LAS VEGAS, NEVADA — Marcos Maidana may have turned back the challenge of Erik Morales at the MGM Hotel & Casino tonight, but it was the Mexican legend’s unexpectedly heroic performance that will undoubtedly be remembered most.
Few gave Morales (51-7, 35 KOs) of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico any hope of even making the fight competitive in the days and weeks leading up to the fight. More than a few experts were fearful for Morales’ well-being. But after twelve wildly entertaining rounds, some of those same experts were calling for a rematch.
One of the top four fighters in the light welterweight division, Maidana (30-2, 27 KOs) of Jose Leon Suarez, Buenos Aires, Argentina took the Mexican head on and pounded his way to the deserved majority decision.
Maidana, 140, got off to a solid start, as he forced Morales, 140, to the ropes in the very early going. Maidana found Morales’ body with his left hand and shot an uppercut that got the Mexican’s attention. Morales did land one right in the first that seemed to perk up Maidana and prompt the Argentine to close out the round throwing. Morales returned to the corner with a rapidly swelling right eye at the end of round one.
Maidana, the WBA #1 ranked light welterweight, began the second surprisingly measured, but eventually forced Morales to the ropes with a left to the body and a following combination. Morales came off the ropes throwing, and landed one right that looked good and excited the crowd.
In the third, again Maidana fought more tentatively than advertised, and may have allowed Morales to take the round with his jab and greater output. Early in the fourth, Morales landed a counter left hook that landed clean, but the round was mostly Maidana’s. If Morales’ right eye was not bad enough, he was now dealing with a cut over his left as well.
Maidana caught Morales with a right early in the fifth, but the Mexican returned fire with a combination that stopped the always fearless Maidana in his tracks. The warriors took turns rallying off flurries, but Morales landed a right uppercut that backed up Maidana. Glimpses of a younger Morales would flash intermittently throughout the fight. In one such instance, Morales made Maidana miss and countered beautifully circa 2002. Maidana walked slowly across the ring to his corner when the bell for the fifth sounded.
Each fighter had their moments in the sixth, as Morales did well early, but began to tire towards the end. Maidana came on, catching Morales clean with a looping right. Morales fired back and had Maidana in trouble before the round ended. Maidana began the seventh with a jab that staggered Morales, and took the round pretty clearly.
Morales, ranked WBA #5 entering the bout, battled back in the eighth, staggering Maidana, who rolled around behind his opponent and went for a rabbit punch. Morales came back with a one-two combination that had Maidana in trouble again. Not to be outdone, Maidana fired a right, left combination, to which Morales nodded back. Maidana tried pressuring Morales, but the Mexican warrior managed to evade the Argentine until the end of the round.
Maidana hurt Morales with a left to the body, and followed with two more to his back. Just as Maidana began to put the hurt on Morales, “El Terrible” battled back with a combination that stunned the Argentine. Morales pressured Maidana against the ropes and appeared to have Maidana in some trouble. Morales went for a wild punch that missed and forced his head through the ropes. Maidana, who had been rough and somewhat dirty, missed an opportunity to capitalize. By the end of the ninth, Morales’ right eye was not only swollen shut, but a large knot was forming around the socket.
Morales continued to keep the fight in close in the tenth, landing a right. Morales caught Maidana lazily waiting for a break with an overhand right, and followed with a left uppercut. Maidana was forced back to the ropes, but landed a stiff left that had Morales in trouble before the bell.
Another Maidana left hurt Morales in the eleventh. Just when everything was going his way, Maidana gassed out and stood winded, looking to gain a breath. But the 2011 version of Morales could not take advantage of the moment, and Maidana came on to close out the round strong.
Another right rocked Morales to start the twelfth, but it was the Mexican that got the best of the following exchange. As the round came to an end, it was Marcos Maidana that pulled an Erik Morales – throwing everything right at the ten second warning for the final bell. HBO’s unofficial scorer Harold Lederman had the fight a draw, as did one of the official scorers. But alas, the potentially monumental upset was not to be, as Maidana took the other two cards 116-112.
At the post-fight press conference, promoter Oscar De La Hoya pointed the finger at some of those media members who talked down the fight when it was made and said, “I told you so.” De La Hoya stated he would like to put together the Maidana-Morales rematch, something both Maidana and Morales seemed to welcome.
In a thrilling action fight, Robert Guerrero (29-1-1, 18 KOs) of Gilroy, California waged war for twelve rounds with Michael Katsidis (27-4, 22 KOs) of Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. It was the type of fight Katsidis has become known for, but this time he met up with a stronger and more scientifically skilled foe in Guerrero, who came away with a wide unanimous decision to claim two interim titles.
Guerrero, the WBA #1/WBO #1/IBF #4 ranked lightweight entering the bout, flexed his muscle early and often. Determined as always, Katsidis, the WBA #2/WBO #3 ranked 135-pounder, came forward and was effective in spots, especially when Guerrero could be enticed to go blow-for-blow.
In the second round, Katsidis rocked Guerrero with a left. When Guerrero fell back, it appeared that his right glove touched the canvas. It was not ruled a knockdown by referee Russell Mora, who may have felt the fall was the result of contact between their feet. Whatever the cause, it seemed to provoke Guerrero into a firefight. Guerrero comes back with two hard lefts inside.
After a close third round, Guerrero was rocked by a straight right in the fourth, which kicked off another fiery exchange. The momentum of the fight began to turn more heavily in Guerrero’s favor in the fifth, as the three-time champion wobbled Katsidis with a straight left. Still on unsteady legs, Katsidis fired back, but Guerrero was clearly getting the better of the exchange.
In the eighth, the referee got unnecessarily involved after a stray low blow from Katsidis. Though it did not appear flagrant, a point was deducted from Katsidis for the infraction. Motivated to get the point back, Katsidis went for Guerrero’s body, which seemed to be taking an effect. One stray shot, prompted the referee to stop the action and deduct another point from Katsidis, which gave Guerrero time and effectively end the Aussie’s rally. Somewhat comically, the referee Mora seemed to make up for one of the Katsdis deductions by taking a point from Guerrero in the following round for an inadvertent low blow.
The action continued through the tenth, before Guerrero got back out at range and boxed Katsidis in the eleventh. Katsidis came out determined in the twelfth and caught Guerrero with one stiff shot before Guerrero took back over and closed out the fight landing the harder blows again. By scores of 118-107, 118-106 and 117-108, Guerrero claimed the interim versions of both the WBA and WBO Light Welterweight titles.
Former WBA Interim Light Middleweight titleholder Nobuhiro Ishida (23-6-2, 8 KOs) of Osaka, Osaka, Japan scored three first round knockdowns in an unbelievable upset over James Kirkland (27-1, 24 KOs) of Las Vegas. Kirkland, 158, fighting for the third time in a month after a two-year absence, came right out at Ishida, 158. The much taller Japanese import met him square on and took some decent shots.
Kirkland, already the WBO #4 ranked middleweight despite fighting complete fall guys in his two previous bouts this year, stepped right into a straight right from Ishida that dropped him and silenced the crowd. Ishida, the usually light-punching WBA #4 ranked junior middle, dropped Kirkland a second time with another right. Despite moving on wobbly legs, Kirkland still came forward throwing punches. It was an unwise move, as Ishida came straight with a third right to score a third and final knockdown.
With the three knockdown rule in effect, referee Joe Cortez waved off the fight at the 1:52 mark of the first. Afterwards, Kirkland claimed he was not hurt, and that his trips to the canvas (there were three of them) were flash knockdowns. With the victory, Ishida immediately becomes a player at junior middleweight. With the loss, the talk of Kirkland fighting Sergio Martinez for the middleweight crown looks pretty foolish in retrospect.
Paul Malignaggi (29-4, 6 KOs) of Brooklyn, New York jabbed and move his way to a wide unanimous ten-round decision over undersized Jose Miguel Cotto (32-3-1, 24 KOs) of Caguas, Puerto Rico.
Cotto, 147, came out firing in the first and had Malignaggi, 147, in retreat for much of the round. Towards the end of the second, Cotto roughed up Malignaggi with a few right hands. However, by the third round, Malignaggi, the IBF #11/WBO #12 ranked welterweight, settled in to his usual stick-and-move style took over control of the bout.
Cotto, the WBO #11 ranked light welterweight, could not get into range for most of the fight, as Malignaggi moved three steps back anytime the Puerto Rican took one forward. By the late rounds, what steam Cotto carried up to welterweight had mostly come off of his punches, so when he did get his one shot in, it did not have close to the same effect it had early in the contest.
Unable to get in on Malignaggi, Cotto attempted to lure the former champion to him by languishing against the ropes. It was a tactic that did nothing but maybe give both men a short rest, as Malignaggi did not take the bait. In the end, Malignaggi won comfortably by scores of 97-93 and 99-91 twice. With the victory, Malignaggi gained a small measure of revenge over the Cotto family, as younger brother Miguel broke his right cheekbone en route to issuing him his first defeat back in 2003.
Emerging light welterweight contender Danny Garcia (21-0, 14 KOs) of Philadelphia Pennsylvania did everything better, faster and harder on his way to a ten-round unanimous decision over faded former champion Nate Campbell (33-8-1, 25 KOs) of Jacksonville, Florida.
Garcia, 139, showed the poise of a veteran throughout a classy performance. Campbell, 140, did a little showboating and posturing, but never committed to any serious offensive attack. Garcia, the WBC #9 ranked light welterweight, was not baited by any of Campbell’s tactics, even remaining composed when the veteran took a swing at him long after the bell to end round nine. In the end, all three judges had the fight wide for Garcia, by scores of 100-90, 99-91 and 98-92.
With his decisive victory, Garcia looks to be more than ready for the next level of competition. Campbell on the other hand appears to be comfortable in playing the role of opponent at this stage of his career. Campbell had announced his retirement after a loss to journeyman Walter Estrada last November before returning to the ring for tonight’s bout.
2008 Russian Olympic Gold Medalist Rakhim Chakhkiev (9-0, 7 KOs) of Hamburg, Germany by way of Tobolsk, Russia continued rolling as a professional with a measured performance en route to a third-round knockout of journeyman Harvey Jolly (11-16-1, 6 KOs) of Adrian, Michigan.
Chakhiev, 203, pressured and chased Jolly, 203, around the ring for the most part. In the second, Chakhiev was credited with a knockdown when he forced Jolly to hunch over from a body shots. Although Jolly did not go down, he was not defending himself and referee Joe Cortez separated the fighters to administer a standing eight count. Finally in the third, Chakhiev landed the power shot he was looking for, an overhand right that sent Jolly down. The journeyman opted to sit out Cortez’ ten count, with the stoppage coming at 2:18 of the third.
In the opener, heralded former amateur star Mikael Zewski (9-0, 5 KOs) of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Canada had all he could handle in the form of rugged swinger Clint Coronel (4-2-2, 1 KO) of San Jose, California in a six-round split decision victory.
Despite his solid amateur background, Zewski, 151, opted to stand and trade with Coronel, 151, who knows how to do little else. It turned out to be a solid scrap, with Coronel winning over the small crowd and rocking Zewski in the final round. In the end, two judges inexplicably had each fighter a shutout winner, 60-54. The third judge had the fight 59-55 for Zewski, thus maintaining his unbeaten mark.
Photo courtesy Golden Boy Promotions
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.