By Jake Donovan
Julio Cesar Miranda rebounded from his crushing points loss to Brian Viloria just two months ago by stopping Luis Carlos Leon after two rounds Thursday evening in in Rosairito, BC, Mexico.
Miranda came in at 114 lb, while Leon weighed 113 lb for their 10-round super flyweight bout, which aired live on TV Azteca.
The bout was never expected to be very competitive, and lived up to the scouting report in that regard. Miranda controlled the action from the opening bell, not wasting a lot of energy but also placing a lot of emphasis behind his punches.
Leon did the best he could with the skill set with which he was born, but the body shots took their toll on the Colombian, who opted to not leave his stool at the start of the third round.
It wasn’t the statement making win Miranda hoped for one fight removed from his year-long alphabet title reign, but at age 31 will gladly take a win any way he can get it. His record advances to 36-6-1 (29KO), while Leon heads home with a mark of 13-5 (11KO), as his two-fight win streak is halted.
Miranda was scheduled to appear on the card all along but against Devis Perez – who oddly enough has a win over Leon and wound up facing Felipe Orucuta in their televised co-feature. The switch in opponents came after Giovani Segura – with whom Miranda has developed a verbal feud through the media – dropped out due to an untimely injury.
The fallout killed plans to build up interest in a head-on collision between the two, designed as a faux eliminator to face the resurging Viloria early next year.
There were even talks of this very evening serving as grounds for Segura and Miranda to settle their differences, only for the fight to never materialize. Segura has insisted that Miranda had his chance and that he now instead prefers to go straight to a fight with Viloria.
Of course, Miranda has similar plans, only his come with revenge in mind.
The loss to Viloria earlier this summer snapped a six fight win streak for Miranda, including an upset win over Richard Mepranum more than a year ago to jumpstart his title reign.
Miranda managed three defenses of the belt before traveling to Viloria’s native Hawaii this past July. The move proved costly, as Miranda suffered an opening round knockdown en route to a razor thin decision loss.
In which direction he heads in the immediate future remains to be seen. It’s possible that Zanfer Promotions would still like to pursue a showdown with Segura; it’s just as possible to send both fighters after Viloria if it comes to that, or have one face Viloria and – should their guy win – make the in-house grudge match afterward with more at stake than just pride.
UNDERCARD ACTION
Bantamweight prospect Felipe Orucuta marched one step closer towards title contention, doing so on short notice with a 4th round knockout of Colombian fringe contender Devis Perez in the televised co-feature.
Orucuta entered the card only after Segura pulled out due to an untimely injury, but still put forth a professional effort, boxing wisely through the first three rounds in setting up the eventual knockout. The fight-ending sequence came in textbook fashion, as Orucuta landed a left hook upstairs, immediately followed by a perfectly placed right hand to the body. Perez crumpled to the canvas and was unable to convince the referee that he was in any condition to continue.
The win makes it four straight for Orucuta – all by knockout - as he improves to 22-1 (18KO). The lone loss of his career came last December in the Campeon Azteca bantamweight tournament.
Perez falls to 14-5-2 (8KO), having now dropped three of his last four contests.
With plenty of time to kill until the main event, a televised swing bout in the form of a rematch of Mexican featherweight prospects proved to be twice as nice for Francisco Pina, who rode an early start and a late surge en route to a decision win over Walter Samoi.
The battle was nip and tuck throughout the eight round affair, though lacking the knockdowns and heavy blows that came with their first fight last December. Pina sprinted out to an early lead but appeared to fall apart in the middle rounds as Samoi settled into a groove.
Sensing that the fight was slipping away, Pina’s corner urged their charge to let it all hang out down the stretch. Pina did just that, and it proved to be the difference on the cards as he racks up his fourth straight win.
Pina improves to 5-2-3 (2KO) with the win, though if records were based on strength of schedule he’d certainly rate a lot higher. Eight of Pina’s 10 pro fights to date have come against opponents with undefeated records or just one loss at the time of the fight.
Samoi fits both of those categories. The Mexican was undefeated when they fought last December, only to hit the deck twice en route to his first pro defeat. He managed two more wins but once again fell short against his aggressively matched countryman, as he falls to 9-2 (5KO).
Rising junior flyweight newcomer Francisco Rodriguez Jr. continues his knockout ways, taking out Artemio Garcia in the opening round of their televised swing bout. Rodriguez scored two knockdowns, the final sequence a right hook, straight left combination that left Garcia (0-1, 0KO) dazed and confused before flopping to the canvas.
The official time was 2:59 of the opening round.
Rodriguez is now 4-0 (4KO) and appears to be one to watch, though it’s worth noting that all of his wins have come against local kids making their pro debut.
In the televised opener, baby-faced super flyweight Jonas Salvatierra (2-0, 0KO) scored a four-round shutout over pro-debuting Angel Rodriguez (0-1, 0KO). Scores were 40-36 across the board.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at twitter.com/JakeNDaBox or submit questions/comments to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.