come in the form of an all-Mexican showdown with two-time WBC titlist Omar Nino (29-3-2, 11 KO). Nino is fresh off regaining earlier this year. Speaking in Spanish after the fight to the other beltholders at and around his division, Segura invited them to do what he and Calderon had done and seek out the best.
Segura, his eyes marked from a hard nights work, was humble in his finest hour as he spoke on overcoming the moments on the night where exhaustion threatened him. “From all those people that get around in their houses and say, ‘Hey, we’re gonna’ make a barbecue because Giovanni Segura is fighting,’ I been there. I know how it feels to wait for that superfight from your champion. That’s what I think about when I’m getting tired, when I feel like I’m in slow motion, I feel like I can’t throw more punches, I think about all those things and God gives me the strength to keep on going.”
No one who fired up a grill in anticipation of Segura on Saturday night could have been disappointed.
For the aging Calderon, his best chance to defeat Segura may have come and gone though pursuing a rematch is not out of the question. Speaking in the aftermath of defeat, Calderon thanked his local fans for their support and praised Segura. Looking to the future, Calderon hinted at a vacation before coming back next year.
He may not find the future any more forgiving than Segura.
The master boxer had shown signs of slowing down in recent affairs and simply did not have the legs to weather the pressuring storm of Segura. If this is his end at the championship level, Calderon can look back proudly on a berth on the 2000 Puerto Rican Olympic team, a WBO reign at 105 lbs. which included 11 defenses, and a six defense run at 108. His first defeat dropped him to 18-1-1 in major title fights.
The televised undercard highlighted promising prospects in three all-Puerto Rican encounters.
In the chief support slot, 24-year old 2008 Puerto Rican Olympian and 2009 World Amateur Flyweight champion McWilliams Arroyo (4-1, 3 KO), 113 ¼, of Fajardo, Puerto Rico bounced back from a surprising decision defeat in his last outing with a six-round unanimous decision over 20-year old countryman Jiovanne Fuentes (2-2, 1 KO). Arroyo was aggressive early before settling into a workmanlike rhythm to control matters en route to a shutout 60-54 scoring sweep with the judges. The referee was Roberto Ramirez Sr. Arroyo’s defeat came at the hands of Japan’s Takashi Okada (2-0-1, 1 KO) in June on the Madison Square Garden undercard of Ivan Calderon’s decision win over Jesus Iribe.
In Lightweight action, 27-year old Jose Gonzalez (12-0, 8 KO), 135, of Toa Baja, Puerto Rico brought the talent. 27-year old Hector Marengo (5-1-4, 3 KO), 135, of Arecibo, Puerto Rico, brought a bucket of guts and determination. Together, they made for compelling theatre. Hurt badly in the second round, and dropped with a wicked uppercut in the fifth, Marengo refused to quit and managed stiff hooks throughout to keep himself alive, particularly when Gonzalez would switch from an orthodox stance to southpaw.
In the sixth, Gonzalez’s straight power shots and uppercuts repeatedly snapped the head of Marengo violently, opening a cut which brought a brief trip to the corner for a doctor’s look. The action was allowed to resume but not for long. Drained in body, if not spirit, referee Roberto Ramirez Jr. was forced to save Marengo further punishment, calling a halt to the action at 1:19 of round six.
The televised portion of the card kicked off with a look at the twin brother of McWilliams Arroyo, Bantamweight McJoe Arroyo (5-0, 2 KO), 118 ½. The 2007 World Amateur Bronze Medalist and 2008 Puerto Rican Olympian showed off a schooled, hard southpaw jab through all of the six scheduled rounds, bruising the eyes of fellow Puerto Rican Sigfredo Medina (3-2, 2 KO), 120 ½,and cruising to a unanimous decision win. The final tallies were a shutout 60-54 across the board. The referee was Roberto Ramirez Jr.
The card was televised in the U.S. through Integrated Sports pay-per-view, promoted by PR Best.
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