By Peter Wells (twitter @boxingbrains): Amazing, scintillating, exhilarating, these are just some of the superlatives being used right now to describe Marcos Maidana’s incredible 6th round TKO of Josesito Lopez. It was just that kind of a fight, and that is what boxing fans around the world have been witnessing throughout this incredible 2013. Lopez and Maidana were simply following suit.
Between 140lbs and 154lbs, the fight game has been absorbing fantastic matchups that are promising much, but delivering even more. Which brings along with it the question. Are we in the middle of a new golden era of boxing? With the amount of talent situated between three weight classes, every month there is at least one fight that is grabbing our attention. In just two weeks time Paulie Malignaggi will be taking on Adrien Broner in another cheek turning event in the Welterweight division. I am not suggesting we are witnessing anything close to the ‘Four Kings’ era but what we have now is very similar to what was absorbing late night TV sets in the 90’s with the sensational matchups in the Middleweight and Super Middleweight divisions. In fact this may be even better.
You may not agree with what I’m saying. Everyone is too busy discussing how much boxing has gone down the drain to notice that in fact something good is happening in the ‘Sweet Science’. Danny Garcia, Lucas Matthysse, Amir Khan, Adrien Broner, Mike Alvardo, Brandon Rios, Timothy Bradley, Juan Manuel Marquez, Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather, Austin Trout and Saul Alvarez, are just some of the fighters that could be pitted against one another in the coming years (barring the usual factors which deny us great fights, that boxing fans seem so quick to highlight).
But while we sadly cannot predict the future, we must instead switch back to Saturday night when Marcos Maidana and Josesito Lopez had fans spouting about how great boxing is. Almost six terrific rounds had flown by when referee Lou Moret intervened, much to the displeasure of Lopez who protested that he should have been allowed more of a chance to fight his way out of danger. Although there seemed good reason for his anger, the last thing we wish to see is a fighter being badly hurt in the ring and for that reason I have to agree with the officials timing of the stoppage.
Up until the stoppage Lopez and Maidana were involved in a back and forth war, where both fighters had already been hurt in previous rounds. Lopez – whom I had ahead 48-47 going into the 6th – seemed to be doing more damage to his Argentinian opponent, much to the surprise of most at ringside and watching on Showtime (in the USA) or Boxnation (in the UK).
In the opening round the two fighters were holding back the big guns, yet the intent of going to battle was there in both boxers early work. The Home Depot Center exploded to life in the 2nd round as the bombs began to fly. Big overhand rights were landing flush on Maidana’s chin, but the former Light Welterweight returned fire with two fisted flurries.
Fan-favourite Israel Vazquez sitting ringside, was enjoying every second of the non-stop brawling that he engaged in so often in his memorable fights.
In the third the fireworks were lit as Maidana backed Lopez up, only for the Mexican-American to fire back, going to work downstairs before spraying punches to the head of Maidana. Although I was still scoring the bout, it was obvious that it was a pointless task… This one was not going the distance!
The 4th carried on in the same vain. Suddenly I was tweeting as frenetically as the two warriors were throwing punches, and ‘caps lock’ was turned on to emphasise what I was witnessing. One of my tweets read “TWO big rights and a big left then goes to the body all from JOSESITO LOPEZ!!!” The first turning point of the night came in the 4th round as Lopez was clearly taking over the fight. Lopez hurt Maidana badly, seconds before Maidana fell to the canvas, but Moret ruled it a slip.
The 5th round then took another dramatic twist, as when looking comfortable, Lopez was caught flush and with his back against the ropes was pummelled for the remainder of the round. Although Lopez was throwing back Maidana had for the first time stamped his authority on the contest.
Then came the finish. Lopez, hurt from several sickening uppercuts finally went down. Now unable to keep Maidana off of him Lopez succumbed again. The end was in sight and Maidana’s relentless assault forced the referee to intervene.
In his second stoppage defeat Lopez drops to 30-6(18), while the victor Marcos Maidana improves to 34-3(31). Lopez’s style and heart has once again won him more support and it may well win him a few more paydays in the Welterweight division. As for Maidana, the question as to whether he will fight fellow Argentinian Lucas Matthysse lingers more than ever.
The co-feature wasn’t too shabby itself, as Erislandy Lara fought tooth and nail to defeat Alfredo Angulo. Although negative in his last outing, the Cuban, Lara survived two knockdowns before stopping Angulo in the 10th round. After a punch caught Angulo in the eye, the Mexican’s orbital bone was left terribly swollen. Angulo and his corner rightly called off the fight, not wanting to risk the fighters vision.
Prior to the stoppage, Lara was twice on the canvas but outside of the knockdowns, delightfully out boxed the Mexican in range, much to the delight of the fans, who were served two exciting fights in one night. My scorecard read 85-85 at the time of the stoppage.
Angulo drops to 22-3(18) while Lara moves to 18-1(12), and with bouts against Carlos Molina, Paul Williams and now Angulo, it seems about time the exciting Cuban talent received a shot at a world title.
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