By Cliff Rold
In a battle of former amateur rivals, 23-year old Dominican Middleweight Fernando Guerrero (17-0, 14 KO) of Salisbury, Maryland, showed how different the paid ranks can be. He also showed, once again, why he is considered one of the premiere rising talents in the game, scoring a fourth round stoppage of gutsy 22-year old Jessie Nicklow (19-2, 7 KO) on Friday night at the Grand Casino in Hinckley, Minnesota.
Both men weighed in just over the 160 lb. Middleweight limit, Guerrero at 162 and Nicklow at 160 ½ lbs.
Nicklow’s record indicated he wouldn’t win with power and his early strategy showed he’d play to his strengths, boxing behind a tight defense and firing accurate contact shots while the southpaw Guerrero looked for heavy blows to the body to slow him down in round one. In the second, Nicklow’s punch output dropped as Guerrero’s pressure increased. By the final minute of the round, lead lefts and big rights were lowering the guard of Nicklow and pushing the constantly moving Nicklow even further back.
Round three was a spirited effort from both men. Coming forward, Guerrero briefly paid for blind aggression when a right from Nicklow pushed him back. Guerrero simply planted and returned to firing, stalking, pounding and chasing Nicklow down as the smaller man wisely used his legs to get him out of harm’s way for breathing stretches before meeting Guerrero in the trenches, firing at the openings created when Guerrero loaded up with power shots.
Nicklow’s brave effort would meet defeat in the fourth, beginning with a beautiful counter right hook from Guerrero as the men worked towards the ropes. Nicklow, who never saw the blow coming, drifted sideways into the ropes before landing chest and face first over the middle rope. Nicklow rose from the floor and battled hard but Guerrero’s greater strength and power sapped the remaining energy from his foe. As the punishment multiplied, and the winner became evident, referee Mark Nelson stepped in to prevent Nicklow from taking unnecessary further punishment at 2:09 of round four.
The loss was Nicklow’s first inside the distance. Guerrero entered the night rated number fifteen by the World Boxing Organization at Middleweight.
The chief support bout of the evening highlighted undefeated Jr. Middleweights, one of whom continues to show the makings of a star. Always in control of the bout, it took a couple of rounds for 22-year old Shawn Porter (12-0, 10 KO) of Akron, Ohio, to completely defuse any competition 27-year old Jamar Patterson (8-1, 4 KO) of Utica, New York, could offer before laying on a beating en route to a fourth round technical knockout win.
Patterson, 152, was quickly pushed back by a trio of jabs from a Porter, 154, determined to start fast. The speed edge for Porter was evident immediately as he laced in slashing right hands from distance and left hooks whenever he got close. Reacting to his foe, Patterson worked hard in the clinches to get leather on Porter but was given nary a second to relax in round one.
Patterson was able to settle more early in the second, sticking his left jab and blocking a flurry of Porter blows with his arms and shoulders. A short left hook and right hand gave Patterson the beginnings of some offense and he continued to match Porter with rough blows in the clinches. In the final minute, Porter seized control, blasting Patterson to the face and closing the round with three quick rights while grappling through a clinch.
Porter, with a two round lead, set about bringing matters to a close in round three. With violent precision, Porter overwhelmed Patterson throughout the frame, hitting him with rights and lefts at will while using his feet to keep himself an elusive target to counter. It was a complete overwhelming but merely prologue to the display in round four. At the halfway point, at mid-ring, Porter left his feet to land a crushing lead left hook which shuttled Patterson to the floor. Showing courage, Patterson rose as referee Celestino Ruiz tolled off the mandatory eight count. Asked more than once if he was sure he could continue, Patterson nodded yes each time and stepped forward only to be sent towards the ropes right away. A pair of left hooks had him toppling into the strands as Ruiz jumped in to halt the fight at 1:54 of the fourth.
The televised opener featured another clash of unbeaten young warriors in the Welterweight division. 27-year old Lanard Lane (10-0, 7 KO) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, made sure his “0” did not go, dropping 22-year old Moroccan Said El Harrak (8-1, 3 KO) twice in the opening frame and battering his foe to provoke a stoppage in the second.
Both men opened with jabs, El Harrak, 144, standing taller and throwing with more authority while Lane, 144 ½, circled and fired deliberately from a distance. It wouldn’t take long for Lane’s strategy to pay off. Closing in on the final minute of the round, a Lane right hand stunned El Harrak who wisely held on. Unfortunately for him, he could hold Lane off. A massive right to the jaw sent El Harrak to his back and, when it didn’t keep him there, Lane sent him down again with the same shot shortly after El Harrak got up.
Lane couldn’t finish him before the bell but had El Harrak in trouble again early in the second with a right hand and some nasty hooks to the body. El Harrak hung in, refusing to go down but without answer for the speed of Lane. As the round passed the midway mark, yet another Lane right drove El Harrak to the ropes and, as a follow up Lane left sailed past his foe, referee Mark Nelson jumped in to stop the bout against the loud and immediate protestation of El Harrak. El Harrak, who still clearly had his senses, collapsed the floor face first in tears at the decision. The official time of the stoppage was 1:38 of round two.
Friday’s card was broadcast on United States premium cable outlet Showtime as part of its ShoBox series, promoted by DiBella Entertainment and Gary Shaw Promotions.
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