By Jake Donovan

One bout was a beat down, the other a hometown letdown, as a pair of stoppages highlighted Friday night’s Telefutura telecast.

Unbeaten super featherweight Urbano Antillon scored his seventh straight win inside the distance with a dominant 4th round knockout of Daniel Attah in the evening’s main event.

Antillon’s bout went exactly as expected, the same of which cannot be said in the evening’s co-feature. A home state grudge match ended in a huge upset as unheralded Joaquin Zamora managed a third round cut-induced stoppage of Albuquerque’s own Rey Sanchez III.

The telecast aired live from the Isleta Resort and Casino in Albuquerque, New Mexico

With a title shot well within reach, Antillon was fed Attah for the purpose of staying busy, but also in hopes of managing a far more impressive performance than was offered in his last fight. Three months ago, the Mexican banger was forced to climb off of the canvas to eventually surge ahead before settling for an anti-climactic 6th round stoppage against journeyman Jose Leo Cruz.

The only struggles this time around were at the scales, with Antillon needing three tries to eventually make the 130 lb limit. It was smooth sailing after that, with the super featherweight contender scoring two knockdowns in forcing Attah to bow out midway through the fourth round.

Antillon came out behind a tight guard to start the bout, picking off Attah’s punches while looking to mount a body attack. It didn’t take long for Antillon to come out of his shell, with straight rights and left hooks landing repeatedly upstairs and down. Attah had his moments as well, occasionally touching Antillon’s chin, but nothing of significance.

Body shots were key in eventually breaking down Attah, a native of Nigeria now living in and fighting out of Washington, DC. It began in the second and carried over into the third round. Every combination either began or ended with a left hook to the body. The effects were clear, with more and more removed from Attah’s fastball as the fight wore on.

There was no quit in Attah, but the bravery would come at a heavy price when he suffered the first of two knockdowns midway through the third round. A right hand to the body pinned the transplanted Nigerian into a corner, where Antillon unloaded, scoring with a left hand up top before pounding away to the body. Attah eventually wilted, forced to a knee to momentarily stop the bum rush.

He made it to his feet and out of the round, but found himself under siege early in the fourth. Antillon had knockout on his mind, tagging Attah downstairs along the ropes. The earmuffs eventually went back up, which meant no fear of incoming as Antillon went for the kill.

Consecutive left uppercuts forced Attah to tip over and eventually sink to the canvas. Referee Rocky Burke made it to nine before Attah shook his head and whispered something, prompting an instant stoppage.

The official time was 1:13 of round four.

Antillon advances to 24-0 (17KO) with the win, his third of a 2008 campaign that has lasted just over ten rounds. He doesn’t advance very far in the rankings, but still remains one fight away from challenging for an alphabet title at either super featherweight or lightweight.

It was six years ago when Attah was himself an undefeated super featherweight contender vying for a world title. That dream ended with a decision loss to Acelino Freitas, and he’s never picked up the pieces. He suffers his second straight knockout defeat, though spaced out eighteen months apart.

The loss now drops his career ledger to 24-5-1 (8KO), with all five losses coming over the course of his past nine bouts. It doesn’t look to get any better for Attah, who most likely saw his last significant fight even on this level.

The same may very well be said for home grown welterweight Rey Sanchez III, whose career just continues to fall from bad to worse in an I-25 rivalry bout that ended in disaster against Socorro’s Joaquin Zamora.

It’s not even the 3rd round stoppage loss itself to Joaquin Zamora that raises cause for concern, but the manner in which he went out – and even came in.

Sanchez appeared out of shape, and hardly compensated in technique. The southpaw was pushing his punches throughout the brief encounter, hardly landing anything of conviction, while never quite figuring out his fellow New Mexico southpaw Zamora.

The first sign of trouble came at the end of the 1st round, when Zamora landed a compact left hand on the inside shortly before the bell, forcing Sanchez to hold on to steady himself.

It didn’t get any better in the second, a round that ended with Zamora pummeling a now staggered and defenseless Sanchez in a corner. It was a combination upstairs which began the rally with about 20 seconds left in the round, and ended with Sanchez doubled over when not stumbling around the ring.

A sense of urgency overcame the hometown fighter, who came out more purposeful at the start of the third. Offense was on his mind, but a leaky defense led to the beginning of the end – a counter right jab from Zamora that opened up a cut over the right eye of Sanchez.

Chants of “Joaquin” began to fill the casino arena, but time was called before any more damage could be inflicted. Sanchez’ cut developed into a gusher, prompting referee Stephen Blea to summon the ringside physician to the ring apron. A thorough exam ended with Sanchez shaking his head as the doctor asked questions, prompting a third round medical stoppage as Blea advised Sanchez’ corner the cut was caused by a punch.

Sanchez refused to believe it, even after it being pointed out on the Telefutura monitors. Whatever the case, he suffers his second loss in three fights, dropping to 21-3 (15KO). More alarming was his speech pattern and body language, both of which suggested a fighter already on the decline, even at just 25 years of age and just seven years into his career.

Zamora’s heading in the opposite direction, racking up by far the biggest win of his six-year career. The Mexican-American has now won 11 straight, as he improves to 16-2-1 (11KO).

Both bouts were presented by Top Rank, Inc.

Jake Donovan is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the Tennessee Boxing Advisory Board. Comments/questions can be submitted to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.