By Cliff Rold
It was fast paced so, while one-sided, never completely dull as 30-year old Lightweight Jose Reyes (23-4, 8 KO) of Puerto Rico befuddled and worked over the game but outgunned 21-year old Noe Bolanos (20-3, 12 KO) on Friday night at the Civic Center in Kissimmee, Florida. The fight was the televised main event on the late night Boxeo Telemundo.
The bout started deliberately, both men circling and testing with the jab. They opened up a bit in the second half of the round with Reyes landing some overhand rights and Bolanos connecting with a wicked right uppercut before a flurried exchange prior to the bell. The pace stayed at a violent clip in the second, each man having their moments. Bolanos scored with the right and Reyes with a sharp left hook late. The exchanges continued in the third, neither man definitively taking control.
In the fourth, the advantages in height and reach held by Bolanos narrowly put him out front, but Reyes showed no give. A three-punch salvo to the body by Bolanos against the ropes was met by a left uppercut from Reyes. In the final seconds, Reyes pointed to his chin after a taking a right, following the show of indignation with a flush right hand of his own.
Bell to bell bombs from both men highlighted a fifth that ultimately belonged to Reyes. Bolanos worked the body and found his spots upstairs with an assortment of hooks, but Reyes’s early assault with the straight right and flurries down the stretch made the difference. His advantage in speed was beginning to tell the story of the fight and was on display in the sixth.
A lead left hook early was followed by more eye-catching rights. At the halfway point, a looping right from Reyes caught Bolanos on the temples and buckled his knees, leading him into a clinch. The steam coming out of his shots, Bolanos body shots flailed just beyond the rib cage they were intended for before a Reyes right sent his mouthpiece to the floor. The brief halt in the action came only moments before the bell, allowing a longer and needed rest period for the Mexican.
Extra rest did little to assist the chances for Bolanos as the seventh saw the momentum solidly with Reyes. The fight was rapidly becoming less than competitive. A Bolanos right caught Reyes blind late in the round but to no affect as he continued to be outpunched and outlanded. While the action slowed in the eighth, the nature of the bout remained the same, Reyes wrinkling in some hard lead left hooks occasionally to keep the fans intrigued.
The action picked back up in the ninth. Bolanos shortened up his shots on the inside, attempting to work over the fleeter of foot Reyes with hooks and cutting rights before he could step out. To his credit, Reyes simply punched with his man, allowing his speed to hold him in strong favor in Bolanos’s best round since the first four.
A low blow in the tenth may well have been Bolanos’s best punch of the night and a needed spark in a bout that was becoming drearily predictable. After eating ever more lefts and right from Reyes, Bolanos let loose with a ball busting bomb that left Reyes lying face first in the mat as if shot. After rising to take a knee, Reyes took a deep breath and motioned to the referee that he was ready to continue…with prejudice. Rushing forward in anger, Reyes let loose a torrent of punches, leaving himself open for incoming while he sought a measure of revenge. The crowd was on its feet at the bell.
Bolanos continued to flirt with the belt line in the eleventh, losing a point in the process. Reyes avenged the foul with a triple left, two to the body and one upstairs. Bolanos headed back to his corner, right eye grossly swollen, searching for answers to his faster foe with only three minutes remaining.
Clearly still aggravated about the attacks on his child creating possibilities, Reyes roared out for the twelfth, signaling that any questions in Bolanos’s mind were answered long prior. The lefts and rights continued to land and at closing time, Reyes leapt into one of the four corners to soak in the cheers of the fans.
The scoring was academic from there, with a unanimous 119-118 (2x) and 120-107 turned in by the officials.
Other Televised Action
Jr. Welterweights: Javier Monserate (8-0, 4 KOs) W TKO3 Danny Van Staden (6-4, 2 KOs)
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
