DeLeon Crushes McGirt Jr; Santana Decisions Lopez

By Boxing News - 04/13/2008 - Comments

mcgirt4633.jpgBy Chris Stein: In a minor bout between sons of former champions, hard-punching super middleweight prospect Carlos Deleon Jr. (20-2-2, 13 KOs) came from behind to stop James McGirt Jr. (18-1, 9 KOs) in the 7th round on Friday night at the Miccosukee Resort & Gaming, in Miami, Florida. Also on the card was a light welterweight bout between prospects Edgar Santana (24-3, 15 KOs) and Josesito Lopez (22-3, 13 KOs).

Santana, 29, came from behind after seeming to lose all of the first five rounds, including the 8th round in which he was knocked down twice. However, due to his strong finish in the last two rounds, Santana somehow came out on the winning end, even though he appeared to have lost the fight by at least a couple of rounds. None of the fighters on the card were what I consider future champions, but it was interesting boxing none the less regardless of their mediocre skills.

In the first bout, super middleweight prospect James McGirt Jr., the son of the famous trainer Buddy McGirt, was having his way with the hard punching, but raw-skilled Carlos Deleon Jr., the son of former cruiserweight champion Carlos Deleon. The southpaw McGirt controlled the action for most of the fight, using a strong body attack and excellent boxing skills to avoid the wild right hands from Deleon. It was clear early on that Deleon only had one chance in which to win the fight, that was by knockout since he wasn’t in the same class as McGirt in terms of overall boxing skills or ring movement.

That’s not to say that McGirt, 25, is all that talented of a fighter, because I don’t see him ever being a top 15 contender, much less a future super middleweight champion; It’s just that McGirt, an average fighter at best, looked to be a little better than Deleon, who appeared to have tremendous punching power going for him and little else. In fact, Deleon looked mostly like an unskilled amateur for most of the fight, as he swung wildly at times with huge punches, often missing badly and looking like a backyard brawl-type fighter rather than a professional boxer.

In the first round, McGirt Jr., 25, looked very mechanical with rather poor handspeed as he shot out his slow jabs and even slower hooks to the body and head. It didn’t matter, however, because Deleon didn’t have much in the way of speed either going for him, and wasn’t thinking of throwing fast punches as he seemed to be stalking McGirt with knockout intentions in mind. The first round went to McGirt, who landed a number of good right hooks and left hands to the body of Deleon.

McGirt was on his way to winning the 2nd round, when he got tagged with several hard right hands from Deleon in the closing 30 seconds of the round. It had been a perfect round for McGirt up to that point, hitting Deleon with some beautiful right hooks to the midsection. McGirt, however, got careless and left his guard down a little too often in the final seconds of the round, and was tagged with several hard right hands to the jaw. One of the punches was especially hard, snapping McGirt’s head back violently. He was fortunate that Deleon didn’t follow up with a few more shots because McGirt was clearly stunned by the punch and was vulnerable to being knocked out in the round.

In rounds three though six, McGirt looked really good, throwing hooks to the body, jabs to the head and nailing the slower Deleon with straight left hands as he would come forward to engage. It was McGirt, a relatively weak puncher, that landed the better shots in these round as Deleon wasn’t able to pull the trigger on a consistent basis. However, McGirt got careless early in the 5th round and was nailed by a huge right hand from Deleon, cutting McGirt under his right eye in the process. It was a huge punch, and it was remarkable that McGirt took it without going down. Deleon, 28, followed up with several other big shots after that punch but was unable to drop McGirt.

Instead of playing it safe, McGirt immediately went back to work, throwing hard body shots and straight left hands to the head of Deleon. Both fighters traded big shots in the final minute of the round with neither getting the advantage. Deleon fought especially well in the sixth round, nailing McGirt often with left hands, and appeared to be winning the round when McGirt all of a sudden knocked him down with a right to to the top of Deleon’s head in the final seconds of the round. The round ended before McGirt could follow up with any additional shots.

In the 7th round, Deleon almost immediately landed a huge left hook to the head of McGirt, staggering him badly in the process. Deleon then landed three hooks to the midsection of McGirt followed by two huge left hands, staggering McGirt further. Deleon then calmly walked up and measured McGirt and landed a perfect left uppercut to the chin, dropping McGirt onto the canvas. He immediately got up, perhaps too soon, I might add.

The referee then put back in McGirt’s mouthpiece which he had spit out upon being knocked down. After asking him if he as okay, and McGirt giving him a strange look as he said that he was, the fight resumed. McGirt probably should have stayed down, for he was more hurt than he realized, and Deleon quickly capitalized on it by landing a series of left hands, ending with another left uppercut, this one a monstrous shot, that snapped McGirt’s head back, sending him down to the canvas for the 2nd and final time in the round. This time, the referee Jorge Ortiz didn’t bother to count, and immediately stopped the fight at 1:20 of the 7th round.

In the other bout on the card, 29 year-old Edgar Santana (24-3, 15 KOs) came back from a huge deficit, seeming to lose the first five rounds of the fight, to grab control of it by winning rounds six, nine and ten. He was battered around the ring in the 8th round, getting dropped twice by big left hooks to the midsection of Lopez. However, Lopez, 23, appeared to have punched himself out in the process and never regained his strength in the 9th and 10th, allowing Santana to win the rounds and eventually the fight based on his strong finish.

All total, Lopez should have won the fight due to him having dominated in the first five rounds, including his two knockdowns in the 8th, but in boxing the fight often goes to the fighter than finishes the strongest, regardless of what happens earlier in the fight. Santana didn’t look overly impressive in the fight, showing average poor and a poor work rate for a light welterweight. He did look decent in the last two rounds, but plain awful in the first 8 rounds of the fight when Lopez was dominating the action.

In the end, Santana appeared to have a little bit better power and stamina, which was the deciding factor. The final judges’ scores were 94-94, 95-93 and 95-93.