TIME TO UNIFY
Santa Cruz eases past Rivera to – hopefully – set up a clash with a fellow champion, writes Sean Nam
IN a fight that did little to whet the appetite, California-based Mexican Leo Santa Cruz cruised to a comfortable unanimous decision in front of his hometown crowd against Tijuana’s game but sorely outclassed Rafael Rivera at the Microsoft Theater. This was Santa Cruz’s third defence of his WBA featherweight title since regaining it from Carl Frampton in their January 2017 rematch. All three judges – Max Deluca, Lou Moret and Zachary Young – scored the bout the same way: 119-109 in favour of Santa Cruz. Despite the onesided nature of the contest – not that the reported 5,137 partisan fans in attendance were much bothered – there were no knockdowns and neither fighter had each other truly imperiled. Truth be told, the fight had something of the flavour of a sparring session. Thomas Taylor officiated.
A late replacement for original opponent Miguel Flores, Rivera came out hurtling hard straight rights and left hooks, some of which managed to cut through Santa Cruz’s stationary high guard. Rivera, however, would not keep up this pace for long. In round three, both fighters opened up and began to trade, though it was Santa Cruz, the longer and bigger of the two, who was landing the cleaner punches, especially with his trademark left to the body. In the middle rounds, Santa Cruz used his range-finding jab to keep Rivera’s offence holstered. Though Rivera would answer with his own flurries – usually in the last 10 seconds of each round – his best punches elicited nothing more than a wide grin from Santa Cruz.
Looking ahead to his next fight, Santa Cruz called out the usual suspects in Gary Russell Jnr, Oscar Valdez, Josh Warrington and even Frampton. That a unification fight with WBC title-holder and Premier Boxing Champions stablemate Russell has not yet happened continues to boggle the mind.
On the TGB Promotions undercard, EX-WBC lightweight champ Omar Figueroa Jnr (Weslaco, Texas) outlasted John Molina Jnr (Covina, California) in a closely contested 10-round slugfest that was somewhat marred by wide scorecards. The judges favoured Figueroa’s voluminous punch output over Molina’s occasional crowd-swooning right hand. Edward Hernandez Snr had it 99-91, Pat Russell 98-92 and Rudy Barragan 97-93, all for Figueroa, who, to be sure, is not exactly this era’s most disciplined prizefighter. If missing weight is the telltale sign of a dilettante, Figueroa, uniquely, has had to deal with relatively few repercussions in his career. He continues to appear on major broadcasts and gets paid handsomely, courtesy of his powerful manager, Al Haymon. This fight was no different, as Figueroa had originally requested the bout to be arranged at the super-lightweight limit. With a few weeks to go, Figueroa asked for a catchweight of 146lbs. The coddling, at times, is maddening.
What cannot be questioned is Figueroa’s granite chin. In round five, Molina uncorked an overhand right that detonated on Figueroa’s left temple, knocking him into the ropes. But Figueroa took it well – almost too well, as a perverse smile dawned on his face. Jack Reiss refereed.
Sebastian Fundora recorded a stoppage of Buffalo’s Donnie Marshall at 1-08 of the third round (set for eight) in a clash of unbeaten super-welterweights. The 6ft 7in southpaw Fundora (Coachella, California) figures to be a nightmarish matchup for anyone in his division. Early on, Marshall had success countering with straight rights. In the third, however, Fundora uncorked a left uppercut that sent Marshall tumbling. Referee Jerry Cantu soon intervened.
Ryosuke Iwasa, of Kashiwa, Japan, earned a technical decision over Mexico City’s Cesar Juarez in an entertaining eliminator for Iwasa’s old IBF superbantamweight title that was stopped due to cuts on Juarez. Referee Reiss called off the bout after the 10th round (scheduled for 12), at which point judges Jonathan Davis and Steve Morrow had Iwasa ahead 97-93 and 98-92 respectively, while Hernandez had it all even at 95-95.
Boksburg, South Africa’s Deejay Kriel crafted his own storybook ending when he dropped Mexican-american
Carlos Licona (Westminster, California) three times in the 12th round of their IBF strawweight title bout. Entering the final stanza, Kriel trailed by seven points on two of the judges’ scorecards. The challenger scored the first knockdown via a blistering straight right that Licona would never recover from. The clock read 2-16 when referee Wayne Hedgpeth halted the fight.
THE VERDICT Let’s hope that a bigger test awaits Santa Cruz in his next bout.