Gamer
12-05-2010, 03:47 PM
c/p By Jake Donovan
On a night where nobody quite knew what to expect, lightweight titlist Humberto Soto survived a tough test to outlast Urbano Antillon in taking a unanimous decision in their main event Saturday evening at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA.
Scores were 114-113 (twice) and 115-112 in a bout that was granted a game-time upgrade to main event status, and proved to live up to the billing in delivering a sure fire Fight of the Year candidate.
It was an extremely physical fight throughout, and downright dirty at times. Referee Ray Corona earned his paycheck in attempting to keep things civil, offering several warnings for low blows and take downs, and even deducting a point from Antillon’s tally for excessive low blows.
Soto offered a professional performance, putting up with all of Antillon’s roughhouse tactics as he proceeded to pick apart his determined but ultimately overmatched foe.
The tempo of the bout was odd in that the non-stop action suggested an all-out war although at no point was Soto ever in danger of losing the fight despite the late surge by Antillon to make things interesting on the cards. Crisp, combination punching by the defending titlist left Antillon one step behind throughout the first half of the bout, though remaining in Soto’s face all evening.
Antillo’s night actually turned around in his favor after being docked a point for low blows. Soto appeared to be in control early, while Antillon was limited to questionable tactics, but the tide dramatically turned in the second half of the fight and made things damn interesting on the cards by night’s end.
However, it wasn’t enough for Antillon, as Soto never became unnerved despite the number of fouls and frequent occasions in which he was thrown and hip-tossed to the canvas. Antillon made things easy for both of them by keeping the fight at a phone booth’s pace, which certainly delighted the crowd of 3,253 on hand.
The only ones who didn’t seem to appreciate it were the judges, who had little to choose from as momentum constantly swung back and forth seemingly with each exchange as neither seemed to clearly dominate any given round.
In the end, it turned out that Antillon’s point deduction would become the difference between a draw and his second consecutive title loss, although neither scenario would’ve left him with a belt around his waist.
Instead, it’s Soto who marches on with his 10th straight win as he improves to 54-7-2 (32KO). Despite criticism that he appears to be on the downside of his career and milking his title reign, he still manages to remain one of the more active fighters in the sport. The bout was his fourth of 2010, a pattern he has managed to hold for the past four years.
Antillon’s career progression hasn’t been quite as inspring. The knockout loss to Miguel Acosta seemed to take a bit of the air out of his tires, as he was put on the slow road to recovery before Saturday’s title opportunity.
Not helping matters any was his struggle to make the lightweight limit, having to strip down to his bare ass and then still come back for a second attempt before finally meeting the contracted weight of 135 lb.
It ultimately proved for naught, as he falls to 28-2 (20KO), halting a two-fight skid in the process.
Where his career goes from here is immediately uncertain, even with his stock rising in defeat.
For Soto, there are several paths. The most often discussed is a showdown with undefeated Brandon Rios, who claims interim title status for the alphabet belt currently in Soto’s possession.
However, there has also been discussion of matching the 13-year veteran up against countryman Marco Antonio Barrera, who would love to beat longtime rivals Juan Manuel Marquez and Erik Morales in the race to become the first Mexican to win major titles in four separate weight classes.
If promoter Bob Arum is to be believed, then the Rios fight will be next up and most likely on Showtime. Arum also suggested the bout possibly being paired up with Antillon against another divisional titlist in Miguel Vazquez, with unification obviously the plan.
Whatever the case, Soto can only hope the decision making behind his next bout is more stable than Saturday’s affair. While Antillon was his opponent all along, the plan was for their bout to serve as the chief support.
Even with Chavez changing opponents before dropping out of the card altogether, it was believed that the bantamweight bout between Nonito Donaire and Wladimir Sidirenko would be elevated to the evening’s headliner.
Instead, Soto found himself in his first-ever pay-per-view lead, though by night’s end in a familiar position – his arm raised in victory while hoping that a big fight is around the corner.
On a night where nobody quite knew what to expect, lightweight titlist Humberto Soto survived a tough test to outlast Urbano Antillon in taking a unanimous decision in their main event Saturday evening at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA.
Scores were 114-113 (twice) and 115-112 in a bout that was granted a game-time upgrade to main event status, and proved to live up to the billing in delivering a sure fire Fight of the Year candidate.
It was an extremely physical fight throughout, and downright dirty at times. Referee Ray Corona earned his paycheck in attempting to keep things civil, offering several warnings for low blows and take downs, and even deducting a point from Antillon’s tally for excessive low blows.
Soto offered a professional performance, putting up with all of Antillon’s roughhouse tactics as he proceeded to pick apart his determined but ultimately overmatched foe.
The tempo of the bout was odd in that the non-stop action suggested an all-out war although at no point was Soto ever in danger of losing the fight despite the late surge by Antillon to make things interesting on the cards. Crisp, combination punching by the defending titlist left Antillon one step behind throughout the first half of the bout, though remaining in Soto’s face all evening.
Antillo’s night actually turned around in his favor after being docked a point for low blows. Soto appeared to be in control early, while Antillon was limited to questionable tactics, but the tide dramatically turned in the second half of the fight and made things damn interesting on the cards by night’s end.
However, it wasn’t enough for Antillon, as Soto never became unnerved despite the number of fouls and frequent occasions in which he was thrown and hip-tossed to the canvas. Antillon made things easy for both of them by keeping the fight at a phone booth’s pace, which certainly delighted the crowd of 3,253 on hand.
The only ones who didn’t seem to appreciate it were the judges, who had little to choose from as momentum constantly swung back and forth seemingly with each exchange as neither seemed to clearly dominate any given round.
In the end, it turned out that Antillon’s point deduction would become the difference between a draw and his second consecutive title loss, although neither scenario would’ve left him with a belt around his waist.
Instead, it’s Soto who marches on with his 10th straight win as he improves to 54-7-2 (32KO). Despite criticism that he appears to be on the downside of his career and milking his title reign, he still manages to remain one of the more active fighters in the sport. The bout was his fourth of 2010, a pattern he has managed to hold for the past four years.
Antillon’s career progression hasn’t been quite as inspring. The knockout loss to Miguel Acosta seemed to take a bit of the air out of his tires, as he was put on the slow road to recovery before Saturday’s title opportunity.
Not helping matters any was his struggle to make the lightweight limit, having to strip down to his bare ass and then still come back for a second attempt before finally meeting the contracted weight of 135 lb.
It ultimately proved for naught, as he falls to 28-2 (20KO), halting a two-fight skid in the process.
Where his career goes from here is immediately uncertain, even with his stock rising in defeat.
For Soto, there are several paths. The most often discussed is a showdown with undefeated Brandon Rios, who claims interim title status for the alphabet belt currently in Soto’s possession.
However, there has also been discussion of matching the 13-year veteran up against countryman Marco Antonio Barrera, who would love to beat longtime rivals Juan Manuel Marquez and Erik Morales in the race to become the first Mexican to win major titles in four separate weight classes.
If promoter Bob Arum is to be believed, then the Rios fight will be next up and most likely on Showtime. Arum also suggested the bout possibly being paired up with Antillon against another divisional titlist in Miguel Vazquez, with unification obviously the plan.
Whatever the case, Soto can only hope the decision making behind his next bout is more stable than Saturday’s affair. While Antillon was his opponent all along, the plan was for their bout to serve as the chief support.
Even with Chavez changing opponents before dropping out of the card altogether, it was believed that the bantamweight bout between Nonito Donaire and Wladimir Sidirenko would be elevated to the evening’s headliner.
Instead, Soto found himself in his first-ever pay-per-view lead, though by night’s end in a familiar position – his arm raised in victory while hoping that a big fight is around the corner.