By John G. Thompson: Acapulco, Mexico hosted some fantastic boxing Saturday evening, which sadly did not receive an English broadcast in the United States. In any event, the Top Rank production broadcast on Fox Sports in Espanol and Mexico Azteca contained some of the most thrilling boxing of the weekend, showcasing future stars Urbano Antillon and Giovanni Segura.

Urbano Antillon 27-1 (20 KO’s) stopped Luis Antonio Arceo 22-9-2 (15 KO’s) when a deep cut opened over the eye of Arceo in the third round and blood began to pour over his face and chest. Antillon, the 2000 National Golden Gloves Lightweight Champion and former NABF & NABO Super Featherweight Champion, controlled the action from the start, backing up Arceo with his obvious edge in power. The action intensified in the second round as Antillon would back Arceo into the ropes and then unleash a hard volley of punches. Arceo tried his best to move forward and stay off the ropes, which resulted in great exchanges as each man vied for control of the fight.

Antillon again pressed the action in the third and Arceo did everything he could to stay off the ropes and keep the battle in the center of the ring – though he attempted to do so with punches instead of movement. It was hard to tell what exactly caused the cut, however, it was ruled to have been caused by a punch and the action was stopped with ten seconds left in the third round.

In the second bout, Omar Chavez 20-0-1 (15 KO’s), the youngest son of all time great Julio Cesar Chavez, faced off against Eugenio Lopez 12-16-1. Lopez came out swinging wildly at times, perhaps hoping to catch Chavez with a lucky punch. Unfortunately for Lopez, it was Chavez who caught him with a vicious left hook as Lopez tried to move away from him along the ropes. It was an instant first round knockout for the son of the Mexican boxing legend.

In the next match, seventeen year old Adrian Young 6-0 (6 KO’s) put on a thrilling display of ring savvy against twenty year old Orlando Garcia 3-12 (2 KO’s). Both fighters looked extremely focused from the start. Each traded a few shots early on. At 5’8” Young used his height advantage over the 5’2” Garcia to throw from the outside. Young landed a solid right at one point which seemed to buckle the legs of Garcia. Young tried to follow it up with a combination which Garcia ducked, and then landed a counter left-right combination of his own.

In the second round, Young continued to land from outside, tagging Garcia with the cleaner and more effective punches. Garcia would try to counter with wild shots which would miss. At one point Garcia did land a couple rights and then an uppercut which seemed to hurt Young. Young started backing away, not throwing until his back touched the corner of the ring. Young seemed to brush off the cobwebs and threw more punches at the end of the round.

Garcia spent the first minute of the third round chasing Young around the ring as if he had still not recovered. Young did appear reluctant to throw, as if the huge counter punches of Garcia had him worried. Young did eventually land, and land big. He hit Garcia with a right-left-right combination which backed Garcia into the ropes. Garcia moved away and threw a wild right uppercut. The uppercut missed and Young countered with a hard right which sent Garcia into the ropes, doubled over, wincing in pain. The referee saw that Garcia was defenseless and justifiably stopped the entertaining match.

If the previous fights set the bar high, the main event tore off the roof. The defending WBA World Light Flyweight Champion Giovanni Segura 23-1-1 (19 KO’s) came out setting a blistering pace for Walter Tello 14-4 (6 KO’s). Segura landed a monstrous shot early on which sent Tello into the ropes. Segura followed up going for the early stoppage, but Tello held on and continued to trade shots with the champion. Both men alternated between landing body and headshots. Toward the end of the round Segura came forward trying to smother Tello with punches, however, Tello wound up turning the tables on him, pinning Segura against the ropes and smothering him with punches until the bell rang.

Both men came out with a furious pace in the next couple rounds, though Segura was pushing the action. It seemed as though there was no way this pace could continue for long; both men swinging and landing. Segura would catch Tello with hard hooks to the head and Tello would simply come right back with punches of his own, showing little regard for blocking his head, his hands down and punches coming up from waist level. One right hook of Segura caught Tello particularly well, and Tello appeared almost out on his feat, though he continued to bob and weave. Segura came in for the finish, but somehow Tello threw some punches at the bell as if he knew he had to (on some unconscious level) in order to survive.

Tello’s legs did not look one hundred percent at the start of the fourth round. Segura compounded Tello’s problems by landing a hurtful uppercut which completely staggered Tello. Segura kept throwing and Tello held on with the referee taking a good look at him. Segura landed a few more right hooks and Tello went down in the corner of the ring. Tello got up and the referee let the match continue. Tello’s legs looked completely gone, yet somehow he started throwing back. A right-left combination severely buckled Tello’s legs again. After a few more right hooks, the referee mercifully stopped the bout and Giovanni Segura walked away with another stoppage win.

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