Lorenzo Decisions Cardenas in Chicago
By Joe Harrison
On Friday night, super featherweight Francisco Lorenzo (29-4, 14 KOs) defeated Baudel Cardenas (17-10-2, 6 KOs) by a ten-round unanimous decision at the Congress Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. Both boxers landed meaningful punches throughout the fight, but Lorenzo was always a step ahead and had complete control from the beginning.
Throughout the first few rounds, Lorenzo controlled the pace by using his jab and circling around the ring. Cardenas would stalk Lorenzo and was able to catch him with left and right hooks. They also exchanged punches on the inside with Lorenzo normally getting in the last shot.
The exchanges continued into the middle rounds making a very close and entertaining fight. Cardenas’ punches were becoming more accurate, yet Lorenzo was constantly connecting a wide right hook to the jaw of Cardenas before the end of each round. Even with Lorenzo landing the more effective punches, Cardenas continued to apply pressure and keep himself in the fight.
During the final rounds, Lorenzo continued to land the cleaner punches on Cardenas. Although Cardenas was staying close and landing punches, he failed to take control of the fight. In the end, Judge Jerry Jakubco scored the fight 99-91 while Judges Robert Hecko and Mike Fitzgerald both scored 97-93, all for Lorenzo by unanimous decision.
In the co-main event, undefeated super featherweight Wilton Hilario (8-0-1, 7 KOs) and Juan Carlos Martinez (7-4-1, 4 KOs) battled to an eight-round majority draw. It was an action-packed fight where both boxers landed perfect power shots repeatedly.
Hilario started off well landing punches to the head and body of Martinez, but Martinez stole some rounds with his crisp connections to Hilario’s face. They began to exchange in the middle of the ring, abandoning any available defense in an attempt to create a knockdown, but neither warrior would fall.
In the later rounds, Hilario seemed fatigued as Martinez became the aggressor and backed him up against the ropes. Even fighting backwards, Hilario was able to land punches and keep the fight close. On the final scorecards, two judges scored 76-76 while the third judge scored 77-75 for Hilario, despite many ringside observers feeling that Martinez was the winner.
Also on the card, super featherweight Miguel Angel Garcia (9-0, 8 KOs) knocked out Reggie Sanders (12-41-4, 2 KOs) at 2:23 of the third round in their scheduled six-round contest. During the first couple rounds, Sanders was able to use his experience to avoid the onslaught of Garica’s punches. In the third round, Garcia finally caught Sanders with a right hook that sent him to the canvas. Referee Pete Podgorski looked down at Sanders and waived the fight off.
Later that evening, welterweight Andrzej Fonfara (6-1, 2 KOs) knocked out Joshua Rodriguez (3-2, 2 KOs) at 1:03 of the second round in their scheduled four-round contest. The first round mainly consisted of Fonfara landing his sledgehammer jabs to the face of Rodriguez. This proceeded into the second round, until a straight right sent Rodriguez crashing backwards. Rodriguez climbed back to his feet, but Referee Gerald Scott did not like what he saw and ended the match.