By Jim Dower: Previously unbeaten featherweight prospect Leonilo Miranda (30-1, 28 KOs) stopped in the 5th round by Puerto Rican Orlando Cruz (16-0-1, 7 KOs) last night at the Million Dollar Elm Casino, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The end came suddenly for the 26-year-old Miranda when he walked into a big left hand in the 5th, flattening him. Miranda got to his feet but then fell back against the ropes where he hung there with both arms outstretched on the ropes like a big spider. Referee Steve Smoger than promptly stopped the fight at 0:39 of the 5th.
Cruz, 27, looked nothing special initially, throwing few punches and looking tentative in the 1st round. Though he landed some nice jabs in the opening round, it was no match for Miranda’s heavy left hand shots that he landed in the round. Miranda, a knockout artist from Sonora, Mexico, showed excellent power in the opening round but also showing zero defense. Still, he had more than enough to take the first round over Cruz. In the last thirty seconds of the round, Miranda landed some hard body shots and lefts to the head of Cruz.
In the 2nd round, Miranda fought passively, not pressing the action and staying on the outside and getting hit with jabs and fast combinations from Cruz. Neither fighter seemed interested in fighting in close, seemingly content to stand and trade long range bombs at each other.
With Miranda doing little, Cruz seemed to pick up some confidence and began to land more shots. However, the action was hardly interesting to watch for featherweights and by the last minute of the round, there were some people in the audience booing the lack of action.
Miranda fought well in the third round, attacking hard and landing big left hands to the head of Cruz. When Miranda was coming forward throwing shots, Cruz, not much of a puncher himself, was no match and had to turn tail and run in order to stay out of range of Miranda’s big punches.
Miranda landed a big left hand near the end of the round, knocking out Cruz’s mouthpiece in the process. At this point, it appeared that Miranda was picking up steam and possibly moving towards victory. However, he seemed to have shot his load in this round, throwing his best punches and trying to get Cruz out of there. When Cruz remained standing, Miranda looked like he had nothing left in the following rounds.
Cruz began to nail Miranda more and more in the 4th round, landing straight left hands and combinations. Miranda’s nose began to bleed in the round after taking a left right on the nose. It’s unclear if it was broken but it seemed to bother him a lot and it might have made it difficult for him to breathe properly. Miranda also was cut under his right eye, but the cut wasn’t bad.
In the 5th round, Cruz came forward and landed a jab and then a straight left hand that dropped Miranda to the canvas on his back. Badly hurt, Miranda barely made it to his feet at the count of nine but then fell back against the ropes with both of his arms stretched out to the sides. Referee Steve Smoger than halted the bout at 0:39 of the 5th.