JuanMa Led To the Brink by Mtagwa: An Instant Classic

By Thomas Gerbasi

NEW YORK – Rock legends KISS may have been headlining Madison Square Garden Saturday night, but it was the super bantamweight tandem of Juan Manuel Lopez and Rogers Mtagwa who stole the thunder from Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley in the Garden’s small room, the WaMu Theater, providing an array of fireworks and explosive action that almost guarantees Lopez’s 12 round unanimous decision win over Mtagwa will receive strong consideration for 2009 Fight of The Year.

Scores were 114-113, 115-111, and 116-111 for Lopez, who made the fifth successful defense of his WBO super bantamweight title.

As the fight began, Mtagwa came out fast, but it was Lopez’ first chopping right hand making an immediate impression as it forced the off balance challenger’s gloves to touch the canvas. Referee Eddie Cotton didn’t rule it a knockdown, but Lopez was un-rattled as he drilled his foe with accurate power shots that thrilled the packed house.  Just before the bell, Cotton refused to call another knockdown as Mtagwa went down after taking a right, but the round went to Lopez regardless.

Mtagwa got into gear in the second round, and he eagerly traded with Lopez at close range, trying to turn the fight into a brawl. Lopez’ speed and accuracy began to shine through eventually, but Mtagwa made it clear that he had come to New York to fight.

The action heated up in the third round, with each man landing thudding hooks to the head. And though Lopez’ shots were shocking Mtagwa, the native of Tanzania was finding a home for his overhand right, leaving Lopez to go back to his corner with a cut over his left eye and a swelling under it.

In the fourth, the pattern continued, with Lopez staggering Mtagwa, but the challenger refused to move backwards as he shook off the power shots and kept swinging.

Encouraged by his ability to take Lopez’ thunder, Mtagwa’s face showed his intensity as he trudged forward in round five. A questionable knockdown for Lopez did follow, but as usual, there was no stopping him when he rose. Lopez did make him pay as he moved forward though, drilling the challenger with flush shots to the face.

The pace dipped in the sixth, with Lopez deciding to box and use movement more as Mtagwa stuck to his plan of forward motion and pressure. In round seven, Mtagwa began throwing caution to the wind, throwing wild power shots that had no business landing, but that were, and Lopez needed to start paying attention to the assault from his gritty challenger.

Perhaps aware that Mtagwa wasn’t about to go away quietly, Lopez met him in the middle of the ring to start round eight and began unleashing power shots. Mtagwa’s response was exactly what you would expect it to be, and while he ate his share of bombs, he more than made up for it with accurate blows that rocked Lopez.

In the ninth, Lopez seemed to find Mtagwa’s Achilles heel as he dug to the body and slowed his foe down, but when Mtagwa fired back upstairs, he stunned Lopez with a hook that forced the champion to hold on. Lopez did recover quickly though, with the rest of the round turning into an alley fight thanks to a low blow, a clash of heads, and some wild brawling at close range.

The brawling continued in round ten, with Mtagwa getting the better of the action as the two played rock ‘em sock ‘em robots for much of the three minute session. Lopez looked to be tiring from the pace and pressure, not to mention a few well-timed hooks, and in the 11th, the Caguas native seemed to be on the verge of a knockdown as he took a flush left and right from Mtagwa. By the final minute, Lopez looked to be on his way back, but then Mtagwa roared back with a ferocious assault that left the champion on the verge of a knockout had the round lasted a few more seconds.

Mtagwa picked up where he left off in the final round, and the crowd stood as Lopez ate power shot after power shot but still managed to stay on his feet. Amazingly, Lopez stayed upright as Mtagwa went for broke, mixing punches in with clinches and glances at the clock.  As the round entered its final 30 seconds, the drama was at its highest as Mtagwa tried to finish and Lopez tried to survive, and though the bout made it to the final bell, it was not without a stamp as one of the best, if not the best, fight of 2009.

With the win, Lopez ups his unbeaten record to 27-0 with 24 KOs. Mtagwa falls to 25-13-2 with 18 KOs.

In the co-feature, Cuban sensation Yuriorkis Gamboa retained his interim WBA featherweight title with a fourth round TKO of Whyber Garcia that was more foregone conclusion than spectacular, though the finish was up to Gamboa’s usual standards.

If the fight were being judged on ring attire, it would have been no contest in favor of Gamboa, whose Cuban-flag fringe-laden trunks clearly won the battle over Garcia’s plain blue and whites. Unfortunately for Garcia, things didn’t go much better for him in the first round, as Gamboa drilled him with clean shots repeatedly just before the bell sounded.

Things didn’t go much better for Garcia in round two, but Gamboa’s more patient attack left him around for another three minutes. 

“One of the strategies we’ve been working on is to study the fighter and settle in before we take after the fighter,” said Gamboa.

In the third, Gamboa looked to be sufficiently warmed up, and he came right at Garcia to start the stanza, but the Panamanian’s clinching smothered any consistent offense from the unbeaten titleholder.

Gamboa finally struck in the fourth round dropping Garcia (22-7, 15 KOs) hard to the mat. Garcia gamely made it to his feet, but the Cuban was not to be denied, as he blitzed his foe until referee Steve Smoger intervened 58 seconds into the frame.

With the win, Gamboa improves to 16-0 with 14 KOs, with the prospect of a showdown with Lopez looming sometime in 2010.

“I want to face whoever thinks they’re better than me,” said Gamboa. “If they think they’re better than me, I want to fight them.”

Many wondered if Cuban heavyweight prospect Odlanier Solis - at 271 pounds – is taking his boxing career as seriously as he should be. Well, whether he is outside the ring may be open to debate, but when the bell rang tonight he certainly took care of business as he blasted out late replacement Monte Barrett in two rounds to improve his perfect pro record to 15-0 with 11 KOs.

The 218.5 pound Barrett (34-8, 20 KOs), who took the bout this week when Fres Oquendo was forced to withdraw, tried to control the action behind a flicking jab, but Solis was undeterred as he lumbered forward in an attempt to pin his foe against the ropes. 

Solis got more aggressive as the bell sounded to start the second, flooring Barrett in the opening minute with a picture perfect left hook on the chin. Barrett rose, but his legs were still wobbly as Solis looked to finish. Eventually, the Cuban hit paydirt, putting Barrett down a second time and forcing referee Wayne Kelly to halt the bout at 1:54 of the round.

New Jersey junior middleweight prospect Pawel Wolak scored one of his most impressive victories as a pro, dishing out a punishing beating to Brazil’s Carlos Nascimento before the fight was halted before the start of the sixth round.

Wolak’s pressuring style gave Nascimento fits almost immediately, as he swarmed the Brazilian, leaving him bloodied over the right eye by the end of the first round. Nascimento fired back gamely, but his shots were designed more to keep Wolak at bay than to damage.

In round two, Wolak’s shots started to get harder and more accurate, and even though Nascimento landed a few hard blows of his own in the third, by the midway point of the frame, it was Wolak back in complete control.

By round four, it wasn’t a question of if Wolak was going to win, but when, and his furious assault left many at ringside calling for a stoppage from referee David Fields or the Nascimento corner. It didn’t come, and Nascimento was sent back out for round five.

To his credit, the Brazilian came out fast, looking to turn the tide, but a couple hard right hands from Wolak ended that comeback attempt. A brief knockdown added another point to Wolak’s tally, but again, Nascimento made it through the round.  This time though, it was clear that the fight was over, and on the advice of the ringside physician, Fields called it before the start of round six.

Wolak improves to 25-1 with 17 KOs; Sao Paulo’s Nascimento falls to 24-2 with 20 KOs.

It had been a long eight months for local middleweight favorite John Duddy since his last New York appearance against Matt Vanda in February - a period marked by his first pro loss to Billy Lyell in April and a change back to original trainer Harry Keitt. But while Duddy wasn’t as sharp as he’s been in the past, he was able to get back in the win column, as he pounded out an eight round unanimous decision over journeyman Jorge “Michi” Munoz.

Scores were 80-73 and 79-73 twice for Duddy.

Both fighters were marked up in the early going – Duddy bleeding from the nose, and Munoz bruised around the right eye - as they stood shoulder to shoulder and traded blows. As the rounds wore on, Duddy was always a step ahead of Munoz, but not by much, as the Leon native willingly engaged with the Irishman, much to the delight of the crowd.

With the win, Duddy improves to 27-1 with 17 KOs; Munoz falls to 21-4 with 13 KOs.

Jorge Diaz and Yan Barthelemy went to war for nearly six rounds in their super bantamweight bout, but Jersey City’s Diaz made sure the judges didn’t get involved, ending the bout with a single left hook at 1:07 of the sixth and final round.

Barthelemy, the highly touted former amateur star from Cuba, stayed on the canvas for a few tense moments as he was attended to by ringside physicians, but he left the ring under his own power. Diaz, who had Barthelemy (8-2, 1 KOs) in trouble on a few occasions earlier in the bout while also getting rocked himself, ups his unbeaten record to 10-0 with 5 KOs.

At the time of the knockout, Diaz led 48-47 on two cards and trailed 48-47 on the third.

In cruiserweight action, San Juan’s Carlos Negron improved to 5-0 as he went the distance for the first time, outpointing Houston’s Larry Pryor (4-5, 2 KOs) over four rounds via scores of 40-36 and 39-37 (twice).

Junior welterweight Omar Chavez upped his unbeaten record to 18-0-1 (13 KOs) with a six round unanimous decision victory over Lewiston, NY’s James Ventry (7-10-1, 4 KOs). Scores for the son of boxing legend Julio Cesar Chavez were 58-55 (twice), and 59-54.

In the opener, Toledo, Ohio’s Martin Tucker stopped the unbeaten streak of Jersey City’s Michael Torres, dropping the favored junior welterweight twice en route to a six round unanimous decision win. Scores for Tucker, now 7-4 (3 KOs), were 57-56 across the board. Torres falls to 13-1 with 7 KOs.