Gamer
11-28-2010, 05:16 AM
c/p By Jake Donovan
The industry-wide consensus seems to be that middleweight king Sergio Martinez has sewn up Fighter of the Year honors.
That doesn’t mean the rest of the industry can’t stop trying.
Lineal junior flyweight king Giovanni Segura plead his case for year-best honors, racking up his fourth knockouts in as many fights in 2010 as he stopped Manuel “Chango” Vargas in the eighth round of their main event bout Saturday evening in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.
Segura weighed in at 113 lb – his heaviest weight in nearly five years – while Vargas was one pound lighter at 112 lb for their scheduled 10-round non-title fight.
Like any other fight he’s been involved in over the course of his seven year career, Segura left himself available to be outboxed for as long as it took him to warm up and eventually unleash his power. Vargas couldn’t quite take advantage in the opening round, but fought well enough to avoid too much of the incoming.
Segura dialed in his attack in the second, and the fight was no longer competitive from that point onward. The diminutive slugger raked his opponent’s body with vicious right hooks and left hands, also coming upstairs with mean-intended uppercuts that frequently found its mark.
More of the same transpired in the third. Segura was on the prowl and never stopped punching, though Vargas refused to back down and be intimidated. His bravery paid dividends, as he was able to go tooth and nail with Segura in the fourth, including an impressive power-punching flurry at rounds end.
Segura flipped back and forth between conventional and southpaw stance, but neither proved to work very well in a fifth round that saw Vargas serve as the aggressor. Segura had a hard time finding his groove, circling around the ring while searching for openings that never quite surfaced. Vargas kept coming forward, scoring with left hooks upstairs and to the body, although he left himself open for a punishing flurry towards the end of the round.
With straight brawling not working as well as he expected, Segura decided to box in the sixth, working behind his jab early on. The tactic was enough to slow down Vargas long enough for Segura to take the lead, finding his range and scoring repeatedly to the body. Vargas kept throwing, but more on the defensive than had been the case in prior rounds.
Action was halted midway through the seventh, as Vargas developed a deep gash inside his left eyelid. There wasn’t enough blood to convince the ringside physician to stop the fight, but it was enough motivation for Segura to pick up the pace.
Several straight lefts had Vargas in deeper trouble than at any other point in the fight. Segua was denied a knockdown late in the round despite scoring a right hook and left hand prior to Vargas falling to the canvas. The referee ruled it a slip, allowing Vargas to survive the round.
However, it was the last time he would leave his stool. Referee Juan Jose Ramirez, acting on advice from the ringside physician, opted to stop the canvas, for fear that Vargas was absorbing too much punishment.
The official time was 0:10 of the eighth round.
Segura improves to 26-1-1 (22KO) with the win, his fourth of what has been a career-best year. The bout was his first since his upset knockout win over Ivan Calderon this past August, lifting the junior flyweight title in a Fight of the Year contender.
Vargas falls to 28-7-1 (13KO), losing for the second straight time and now having dropped four of his last six contests.
Next up for Segura is a possible rematch with Calderon, who – along with Floyd Mayweather Jr – was regarded as the best pure boxer in the game prior to suffering the first loss of his career in August. Segura has expressed interest in doing it again, even willing to return to Puerto Rico to make the rematch happen.
Until that fight happens, Segura can take comfort in the fact that he enjoyed a year that rivals just about anyone else in the sport in recent years.
There are others who have enjoyed higher profile wins, but in terms of being able to send ‘em home early, few in the sport do it better than the best little big man in the sport today.
In the televised co-feature, Miguel Vazquez made the first successful defense of his alphabet lightweight title with a 12-round decision win over Ricardo Dominguez.
Scores were 120-108, 119-109 and 118-110.
The win was par for the course for Vazquez, whose fighting style suggests he’s always in a war even when he wins big. The finely-sculpted Mexican was in control for most of the night, but still managed every so often to ease up just enough to let Dominguez believe he was actually in the fight.
For his part, Dominguez never stopped coming forward, dancing as hard as he could to make a fight out of it. He was rewarded with swelling, cuts and bruises around both eyes, absorbing a tremendous amount of punishment but never wilting.
Vazquez picks up his fifth straight win as he improves to 27-3 (12KO). The win comes three months after earning a vacant lightweight title with a similarly dominant performance against Ji Hoon Kim this past August, a bout with identical scorecards as the win here.
Dominguez suffers his second loss in his past three fights in falling to 32-7-2 (20KO). His previous loss came in his lone other title shot, falling short in a scrappy (if not ugly) performance against Humberto Soto earlier this year.
The show was presented by Zanfer Promotions and Top Rank Inc., and aired live on Fox Sports Espańol.
The industry-wide consensus seems to be that middleweight king Sergio Martinez has sewn up Fighter of the Year honors.
That doesn’t mean the rest of the industry can’t stop trying.
Lineal junior flyweight king Giovanni Segura plead his case for year-best honors, racking up his fourth knockouts in as many fights in 2010 as he stopped Manuel “Chango” Vargas in the eighth round of their main event bout Saturday evening in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.
Segura weighed in at 113 lb – his heaviest weight in nearly five years – while Vargas was one pound lighter at 112 lb for their scheduled 10-round non-title fight.
Like any other fight he’s been involved in over the course of his seven year career, Segura left himself available to be outboxed for as long as it took him to warm up and eventually unleash his power. Vargas couldn’t quite take advantage in the opening round, but fought well enough to avoid too much of the incoming.
Segura dialed in his attack in the second, and the fight was no longer competitive from that point onward. The diminutive slugger raked his opponent’s body with vicious right hooks and left hands, also coming upstairs with mean-intended uppercuts that frequently found its mark.
More of the same transpired in the third. Segura was on the prowl and never stopped punching, though Vargas refused to back down and be intimidated. His bravery paid dividends, as he was able to go tooth and nail with Segura in the fourth, including an impressive power-punching flurry at rounds end.
Segura flipped back and forth between conventional and southpaw stance, but neither proved to work very well in a fifth round that saw Vargas serve as the aggressor. Segura had a hard time finding his groove, circling around the ring while searching for openings that never quite surfaced. Vargas kept coming forward, scoring with left hooks upstairs and to the body, although he left himself open for a punishing flurry towards the end of the round.
With straight brawling not working as well as he expected, Segura decided to box in the sixth, working behind his jab early on. The tactic was enough to slow down Vargas long enough for Segura to take the lead, finding his range and scoring repeatedly to the body. Vargas kept throwing, but more on the defensive than had been the case in prior rounds.
Action was halted midway through the seventh, as Vargas developed a deep gash inside his left eyelid. There wasn’t enough blood to convince the ringside physician to stop the fight, but it was enough motivation for Segura to pick up the pace.
Several straight lefts had Vargas in deeper trouble than at any other point in the fight. Segua was denied a knockdown late in the round despite scoring a right hook and left hand prior to Vargas falling to the canvas. The referee ruled it a slip, allowing Vargas to survive the round.
However, it was the last time he would leave his stool. Referee Juan Jose Ramirez, acting on advice from the ringside physician, opted to stop the canvas, for fear that Vargas was absorbing too much punishment.
The official time was 0:10 of the eighth round.
Segura improves to 26-1-1 (22KO) with the win, his fourth of what has been a career-best year. The bout was his first since his upset knockout win over Ivan Calderon this past August, lifting the junior flyweight title in a Fight of the Year contender.
Vargas falls to 28-7-1 (13KO), losing for the second straight time and now having dropped four of his last six contests.
Next up for Segura is a possible rematch with Calderon, who – along with Floyd Mayweather Jr – was regarded as the best pure boxer in the game prior to suffering the first loss of his career in August. Segura has expressed interest in doing it again, even willing to return to Puerto Rico to make the rematch happen.
Until that fight happens, Segura can take comfort in the fact that he enjoyed a year that rivals just about anyone else in the sport in recent years.
There are others who have enjoyed higher profile wins, but in terms of being able to send ‘em home early, few in the sport do it better than the best little big man in the sport today.
In the televised co-feature, Miguel Vazquez made the first successful defense of his alphabet lightweight title with a 12-round decision win over Ricardo Dominguez.
Scores were 120-108, 119-109 and 118-110.
The win was par for the course for Vazquez, whose fighting style suggests he’s always in a war even when he wins big. The finely-sculpted Mexican was in control for most of the night, but still managed every so often to ease up just enough to let Dominguez believe he was actually in the fight.
For his part, Dominguez never stopped coming forward, dancing as hard as he could to make a fight out of it. He was rewarded with swelling, cuts and bruises around both eyes, absorbing a tremendous amount of punishment but never wilting.
Vazquez picks up his fifth straight win as he improves to 27-3 (12KO). The win comes three months after earning a vacant lightweight title with a similarly dominant performance against Ji Hoon Kim this past August, a bout with identical scorecards as the win here.
Dominguez suffers his second loss in his past three fights in falling to 32-7-2 (20KO). His previous loss came in his lone other title shot, falling short in a scrappy (if not ugly) performance against Humberto Soto earlier this year.
The show was presented by Zanfer Promotions and Top Rank Inc., and aired live on Fox Sports Espańol.