On the heels of watching fellow Cuban export Erislandy Lara post his latest win, Rances Barthelemy returns to the surface. The unbeaten former 130 lb. titlist moves all the way up to the junior welterweight division for a showdown with Mexico’s Antonio DeMarco in a rare Sunday afternoon telecast in Las Vegas (Sunday, CBS, 4:00 p.m. ET).
The bout comes as the latest installment of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on CBS, the first to air on a Sunday afternoon.
Coming up on six full years in the pro ranks, boxing fans have seen both sides of Barthelemy (22-0, 13KOs). There’s the version who digs in and goes for the kill; and then the boxer who is smart enough to know when the knockout won’t present itself and relies on his skill set to carry him to victory, but never to the point of coasting.
The same is not always said of the prototypical Cuban boxer. Lara, for example, appeared to have been able to obtain a knockout any time he wanted versus Delvin Rodriguez last weekend in Chicago. Instead, the junior middleweight titlist settled for a landslide decision, content with the knockdowns he was able to produce in boxing his way to his latest win.
Barthelemy didn’t quite see it that way, but gets why fans demand more of fighters than just being good enough to win.
“My Cuban eyes saw a perfect boxing performance from Lara,” Barthelemy says of the June 12 Spike TV headliner. “However, I understand why fans would want to see a lot more action. It’s tough to please everyone, but I get why fans were booing.” [Click Here To Read More]
The bout comes as the latest installment of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on CBS, the first to air on a Sunday afternoon.
Coming up on six full years in the pro ranks, boxing fans have seen both sides of Barthelemy (22-0, 13KOs). There’s the version who digs in and goes for the kill; and then the boxer who is smart enough to know when the knockout won’t present itself and relies on his skill set to carry him to victory, but never to the point of coasting.
The same is not always said of the prototypical Cuban boxer. Lara, for example, appeared to have been able to obtain a knockout any time he wanted versus Delvin Rodriguez last weekend in Chicago. Instead, the junior middleweight titlist settled for a landslide decision, content with the knockdowns he was able to produce in boxing his way to his latest win.
Barthelemy didn’t quite see it that way, but gets why fans demand more of fighters than just being good enough to win.
“My Cuban eyes saw a perfect boxing performance from Lara,” Barthelemy says of the June 12 Spike TV headliner. “However, I understand why fans would want to see a lot more action. It’s tough to please everyone, but I get why fans were booing.” [Click Here To Read More]
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