By Matt Lieberman: Yenifel Vicente may have earned himself a suspension for his 10th round disqualification defeat against featherweight contender Jessie Magdaleno last Thursday night at The Bubble, in MGM Grand, Las Vegas.
Vicente lost three points in round four for fouls and another deduction in round ten.
Fringe contender Vicente was supposed to be a showcase fight for the 28-year-old former WBO super bantamweight champion Magdaleno (28-1, 18 KOs). Still, instead, it ended up being a painful night for him in getting fouled reportedly with low blows the entire 10-round match.
The fight was a mismatch and not a competitive one that fans would have liked to have seen. It wasn’t just the low blows that marred the Magdaleno-Vicente contest.
It wasn’t a great match-up, as Magdaleno was the far better fighter than Vicente. Magdaleno fought 122-pound bottom fringe contender in Vicente instead of a top-ranked 126-pound contender.
Vicente hit Magdaleno low many times
The referee Robert Byrd, who has been in the boxing game for many years, penalized the 33-year-old Vicente four times in the fight before he disqualified him in round ten.
The contest was stopped at 1:38 of round 10. Some boxing fans believe that Byrd would have given ‘The Lightning’ Vicente the hook much earlier in the fight to save Magdaleno from absorbing the amount of punishment that he took in the nether regions
In reaction to the ugly performance by Vicente, Nevada State Athletic commissioner Bob Bennett is considering whether to suspend Vicente. Just how long a suspension would be is unclear.
With the pandemic, a short suspension might not be a big deal considering the lack of opportunities for fights in the near term. Even the famous boxers aren’t in action right now.
“There were several shots below the belt,” NSAC commissioner Bob Bennett said to ESPN. “Referee Byrd took points and as the executive director I am considering moving forward with a recommendation of a suspension or a letter of reprimand to Vicente.”
It’s up to Vicente if he wants to meet with the Nevada Commission to explain what happened before they decide on whether to suspend him.
Magdaleno would have liked to have seen the referee Byrd suspend Vicente earlier in the contest to save him from getting hit low so often.
In the fourth round, Vicente hit Madaleno with a headshot after hurting him with a low blow. Magdaleno viewed that as a dirty move as well by Vicente.
Magdaleno wants Vicente suspended
“I think he should be penalized,” Magdaleno said. “I think he should be penalized for what he did. It was just a foul move that he did.
They should do something to either suspend him for the rest of the year or take something from his pay.”
Suspending Vicente for the remainder of 2020 could be a slap on the wrist, and not do a whole lot. Unless the situation with the pandemic clears up before the end of 2020, there won’t be many opportunities for fighters to see action this year. The boxers that were selected by Top Rank to fight on their cards this week were the lucky ones.
There are a lot of fighters that are sitting and waiting for boxing to start up. It’s possible that it won’t fully return until after a vaccine is developed and given out to the public—as such, suspending Vicente for the remainder of 2020 won’t do much.
It’ll make Vicente think before the throws a punch in the future because he can’t afford to get a reputation for being a fighter that throws a lot of low blows.
Jessie hoping for a title shot against Gary Russell Jr
After the fight, #1 WBC ranked Magdaleno said he would like to challenge for a world title against WBO 126-pound champion Gary Russell Jr.
It’s debatable whether Magdaleno deserves a title shot against Russell Jr after fighting a low-ranked fringe contender like Vicente, who doesn’t have a top 15 ranking at 126. Vicente was picked from the 122-pound weight class to face Magdaleno, and he’s ranked at #12 WBO and #15 IBF.
In an ideal situation, you’d like to see Magdaleno fight a contender at 126 before challenging for a world title against Russell. But as far as Magdaleno’s chances go against Russell, probably not good.
Russell Jr is on another level than Magdaleno in terms of overall talent, and it might not be competitive. Further, Magdaleno showed the same stamina problems against Vicente that he did in his 11th round knockout defeat to Isaac Deogboe in April 2018.
Magdaleno faded halfway through that fight and had nothing left in the second part of the contest. Dogboe then battered the tried Magdaleno until stopping him in the 11th. Without improvements in Magdaleno’s conditioning, he won’t stand a chance against a talented champion like Russell.
You can’t go far in boxing if your stamina only allows you to fight hard for five rounds when facing quality fighters. Vicente isn’t a quality, which is why Magdaleno didn’t have any problems. But if you put Magdaleno in with Russell right now, he’ll likely fall apart midway through the fight.
A better idea would be for Magdaleno to go after one of the other champions at 126 that is arguably less talented than Russell Jr. These are the champions Magdaleno should be targeting to increase his chances of winning a title at 126-
- Can Xu – WBA ‘regular’ champion
- Josh Warrington – IBF
