After a brief survey, Parades took control in the second, boxing in reverse but working wisely behind his jab to both minimize the incoming and keep Pitalua off guard. The transplanted Dominican attempted more of the same in the third, only Pitalua made his presence felt, letting Paredes know that boxing alone wasn’t going to be enough to slow him down.
It was a message Paredes apparently received loud and clear, as he sat on his punches far more in the fourth. Several right hands dropped down on Pitalua’s chin, though momentum was slowed when the Colombian veteran opted for a break after getting caught with a beltline shot that was ruled low by the referee.
The infraction provided just enough time for Pitalua to gather his thoughts and find a way to resume control of the action. That moment came early in the fifth, when consecutive left hooks left Paredes apprehensive.
Momentum didn’t seem to last very long at any point in the fight. Such held true at the midway point, when Paredes’ superior boxing skills were enough to regain the lead. Pitalua came right back midway through the seventh, landing clean right hands to his opponent’s chin and left hooks to his lean midsection.
Tired of being bullied by the veteran, Paredes abandoned his boxing skills and elected to make his presence felt. The gamble paid off as he enjoyed a tremendous surge at the end of the eighth, scoring with repeated head shots that left Pitalua bewildered.
After a sluggish ninth that saw both fighters trade but neither land anything of significance, far more sustained two-way action took place in the tenth. This didn’t bode well for Paredes, who was a little too brave for his own good, and wound up on shaky legs as Pitalua crashed home right hands upstairs. Paredes refused to wilt, throwing back at every turn, but suddenly lacked the power or movement to keep Pitalua off of him.
As the fight entered the championship rounds, Pitalua was still determined to not have matters fall in the hands of the ringside judges. It would turn out that he was right to have everything to fear, but still made thing interesting down the stretch.
Paredes did his best to keep up with the brawling tempo, but it proved to be his undoing – at least in the eyes of anyone other than the judges. A right hand caught him on the chin, resulting in the bout’s lone knockdown, with Pitalua following up with two more right hands and a left hook that had Paredes on shaky legs as the round came to a close.
Picking up right where he left off, Pitalua came out throwing at the start of the 12th and final round. It was right hand city as Paredes went on the defensive while trying to clear his head. The round and fight ended with the two trading punches, but with Pitalua clearly getting the better of the exchanges. The only question at fight’s end was whether or not his late surge was enough to make a difference on the scorecards in the eyes of the judges, who might’ve favored Paredes’ flashier style in the earlier rounds.
In the end, the judges were split, though only two of the three actually watched the fight.
Scores 114-113 Paredes and 115=112 Pitalua were a fair reflection of the 12 rounds of action that took place as both left it all in the ring.
Then came the reading of Peter Trematerra’s scorecards, with an offering that left those in attendance wondering just what the hell he was watching.
Trematerra was one of the two judges who somehow missed Sergio Martinez clearly outboxing Kermit Cintron over the course of their 12-round bout in February 2009, scoring that fight a draw. He also saw Hector Camacho’s hug-hold-avoid fight strategy as sufficient enough to take six out of eight rounds against Yori Boy Campas a few months later.
The shoddy official adds one more to his greatest misses, somehow crediting Paredes with 10 out of 12 rounds in scoring the bout 117-110.
The split nod gives Paredes his fourth straight win as he improves overall to 26-3-1 (16KO).
Pitalua snaps a four-fight win streak of his own, as he falls to 50-5-2 (44KO). The only other loss over the course of the past nine years came at the hands of the late Edwin Valero, who lit him up inside of two rounds in their lightweight title fight last April.
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 .