(Photo credit: Andy Newman) By Jim Dower: In a battle of aging 2nd tier junior middleweights, 33-year-old southpaw Yudel Jhonson (16-1, 9 KO’s) defeated 33-year-old Norberto Gonzalez (20-4, 13 KI’s) by a one-sided 10 round unanimous decision last Friday night at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino, in Verona, New York, USA. The final judges’ scores were 97-91, 97-91 and 97-91. With the victory, Johnson captured the vacant WBC FECARBOX light middleweight title.
Jhonson knocked Gonzalez down with a straight left hand to the head in the 5th. In the 9th, Jhonson knocked Gonzalez down with another left to the head.
As good as the win was for Jhonson, it really wasn’t a big deal because he wasn’t facing a top contender at 154. It’s easy to look good when you’re not in with someone that has the skills to compete.
“At the moment with my team, my managers and promoters, Jhonson said. “I’m here to fight the top junior middleweights in the world and I proved that tonight. I’m looking for my world title shot. I’d like a rematch with Willie Nelson, to fight Ishe Smith, or any of the world champions. I’m open to fighting quality fighters to get my world title.
Jhonson is still trying to climb his way back to the top 15 after losing a lopsided 10 round unanimous decision to Willie Nelson in 2012. With Johnson still not facing really quality fighters since that loss, it’s going to likely take Johnson a considerable amount of time before he eventually gets pushed back high enough to where he can get within striking distance. At 33, Jhonson is going to need to push the pace of his career if he wants to get in position to ever get a crack at a world title.
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In a much more impressive performance, southpaw welterweight prospect Sammy Vazquez (15-0, 11 KO’s) stopped an over-matched Jay Krupp (17-7, 8 KO’s) in the 3rd round. Vazquez, 28, knocked Krupp down three times in the fight. In the 3rd, Vazquez nailed Krupp with a left to the head that knocked him flat. The fight was then halted at 1:19 of the round by referee Benjy Esteves Jr.
At 28, Vazquez is going to need to start fighting better opposition soon if he wants to get in the position to fight for a world title someday. He’s kind of advanced in age to be still fighting this level of opposition.
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Middleweight prospect Ievgen Khytrov (5-0, 5 KO’s) picked up his 5th consecutive knockout in defeating Chris Chatman (12-4-1, 5 KO’s) in winning a tougher than expected 3rd round knockout. Khytrov, 25, fought in the 2012 Olympics for Ukraine. But against Chatman, Khytrov really struggled with Chatman’s high work rate and constantly changing punching angles. Khytrov’s lack of hand speed made the fight more difficult than it should have been, as Chatman, 5’8”, was there to be picked apart if Khytrov had stayed on the outside and use his jab. But instead of jabbing, Khytrov opted to slug with Chatman the entire fight, and this led to Khytrov getting hit an awful lot.
In the 3rd round, Khytrov landed a hard right-left combination that knocked Chatman out. It the perfect combination and there was no way he was going to be able to get up from the knockdown.
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