By Eric Baldwin: In a controversial decision, former WBC super flyweight champion Carlos Cuadras (36-1-1, 27 KOs) defeated David Carmona (20-4-5, 8 KOs) by a 10 round unanimous on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York. The judges scored the fight 96-94, 97-93 and 97-93 for Cuadras. Boxing News 24 scored the fight a 10 round draw.
Cuadras did not look impressive in the fight. He showboating needlessly, throwing wide punches that frequently missed, and he was badly hurt at one point in the fight. The two judges that scored the fight wide in Cuadras’ favor by identical 97-93 scores, they seemed to be watching a different fight. The fans booed the decision. They clearly saw Carmona winning or at least deserving a draw.
Carmona didn’t have the punching power that Cuadras had going for him, but he was able to take control over the fight with his body punching in the second half of the contest. Carmona’s power to the body was a lot better than his punching power when throwing head shots.
In round 1, Carmona caught Cuadras frequently while he was coming forward looking to land his shots. Cuadras left himself open much of the time with the way that he would come forward throwing wide punches. That style has worked for Cuadras in the past against lesser fighters, but it wasn’t working tonight. Carmona hit Cuadras repeatedly with straight hands when he would attempt to rush him with his flailing arms.
In rounds 3 and 4, Caudras got the better of the action with his hard shots. Carmona was letting Cuadras get off his shots without throwing body shots, which as it turns out, is something that Cuadras cannot too well. Carmona was giving Cuadras too much respect at that point in the fight by focusing on his boxing rather than going after him to hit him with body shots.
Round 5 was very close with both guys landing well. Cuadras landed the harder shots, and that might have impressed the judges. It was still a round in which could have gone in favor of Carmona, because he was nailing Cuadras and making him look bad at times.
The tide of the fight started to turn in round 6, as Carmona started to land a lot of body shots. Cuadras looked amateurish in the round with the way he was swinging wildly and almost falling at times.
In round 7, Carmona hurt Cuadras with a right to the jaw. It was a big punch that had Cuadras hanging on. Carmona was cut in the hairline by a head clash during the round.
In rounds 8 and 9, Carmona dominated with his body punching and his beautiful counter shots. In round 8, Carmona landed a big right uppercut that snapped the head of Cuadras. It was a really big shot. If Carmona had a little more power, he likely would have hurt Cuadras with that punch.
Carmona didn’t do much in the 10th round. He let his foot off the accelerator and let Cuadras take the round. With the way the judges scored the fight, it wouldn’t have mattered if Carmona won the round. He was still too far behind to win.