By Jake Donovan
 
Winning a major title has been a long time coming for perennial bridesmaid Humberto Soto, who realized his dream Saturday evening with a lopsided points win over familiar foe Francisco Lorenzo at El Parque Andrés Quintana Roo in Cozumel, Mexico.

The question now: Where does he go from here?

It’s a question Soto hoped to ask and have answered six months ago, when he and Lorenzo met for the first time in Las Vegas. Their bout served as the co-feature to Manny Pacquiao’s foray into the lightweight division, where his nine-round beatdown of David Diaz left the sport’s best pound-for-pound fighter to ponder whether to remain a lightweight or drop back down to 130 to further extend his lineal title reign.

In an alphabet sense, the answer directly affected Soto and Lorenzo, who were fighting for an interim title with the hopes of an upgrade once Pacquiao made official his intentions to permanently leave the junior lightweight division in his rearview mirror. It should’ve been Soto left to await the decision, having dominated Lorenzo en route to what appeared to be a fourth round knockout win.

Instead, it went in the books as a disqualification loss, after referee Joe Cortez ruled that Soto hit Lorenzo while the Dominican was on the canvas and in submission mode. It was already a terrible night for Cortez that became that much worse, and for Soto, another speed bump on the road to a title, any title.

The long journey finally arrived at a desirable destination, as Soto was equally effective boxing and brawling in the rematch with Lorenzo, which aired live on Television Azteca. Lorenzo was game but hardly competitive in a fight loaded with action though at times marred by fouls.

Soto came out swinging, much to the delight of the partisan Mexican crowd on hand. Lorenzo had major difficulty working his way inside early on, as Soto would repeatedly time him with a counter right coming in. A right hand had Lorenzo stumbling into the ropes, but quickly recovered and stood his ground for much of the rest of the round.

Nearly the same exact pattern held true through the second round, though one completely dominated by Soto. Lorenzo discovered a way to become more competitive, even if not always in accordance with the Marquess of Queensberry rules.

A spirited exchange opened up the third, with Soto rocking Lorenzo early before getting a sampling in return. The most damaging blow of the round would be delivered midway through, when Lorenzo landed a left hook even further south of the border than in the Mexican arena in which they fought. Soto fell face first to the canvas in pain, but Lorenzo escaped with only a warning from referee Jay Nady.

Lorenzo further tested the referee’s – and Soto’s – patience in the fourth, leading things off with a headbutt, thus drawing another warning. Any legal action that took place in the round was dominated by Soto, though the tide would dramatically turn in the fifth.

Both fighters came out swinging in a furiously placed round, but it was Lorenzo who momentarily gained control, twice pinning Soto to the ropes. The crowd tried to will Soto back into the lead, filling the arena with chants of “TO-RI-TO” and “ME-XI-CO.” Soto responded by slowing things down in the sixth, maintaining space in properly utilizing his considerable height and reach advantage.

An active seventh round saw both fighters throwing often. The difference between the two was that most of what Soto threw and landed qualified as legal punches; Lorenzo, not so much. A triple left hook below the belt drew a point deduction. The Dominican flirted with disqualification in the eighth, losing another point for a headbutt and then pulling away from referee Jay Nady in throwing a brief tantrum.

By round nine, it became obvious how things would turn out. Lorenzo needed to land a bomb to pull things out, while Soto could’ve stood in the corner for the remaining four rounds and still won by a comfortable margin. Instead, the Mexican decided to give the crowd their money’s worth, picking up the pace in hopes of sending Lorenzo home early.

The plan didn’t work out as well as he hoped, as it allowed Lorenzo back into the fight (relatively speaking) in the tenth, though Soto righted the ship in the championship rounds. Long right hands and rapid-fire one-two combinations had Lorenzo clinging on for dear life, drawing warnings from referee Jay Nady.

The eleventh ended with yet another headbutt from Lorenzo, to which Soto merely turned away and walked to a neutral corner, though the bell rang to end the round. Soto decided enough was enough, and came out swinging in a wild twelfth and final round.

An uppercut and left hook had Lorenzo rocked, but it was Soto who wound up hitting the deck after losing his footing on the giant-sized Tecate logo at center ring. Lorenzo found himself on the canvas a few seconds later for the exact same reason, with referee Jay Nady correctly ruling slips on both occasions.

Soto was a little too overzealous with the follow-up, falling through the ropes and nearly out of the ring after missing with a right hand. Lorenzo’s natural instincts were to clock Soto while trapped in the ropes, but Jay Nady wisely intervened. Both fighters let their hands go in the final 30 or so seconds, bringing the crowd to its feet as the night drew to a close.

That Lorenzo could extend the fight the full twelve rounds would be the closest he would come to victory on this evening. Soto won by appropriately lopsided margins on all three scorecards, with tallies of 119-107 (twice) and 118-110 giving him the win and a portion of the junior lightweight title. He improves overall to 46-7-2 (29KO); Lorenzo falls to 33-5 (14KO).

It was barely more than a year ago that the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez, Joan Guzman and Marco Antonio Barrera never allowed him to advance beyond the top five of the 130 lb division. With all having moved up in weight, as well as undefeated former titlist Edwin Valero, Soto now finds himself atop a depleted division as 2008 comes to a close.

The trinket Soto picked up Saturday night should’ve been in his position six months ago. The irony is that the wait might have better served his career, with a healthy dose of talent arriving on the scene in the time that has passed between the two fights with Lorenzo.

Jorge Linares has since arrived, with former two-time alphabet featherweight titlist Robert Guerrero soon to follow sometime in the first part of 2009. Urbano Antillon has now graduated from prospect to full-fledged contender. For the moment, the talented boxer-puncher serves as Soto’s mandatory challenger.

None carry the sex appeal or payday that would come with a shot against Pacquiao or Marquez, and surely the temptation looms to move up five pounds for instant rewards.

The trick for 2009 and beyond is for Soto to move into a position where becomes the man and the bank at 130 lb, rather than be kept on ice as Plan B, as had been the case for far too long in his career.

Jake Donovan is a voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Comments/questions can be submitted to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.