By Cliff Rold
He may conduct himself under the moniker of “Love Child” but 23-year old Jr. Middleweight Joel Julio (34-1, 31 KO) of Colombia showed no love on Wednesday night at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, destroying 31-year old Jose Varela (23-4, 16 KO), a Nicaraguan fighting out of Los Angeles, in six one-sided rounds.
The first round was a definitive feeling out session, Varela occasionally pawing with the jab, Julio circling and popping his with more affect. In the closing seconds, a couple of hard combinations signaled more life in Julio on the way to the bell.
Less than a minute into the second, it was all the way live. A long right hand landed flush to the chin of Varela, dropping him awkwardly to his knees at ring center as Julio walked calmly to the neutral corner. Varela rose early in the referee’s mandatory eight and came forward only to eat a clipping left hook moments later, dropped for an even harder knockdown to his knees once more. The lanky Varela chose to rise again and weather the remainder of the round, even tossing in some token offense in the final minute.
Varela’s time on the canvas was not done. With about 1:20 to go in the third, Julio snapped Varela’s head up and back with the right, scoring his third knockdown. Bravely, Varela rose yet again and stayed on his feet when another right had him reeling. In the closing seconds, a double jab and right hand from Varela created space from his stalker and displayed how little quit there would be in the Nicaraguan.
In the fourth, Varela continued his evidently vainglorious pursuit of the power punching Julio while the Colombian patiently circled and waited for his opening. He found the opening early in the fifth, stunning Varela almost immediately. Varela stayed on his feet for the first big shot…but not the second. Just shy of a minute in, Julio connected with an echoing lead left hook that wobbled Varela head to toe, collapsing him to the mat like a slinky.
Varela got up again, and quickly. Then he went right back to walking towards Julio, shooting his jab in hopes of a miracle right hand.
He didn’t land it in the rest of the fifth nor through the duration of the sixth. Julio just stuck with his game plan of ‘wait for the opening’ and found it with only seconds to go in the latter round, again at mid-ring, again with the right, again driving Varela to his knees. Varela rose, again, and the referee directed him immediately to his corner, the round already concluded.
The referee wouldn’t let him come out again and Julio upped his record to seven straight wins since his first and only loss to then-future Welterweight titlist Carlos Quintana in 2006.
In the televised opener, 22-year old Jr. Middleweight Joe Greene (20-0, 14 KO) of Queens, new York picked up his latest victory in a grueling twelve round alley fight, ultimately outdueling 29-year old Jose Miguel Torres (20-4, 18 KO) of Colombia by unanimous decision.
Through the dull first three rounds, Greene, 154, methodically poked away at Torres, 152 ½, outboxing him from range. A fight broke out in round four. Torres, the brother of thrilling recent Jr. Welterweight titlist Ricardo Torres, landed a big right off the ropes early in the round and forced a dogfight through the first two minutes of the round. The pace slowed a bit in the final minute as flurries went to single but still fully loaded shots as both men took turns trying to separate each other from their senses.
Round five devolved into wild swinging again early on. A Torres right landed behind the head of Greene against the ropes, buzzing him, only for Greene to twist off the ropes and land a left of his own to knock Torres through the ring ropes for an official knockdown. Greene slipped to the mat near ring center, the paint beneath his show getting the best of him and Torres clocked him. It wasn’t a well received blow and cost Torres two more points in referee’s deductions after multiple earlier warnings for fouls. No matter; he clearly wasn’t thinking about judges. Not much landed towards the final bell, but the intentions in each blow thrown were clear.
Torres looked for a deduction in his favor in another sloppy but entertaining three minutes in round six. Charging headlong with a combination, Greene spun off the ropes away from Torres who flew into them face first. With his back to Greene, a combination came flying at his head. Torres looked for help but was waved forward.
Neither man scored notably in a seventh whose drama cam in a warning to Torres for misbehavior in the clinches as he dug an elbow into Greene’s neck. With Torres facing disqualification, Greene elected for a measure of revenge in the eighth, using his own elbow to drive Torres’ head down before winging a hard four-punch combination. The referee threatened to take a point but didn’t, bringing both men to center ring for some colorful admonishment. Something resembling Boxing took place for the remainder of the round, each man teeing off with bombs, Greene landing more of his.
He would land a big one early in the ninth and suddenly the end appeared near. A snaking left sent tremors through Torres but Greene pursued without control and was thumbed to the left eye, giving Torres needed recovery time as Greene blinked it out. Greene controlled the rest of the round but didn’t hurt Torres again. It wouldn’t be until the waning second of round ten that a Greene left would send Torres ricocheting off the ropes, but the bell rang before he could follow up.
Greene hurt Torres again early in the eleventh, or at least Torres acted as if he had, with a slightly low blow played out like a missile much farther south. He took the needed rest, still looking for a way to win. Greene closed the round with some professional combination punching and headed into the final round well ahead in the fight.
He kept the lead, even suffering another left eye thumbing and a nasty slip in a wet corner, in an otherwise anti-climactic end to the sort of nasty brawl that would make any dingy, smoky bar of lore proud. There was no surprise at earned scores of 118-107 twice and 119-106, all for Greene.
Other Televised Action
Welterweights: Kenny Galarza (7-0, 7 KO) W KO2 Devarise Crayton (5-5, 1 KO)
The card was televised live on ESPN2’s Wednesday Night Fights, promoted jointly by Seminole Warriors Boxing and Main Events.
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
