Originally Published: September 22, 2008
Caballero mauls Mejia, ready for Molitor
Whether Celestino Caballero wanted to send a message to future opponent Steve Molitor, or if he just had evening plans to attend to, the 122-pound beltholder from Panama wasted little time dispatching Elvis Mejia in under a round on Thursday.
Sky Gilbar/Getty Images"Want more?" Elvis Mejia, right, was outgunned and in over his head against Celestino Caballero.
A roundup of the past week's notable boxing results from around the world:
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Antonio Pitalua KO6 Jose Armando Santa Cruz Title eliminator |
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Records: Pitalua, 46-3, 40 KOs; Santa Cruz, 26-4, 15 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: In Golden Boy's first show under its new deal with HBO's Latin American network, the Mexico-based but Colombia-born Pitalua pulled the upset by starching Santa Cruz, who was viewed by many as the uncrowned lightweight world champion because he easily beat Joel Casamayor 10 months ago but was badly robbed by the judges. Pitalua, 38, dropped Santa Cruz in the fourth round and finished him two rounds later with 10 seconds left in the sixth. Perhaps Santa Cruz, who was born in Mexico and lives in California, now regrets not taking a March HBO fight offered to him against Michael Katsidis. Instead, Casamayor filled in, knocked out Katsidis and went on to make $800,000 against Juan Manuel Marquez last week. The win made Pitalua, who lost a 2000 decision in Germany to then-lightweight beltholder Artur Grigorian in his only world-title bout, the mandatory challenger for Manny Pacquiao's title. However, because Pacquiao is taking a nontitle match at welterweight with Oscar De La Hoya on Dec. 6, he won't defend his 135-pound title. So Pitalua, by virtue of the win, is supposed to face Edwin Valero, the massive-punching former junior lightweight titlist who recently announced that we would move up in weight, for an interim belt by the end of the year. Santa Cruz, 28, has lost three of six, including an interim title bout to David Diaz, whom he was easily beating before getting knocked out in the 10th round two years ago. Where does Santa Cruz go now? |
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Omar Narvaez W12 Alexander Hernandez Retains a flyweight title Scores: 119-110, 117-111, 116-112 |
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Records: Narvaez, 28-0-2, 17 KOs; Hernandez, 20-6-1, 9 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: This fight was a big deal in Argentina, where Narvaez thrilled his hometown by retaining his title for the 14th time against the game Hernandez, 33, of Mexico. This fight was bigger than your typical Narvaez title defense because the 33-year-old former Olympian matched the number of defenses made by Argentina's greatest fighter, former middleweight champion Carlos Monzon. Narvaez and Hernandez put on a good show, but Narvaez was a bit more polished, looked like he was punching harder and was busier in the entertaining scrap. Narvaez was in control and had a big eighth round as he worked the body extremely well. There was quite a bit of toe-to-toe action in the second half of the fight and Hernandez certainly deserved a better fate than the 119-110 scorecard, but Narvaez was the clear victor. |
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Marco Huck TKO12 Jean Marc Monrose Wins European cruiserweight title |
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Records: Huck, 22-1, 17 KOs; Monrose, 24-2, 15 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: The previous time Huck fought in front of his hometown fans in December, Steve Cunningham stopped him in the 12th round of a cruiserweight world title defense. Huck, 23, rebounded to win two fights in a row to set him up to face France's Monrose for the European title back in the same ring in which he suffered his only defeat. This time, however, it was Huck who stormed to a final-round TKO victory in one heck of a fight. Huck appeared in control, although both men gave and received some heavy blows. As the fight wore on, Monrose, in his first defense of the European belt he won via first-round knockout of Johny Jensen in May, looked like he was exhausted as Huck steadily broke him down. In the 12th, Huck came out looking for the stoppage and was teeing off on him with uppercuts in a relentless assault. Finally, with the crowd chanting "Marco! Marco! Marco!" Huck landed a hard right uppercut-right hand-left hook combination during his attack and Monrose, 27, wilted, at which point referee Terry O'Connor intervened at 1:17, just at the time Monrose's corner was about to end it as well, for a stoppage. Huck's performance was impressive, especially when you consider that in his previous bout four months ago, he suffered a broken jaw in a ninth-round TKO win against France's Frantisek Kasanic. |
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"Kid Diamond" Almazbek Raiymkulov W10 Javier Jauregui Scores: 97-93, 96-94, 95-95 |
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Records: Raiymkulov, 27-1-1, 15 KOs; Jauregui, 53-16-2, 36 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: At one time, it looked like Raiymkulov, 31, might become a serious player in the loaded lightweight division, especially after a draw with highly regarded Joel Casamayor in 2005. But then came a one-sided, 10th-round knockout loss to Nate Campbell. Raiymkulov has also had long layoffs, trouble outside the ring and an apparent disinterest when he's in the ring -- all of which have seriously taken the shine off his once-promising career. The 2000 Olympian from Kyrgyzstan now based in Las Vegas had a hard time with Mexico's Jauregui, 35, a former titleholder who remains a tough nut to crack even in his losses. For example, in his previous bout in August, he gave rising prospect Anthony Peterson a tough fight in a decision loss. Jauregui's success mostly came in the early rounds when he was busier than Raiymkulov in the Telefutura main event. But Raiymkulov finally picked the up the pace and Jauregui started to tire, and this combination of events proved to be the difference as Raiymkulov did enough over the second half of the bout to edge Jauregui out. |
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Vanes Martirosyan W10 Michael Medina Scores: 100-90, 98-92, 97-93 |
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Records: Martirosyan, 21-0, 13 KOs; Medina, 18-1-2, 14 KOs |
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Rafael's remark: Martirosyan, 22, a 2004 U.S. Olympian, continues to hone his craft as pro, this time handing Mexico's Medina his first defeat in a workmanlike effort. He was simply quicker to the punch and clearly more skilled than Medina, also 22. But you got the feeling watching that had Martirosyan stepped on the gas just a little bit more, like trainer Ronnie Shields was asking for him to do, he could have gotten Medina out of there. Martirosyan is expected to return Nov. 1 on the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.-Matt Vanda II card at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, although his bout is not slated to be part of the Top Rank pay-per-view telecast other than highlights of his bout.
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Celestino Caballero TKO1 Elvis Mejia Retains a junior featherweight title |
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Records: Caballero, 30-2, 21 KOs; Mejia, 27-8-1, 7 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: For Caballero, this was easy, easy work, which should come as little surprise. With Caballero needing just a win and continued good health to secure a Nov. 21 unification fight (on Showtime, by the way) with fellow 122-pound titleholder Steve Molitor, Caballero's handlers made sure he was in soft for this defense on the WBA's charity "KO Drugs" card. So they dug up Colombia's Mejia, a 43-year-old with no chin (he's been stopped in all of his losses) and no power. Caballero wasted little time going after him. He dominated with his jab until a sweeping left hook put Mejia on the floor. Mejia survived, but not for long. Caballero stayed on Mejia and was pounding him with right hands until a hard one wobbled him just before the bell, and referee Luis Pabon stopped it. Maybe the stoppage was a little premature, but Mejia had no prayer. And now we've got a superb match between Caballero and Molitor to look forward to. |
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Anselmo Moreno Tech. Dec. 7 Cecilio Santos Retains a bantamweight title Scores: 70-63 (three times) |
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Records: Moreno, 23-1-1, 8 KOs; Santos, 22-9-3, 12 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: In May, Moreno, 23, of Panama, went to Germany and upset Wladimir Sidorenko to win a 118-pound title. Returning home for his first defense on the WBA's "KO Drugs" card that featured three of Panama's significant fighters, Moreno was winning via shutout when an accidental head butt scuttled the fight and sent it to the scorecards. It was a respectable first defense for Moreno, who had a six-inch height advantage. Santos, 30, of Mexico, just can't get it done at the highest level, however. He's now 0-2-1 in his past three fights, all title bouts. He lost to Moreno, scored a draw with then-junior bantamweight titlist Dimitri Kirilov in February and was stopped in the 10th round by Fernando Montiel in July 2007 while challenging for another version of the junior bantamweight title. |
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Ricardo Cordoba W12 Luis Perez Wins a vacant interim junior featherweight title Scores: 118-110, 117-111 (twice) |
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Records: Cordoba, 34-1-2, 21 KOs; Perez, 25-3, 16 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: Panama's Cordoba had the hometown crowd on his side as he outworked Nicaragua's Perez in a solid fight. Cordoba, 25, had a bit too much movement and a steadier jab than Perez, 30, a former titleholder at junior bantamweight and bantamweight who was moving up in weight again. The victory gave Cordoba an interim version of the 122-pound title, ironic in that the full titleholder is Celestino Caballero, who lost a decision to Cordoba in 2004 for the Panamanian national title. Maybe they will meet again someday in a mandatory fight, but the excuse the WBA used to make this interim belt available was that Caballero has a November unification bout on tap with Steve Molitor. The winner of that fight will be a unified beltholder and will be named the WBA's ridiculous super champion, and Cordoba undoubtedly will be elevated to the regular titleholder. If you don't understand all of that, count yourself lucky. For some of us, such knowledge is a cross we must bear. Perez, who lost his bantamweight belt when Joseph Agbeko stopped him in seven rounds last September, dropped his second fight in a row. |
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"Kid Chocolate" Peter Quillin TKO10 Sam Hill |
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Records: Quillin, 20-0, 15 KOs; Hill, 17-9-1, 10 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: Quillin, 25, of Brooklyn, N.Y., has been matched easy during his career, and Hill was his most notable opponent yet even though Hill has now lost three in a row and seven of nine. It was a good test for Quillin, who worked for his win. He closed Hill's left eye early in the fight and dropped Hill in the fifth with a body shot before it was finally stopped in the 10th -- more because of the overall punishment that Hill, 38, was taking than because of any particular blow. The win sets up Quillin for a very interesting potential January HBO "Boxing After Dark" undercard fight against James McGirt Jr., the son of former world champion and noted trainer Buddy McGirt. |
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Ronald Hearns TKO1 Alexander Pacheco Quiroz |
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Records: Hearns, 20-0, 16 KOs; Quiroz, 14-7-1, 12 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: Hearns, the 29-year-old son of the great Thomas Hearns, moved a step closer to an HBO showdown with John Duddy in January by wiping out Quiroz, a 33-year-old from Colombia who lost his fourth fight by knockout in his past five bouts. With his father at ringside, Hearns used a potent right hand to score two knockdowns before Quiroz's corner asked for the bout to be stopped. Hearns has one more assignment before the Duddy fight and that is against Paul Clavette (14-1-1, 2 KOs) on Oct. 24 on the "ShoBox" undercard of the Lucian Bute-Librado Andrade super middleweight title bout. |
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Danny O'Connor TKO2 Jose Guerrido |
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Records: O'Connor, 1-0, 1 KO; Guerrido, 0-3 |
| Rafael's remark: O'Connor, of Framingham, Mass., kicked off his professional career with the expected knockout. The southpaw, who recently signed with Seminole Warriors Boxing, was a national Golden Gloves champion and a U.S. Olympic alternate in the Beijing Games. O'Connor made a successful transition to the pros by slamming away at Guerrido's body and finally putting him down with an uppercut in the second round. O'Connor ended it a few moments later during the follow-up attack. Welcome to the pros. |
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Jorge Arce TKO9 Rafael Concepcion Wins an interim junior bantamweight title |
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Records: Arce, 50-4-1, 38 KOs; Concepcion, 11-3-1, 7 KOs |
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Rafael's remark: Fight Freaks, we have an honorable mention for fight of the year. No, it wasn't better than Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez III or maybe even Antonio Margarito-Miguel Cotto, but this was a terrific, action-packed fight waged in front of a roaring crowd on Mexican Independence Day. Arce gave his countrymen -- including ringside observers Margarito, Vazquez, Julio Cesar Chavez, Marco Antonio Barrera, Jose Luis Castillo and Ulises "Archie" Solis -- something to remember as he and Concepcion went toe-to-toe. Although it's clear that Arce, 29, has logged a lot of mileage and is slowing down, he had enough to get past Panama's Concepcion, 26, who finally wilted and retired on his stool after nine punishing rounds. Concepcion certainly had his moments, hammering Arce in the furious fourth round. He had Arce on the verge of going down multiple times and at the end of the fourth, Arce looked spent as he staggered back to his corner. Arce, however, is no stranger to brutal fights. He collected himself and was able to wear down Concepcion, whose eyes began to swell until he had nothing left after the ninth. There is no fancy analysis needed other than to say that they simply tried to kill each other. As tremendous of a fight as it was, a word must be said about the veracity of the silly title at stake. The WBA now has three so-called champions at 115 pounds. There is Cristian Mijares, the "super champion" because he has unified titles with another sanctioning organization. There is Japan's Nobuo Nashiro, who claimed the vacant "regular" belt. And then there was Concepcion, who, because of the WBA's thirst for money, was allowed to meet A.J. Banal in the Philippines in July for the "interim" title. Conception knocked Banal out in the 10th round and then lost the belt to Arce, who is now a three-time interim titleholder, for whatever that is worth. He won interim titles at 108, 112 and 115 pounds to go with his two world titles at 108. It's crazy boxing politics at its finest when you have a three-time interim champion and an organization that has three so-called champions in the same division.
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Jorge Solis TKO4 Jorge Samudio |
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Records: Solis, 36-1-2, 26 KOs; Samudio, 17-4-1, 7 KOs |
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Rafael's remark: Mexico's Solis, 28, is the older brother of junior flyweight titlist Ulises "Archie" Solis and should be closing in on his own title shot. He's now three wins removed from a game performance that resulted in an eighth-round knockout loss to Manny Pacquiao in April 2007, and Solis ought to be considered for a title bout. He did what he needed to do against Samudio, 29, of Panama, who lost his second in a row and third of five. Solis took his time and was taking care of business when he caught Samudio with a body shot and an uppercut with about a minute to go in the fourth. Neither blow looked that damaging, but Samudio suddenly turned his back on Solis in a corner and the referee called it off.
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Roman "El Chocolatito" Gonzalez TKO4 Yutaka Niida Wins a strawweight title |
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Records: Gonzalez, 21-0, 19 KOs; Niida, 23-2-3, 9 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: Not since the heyday of the great Hall of Famer Ricardo Lopez has there been a strawweight as exciting or with the kind of pure power of Gonzalez, a 21-year-old from Nicaragua who could reign for a long, long time. Simply put, he beat the living crap out of Niida, a fine titleholder making the eighth defense of his second title reign. The 29-year-old from Japan was on the run from the start because he had absolutely nothing to keep Gonzalez off of him. Gonzalez won the first three rounds with heavy, accurate punching and was hammering Niida in the fourth when, after a visit to the ringside doctor to check Niida's damaged right eye, the fight was called off. The end was anticlimactic, but Gonzalez had made his point. He is a force to be reckoned with. If you've never given strawweights a chance because, at 105 pounds, they're too small for your taste, reconsider and give Gonzalez (protégé of countryman Alexis Arguello) a chance. He may very well change your mind. There were two other notable results on the card. Japanese junior featherweight Toshiaki Nishioka (32-4-3, 19 KOs) won a unanimous decision against Thailand's Napapol Kiatisakchokchai (46-3-1, 39 KO), 119-107, 117-109 (twice), to win a vacant interim title. Nishioka is now the mandatory challenger for world champion Israel Vazquez. Also, Japanese junior bantamweight Nobuo Nashiro (12-1, 7 KOs), a former titleholder, won a split decision against countryman Kohei Kono (21-4, 7 KOs) -- 115-114 (twice) for Nashiro and 115-114 for Kono -- to claim the WBA's idiotic "regular" title. Nashiro is now obligated to face Jorge Arce, who on the same day won the "interim" title. Go figure. |
Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.
