By Jake Donovan

 

It was the ending Giovanni Segura, and his handlers, had in mind when he first faced Colombian export Cesar Canchilla last summer. It took two tries to get it right, but there’s no time like the present for the power-punching Californian, who gained revenge with a stoppage of his familiar foe in – or more accurately, after – the fourth round of their scheduled 12-round light flyweight scrap.

The bout served as the main event, aired live from the Palenque del MEX in Mexicali, Mexico on Television Azteca America.

Segura was still an undefeated contender when the two met on the Antonio Margarito-Miguel Cotto undercard last July, but would wind up on the wrong end of a very lopsided decision that evening. The seven-point deficit on two of the scorecards came despite scoring a second round knockdown.

The game plan in the rematch was clear; do not allow this one to go twelve. Segura almost didn’t allow it to go an entire round. The Bell Gardens (CA) bomber was relentless from jump, attacking Canchilla as if he snatched his undefeated record last year.

The difference in punching power between the two was evident in the bout’s first knockdown. Trapped against the ropes, Canchilla attempted to shoot his way out of his foxhole. A right hand and left hook crashed home on Segura’s chin, yet the Mexican-American walked right through it, and blitzed Canchilla with right hook that sent him crumbling to the canvas with about 45 seconds remaining in the round. Chants of “Mexico” filled the arena in hopes of a first-round knockout brewing, though the Colombian would recover enough to hear the bell.

More pain was on tap in the second round. Once again, the partisan crowd chanted their home country’s name, practically serving as a cue for Segura to land the next big bomb. It came in the form of an overhand left, resulting in a second knockdown in as many rounds. Canchilla seemed puzzled upon rising, perhaps wondering why his corner would want him to take any more punishment.

An answer to that question came in the form of a spirited performance in the third round, slightly suggestive of the way the tide had turned in their first fight. Segura was still pressing forward, seemingly impervious to pain. But it was Canchilla clearly getting the better of the exchanges, even if he was throwing because he had to, whereas Segura was able to remain more selective with his attack. Canchilla still spent a good portion of time on the ropes, but landed several power punches upstairs in what was easily his best round of the fight.

Unlike the first fight, the momentum wouldn’t permanently remain in his direction. Segura opened up the fourth discovering a crazy concept known as defense. Canchilla came out throwing, but Segura would step back slightly enough to either minimize impact or force the punches to fall short altogether, before coming back with straight lefts.

To his credit, Canchilla never stopped throwing punches. What he was left with, however, was the frustration of not being able to land anything to prevent Segura from continuing to charge forward. It resulted in the Colombian spending nearly the entire final minute of the round – and fight – with his back against the ropes. Segura unloaded, landing at will, including a right hook that snapped back Canchilla’s head just as the bell rang.

For whatever reason, referee Julio Cesar Alvarado chose to remain a spectator rather than step in and stop the action when the bell rang. It would take two more gong sequences for the third man to intervene, at which point Segura landed several more flush shots and Canchilla was out on his feet.

No explanation was offered why they didn’t afford Canchilla the one-minute rest period between rounds before rendering him unfit to continue. The move suggested that Alvarado never in fact heard the bell – any of the three times it was struck – and instead focused on the fighter’s responses to the brutal power punches.

Barring an investigation and the final verdict being overturned, it goes into the books as a stoppage at 3:00 of the fourth round.

Segura improves to 20-1-1 (16KO) in his first ring appearance since suffering the lone loss of his career last summer. Eight months is a long time to sit on any loss, especially your first one, but it proved to be well worth the wait, as Segura also picks up an interim alphabet title belt in the process.

That same belt once belonged to Canchilla, on the strength of his aforementioned summer upset of Segura. The clock violently strikes midnight on his Cinderella story, as he falls to 27-2 (21KO) with the loss, snapping a 20-fight win streak dating back to 2004.

The win now puts Segura in line for the 108 lb. alphabet title currently in possession of Brahim Asloum, a member of the 2000 France Olympic boxing squad who hasn’t fought since wresting the belt from the waist of Juan Carlos Reveco in December 2007.

However long he has to wait, there’s no denying that the view is a hell of a lot better than what Giovanni Segura has been looking at for the past eight months.

Undercard:

Mexican super bantamweight Joksan Hernandez impressively took apart Jonathan Arias in the televised co-feature, dominating the fight before closing the show at 2:12 of the tenth and final round.

Hernandez kept Arias on the defensive from the opening bell, attacking the body and landing his right hand all night. Arias was not without offensive success, though it paled in comparison to that of Hernandez, who fought every round as if it were the last.

His persistence would pay off, even if having to wait until the final minute of the tenth and finale round to get the desired ending. Arias was trapped in a corner, where Hernandez went to town with repeated power shots until finally forcing the stoppage with just 48 seconds to go in the fight.

The win is the third straight for the 22-year old Hernandez, who improves overall to 15-1 (9KO). His lone loss came more than two years ago, falling short against current featherweight contender Bernabe Concepcion on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao’s rubber match knockout of Erik Morales.

Arias’ career continues to spiral. After having sprinted out to a 13-0 start, he now loses his fourth straight in falling to 13-4 (6KO).

David “Sicario” Sanchez remains perfect three fights into his young career, as he opened up the telecast with a third round stoppage of Rogelio Armenta in their four round super flyweight bout.

Poor television programming decisions denied viewers a live glimpse of the fight-ending sequence. An infomercial ran 90 seconds longer than should have been the case. Replays showed Sanchez closing the show with a right uppercut, right hook to the body and a final left uppercut that left Armenta defenseless, leaving the referee no choice but to intervene.

The official time was 1:26 of the third round.

Sanchez is now 3-0 (3KO), picking up his second win in just 14 days.

Armenta falls to 0-5 (0KO), having never lasted longer than the third round in any of his pro fights. He suffers his second knockout loss in the span of four weeks.

Please feel free to submit any comments or questions to Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .