By Jim Dower: Undefeated lightweight prospect Luis Ramos (12-0, 7 KO’s) defeated journeyman Sandro Marcos by a 6th round TKO in a one-sided fight on Thursday night at the Club Nokia, in Los Angeles, California. Ramos, 21, dropped the 35-year-old Marcos twice in the 1st and another time in the 6th. The fight was stopped after Ramos dropped Marcos right a right-left combination in the 6th. Marcos got to his feet by referee Jerry Cantu decided to stop the bout at 0:59 of the round.
Ramos came into the fight as the prospect, and looked sensational in the 1st round knocking Marcos down with a left hook to the head near the end of the round. Ramos again put Marcos down moments later, this time with a powerful right uppercut to the head. Luckily for Marcos that this came at the end of the round because Ramos would have likely finished the job had there been a little more time left in the round.
In rounds 2nd through four, Ramos stopped looking so sensational and started getting hit with some big shots from Marcos. Ramos continued to dominate most of the exchanges with the journeyman but he was getting nailed more and more by bigger punching Marcos and not looking good. In the 4th round, Marcos landed a tremendous right hand to the head of Ramos. He took the shot well but it was a punch that Ramos should have seen and picked off because it was so badly telegraphed.
The bout changed in the 5th, as Marcos now looked tired and retreated to the ropes in the middleweight of the round. Ramos then teed off on him at the spot and hit him with a number of huge shots to the head. Marcos only threw three punches in the round and was hit with an enormous amount of shots. I expected the fight to be stopped in between rounds.
However, Marcos came out of the 6th looking tired and beaten. Ramos then pressured Marcos to the ropes and resumed hammering him with big shots. As Marcos was working his way of the ropes, Ramos nailed him with a right-left combination to put Marcos down. The bout was then stopped by referee Jerry Cantu at 0:59 as Marcos got to his feet.
Although I think Ramos looked decent, he has a lot of problems he needs to work out with his defense before I could even consider him as a contender. He’s too wide open right now and his power and hand speed need to improve before he’ll make it to the next level. I can’t see that happening unfortunately. I think he’ll make a good B level fighter but can’t see him ever going beyond that.
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Undefeated lightweight prospect Carlos Molina (8-0, 4 KO’s) took out Ever Luis Perez (11-18, 8 KO’s) in the 4th round. Molina hurt Perez with a right hand in the 4th and then unloaded on him with a storm of punches until referee Jerry Cantu stepped in and stopped the bout at 2:39 of the 4th. Molina fought in an upright manner, looking as if he had a stick tied to his back that prevented him from moving his torso. His hand speed and power were average at best. I didn’t see anything there that would indicate that he’ll be a future contender, though.
Perez, who came into the fight having lost 14 of his last 17 fights, dominated the 1st round, hitting Molina over and over again with combinations. Molina’s defense was nonexistent as he was hit cleanly many times in the round and seemed unable to block anything. In the 2nd round, Molina was slightly busier, landing a lot of weak shots and doing just enough to win the round with his combos.
It was still very unimpressive. In the 3rd, Perez once again dominated the round and did almost all the punching in the round. At this point, if someone were to ask me which fighter looked like he had the better potential, I’d have to have pointed out Perez, because he looked a lot sharper compared to the sluggish Molina.
In the 4th round, Molina suddenly turned things around when he was able to hurt Perez with a right hand. Molina then unloaded with a blizzard of shots as Perez attempted to cover up. The referee finally had seen enough and stepped in and stopped the bout at 2:39 of the round.
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In somewhat of an upset, undefeated super bantamweight prospect Derrick Wilson (5-0-1, 2 KO’s) destroyed Charles Huerta (11-1, 7 KO’s) in the 1st round of a scheduled six round bout. Huerta made the mistake of going out fast and attacking Wilson with hard shots without thinking about defense. Wilson attempted to land a big right hand but it missed by a mile.
However, you could tell that Wilson had a lot of power from that swing alone, and Huerta should have backed off and fought a little more carefully. Instead, he kept swinging and was nailed by a huge left hook from Wilson that knocked Huerta down. Huerta tried to get to his knees but stumbled back on the canvas. The referee Raul Caiz, seeing how hurt Huerta was, stopped the fight at 0:59 of the round.
“I wanted to take my time but he came out aggressive himself,” Wilson said after the fight.
Of the prospects that fought on the card, the only one that I could see that had any talent was this Wilson kid. He might develop into something special if they can work more with him. Only 20, Wilson has a lot of time to keep improving in the future.
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German heavyweight prospect Hermann Binek (8-1, 6 KO’s) defeated American Yohan Banks (2-3-2. 1 KO’s) by a four-round unanimous decision. The final judges’ scores were 39-37, 39-37 and 39-37. Binkek, 35, outworked the 34-year-old Banks over the course of the four-round bout, getting the better of him with straight left hands. Neither were exactly light on their feet as both of them slugged it out like it was a remake of War of the Gargantuans.
Just seconds into the fight, one of the ring posts fell apart. The action then had to be stopped while a crew of workers worked feverishly to repair the post. In the meantime, the fighters sat on stools in the center of the ring waiting.
It looked very strange with them sitting there instead of at the corners. After the action was allowed to resume, Binek and Banks traded shots with Banks getting the better of the action with his combinations. It was far from pretty, though, as both fighters looked sloppy, slow, and weak. Both of them missed a good percentage of their punches, especially Banks.
Binek fought well in the 2nd round, landing straight left hands to the head. There were few punches that actually landed in the round because both continued to look sloppy and miss a lot. There were frequent clinches in the round, which usually sprang about after Banks would rush forward wildly, missing his shots and falling into Binek clumsily.
The third round was all Binek as he teed off with left hands and throwing little else. Banks landed next to nothing in the round and was limited to only a handful of punches that connected. In the 4th round, Banks went all out, taking the fight to Binek and landing a lot of nice shots in the round. Binek was unable to match Banks’ output in the round.
I didn’t see any true winner in this fight. Although Binek fought well in the 2nd and 3rd rounds, Banks did a good job in the 1st and 4th rounds. He didn’t deserve to lose this fight.