Peter Stops Bellamy; Alvarez, Soto, Nongqayi, Solis, Sosa all Victorious

By Boxing News - 09/16/2009 - Comments

By Jim Dower: Former World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Samuel Peter (32-3, 25 KO’s) stopped 44-year-old journeyman Ron Bellamy (14-9-4, 9 KO’s) in the 2nd round last night in a scheduled eight round bout at the Plaza de Toros, in Cancun, Mexico. Peter, 29, fighting at a very slow and measured pace, dropped Bellamy with a big left hook to the head in the 1st round.

In the 2nd round, Peter battered Bellamy at will with big right hands and left hooks throughout the round. Finally, Peter trapped Bellamy in the corner and was pounding away at him with power shots when the referee stepped in and halted the one-sided fight at 1:01 of the 2nd.

For Peter, this is his second consecutive win over journeyman competition since being defeated by Vitali Klitschko and Eddie Chambers in back to back fights in 2008 and 2009. Ranked number #8 IBF and #12 WBC, Peter is in the rebuilding stage of his boxing career. He has a lot to change with his fighting style, starting with the slow pace that he tends to fight in. Since 2004, which was perhaps the zenith of Peter’s pro career, he fights much slower than he did before, and throws fewer punches than in previous fights.

In addition to that, Peter needs to get better on defense because he blocks few punches and tends to get hit a lot. Lastly, Peter’s weight has become a problem in the past four years with Peter often coming in at the mid 250s and looking really fat. Peter’s weight problems peaked in his fight with Eddie Chambers in March, when Peter came into the fight a huge 265 pounds.

He promptly lost the fight by a 10 round majority decision. Had Peter come in 20 or even 10 pounds lighter, he likely would have easily the fight. This was obviously a wake-up call for Peter to start focusing on his conditioning. For his fight with Bellamy tonight, Peter weighed in at 239, his lightest weight since 2001.

World Boxing Council super featherweight champion Humberto Soto (49-7-2, 32 KO’s) made easy work of challenger Aristides Perez (15-1-1, 8 KO’s), taking him out in the 2nd round with a big right hand to the head. Perez was able to get to his feet, but referee Florentino Lopez stopped the bout at 1:21 of the 2nd round.

Soto, 29, landed some big shots in the fight and had his way with Perez in both rounds. The win was made easier because Perez elected to trade shots with the power punching Soto, making his job easier than it might have been. Soto will now be facing Edwin Valero on November 14th, on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto bout at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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Undefeated South African Simphiwe Nongqayi (16-0, 6 KO’s) defeated Jorge Arce (52-5-1, 40 KO’s) by a 12-round unanimous decision in a fight for the vacant International Boxing Federation super flyweight title. Nongqayi made the 30-year-old Arce look like an old man, throwing fast shots and outworking the former flyweight champion over the course of the 12 round bout. The final judges’ scores were 117-112, 116-112 and 117-111.

This fight was almost as one-sided as Arce’s 11th round stoppage loss to Vic Darchinyan in February. Arce was a glutton for punishment in this fight and kept walking into punch after punch from Nongqayi. When Arce would succeed in getting close, he’d get outworked more often than not and end up with little to show for all the punches he had absorbed to get in position. With this loss, Arce needs to seriously consider retirement.

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In other action on the card, former International Boxing Federation light flyweight champion Ulises Solis (29-2-2, 20 KO’s) defeated Dirceo Cabarca (7-4, 3 KO’s) by an eight round unanimous decision. The final judges’ scores were 80-70, 80-70 and 80-70. Solis, 29, was making his first appearance since losing his IBF light flyweight title in an 11th round TKO at the hands of Brian Viloria in a bout that took place in April. This time around, Solis took an easy opponent with Cabarca, 24, and dominated him throughout, knocking Cabarca down in the 2nd and 6th rounds with power shots.

Sosa defeats Soto

World Boxing Council light flyweight champion Edgar Sosa (37-5, 20 KO’s) successfully defended his WBC title tonight, stopping challenger Omar Soto (14-5-1, 6 KO’s) in the 6th round at the Auditorio Siglo XXL, in Puebla, Mexico. Sosa, 30, knocked Soto down with a left hand in the 6th round and referee Vic Drakulich then stepped in and halted the fight. Soto, ranked #5 in the WBC, had lost two out of his last four fights coming into Tuesday night’s bout against Sosa. For Sosa, this was his 10th successful title defense of his WBC light flyweight title.

Alvarez stops Herrera

Undefeated welterweight contender Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (29-0-1, 22 KO’s) defeated Carlos Leonardo Herrera (21-2, 8 KO’s) in a 1st round stoppage victory. Alvarez, 19, rushed Herrera at the opening bell and chopped him down at 2:46 of the 1st round to defend his World Boxing Council Youth title.