SANTA YNEZ, CALIFORNIA — With an injury-induced fourth-round stoppage over Renan St. Juste in the Showtime-televised main event at the Chumash Resort Casino on Friday night, Anthony Dirrell became the mandatory challenger for the WBC Super Middleweight title currently held by Carl Froch.
The bout started tentatively for both fighters in the first before Dirrell (24-0, 21 KOs) of Flint, Michigan started to find a home for his straight right hand. The much-shorter St. Juste (23-3-1, 15 KOs) of Repentigny, Quebec, Canada found it hard to find his range or a way around Dirrell’s right in the early going.
The difference in power was evident in the second round, when Dirrell, 167, and St. Juste, 166 ½, exchanged hard left hooks. While Dirrell looked unfazed by the one he received, St. Juste was jolted back. St. Juste, who entered the bout as the WBC #2/WBO #4/WBA #13/IBF #15 ranked super middleweight, broke out of his shell a bit in the third. Unfortunately for the Canadian, he was still kept at a distance and could only wing wild shots at Dirrell, who patiently waited for such openings and usually made St. Juste pay for his poor judgment.
St. Juste found a home for a swinging left early in the fourth, but was soon stopped in his tracks when Dirrell found his body. Just as the fight started to get going, the top of St. Juste’s head crashed into Dirrell’s forehead. The accidental butt forced Dirrell to take a knee on the mat while referee Jack Reiss called for a timeout. The headbutt seemed to light a fire under Dirrell who went after St. Juste when action resumed, rocking him with a right hook.
With his opponent in trouble, Dirrell looked to unload. On unsteady legs and hoping to force a clinch, St. Juste reached to hold on to Dirrell. With St. Juste stumbling over, Dirrell opted to spin away, perhaps angling for the referee to call the fall a knockdown. When St. Juste got up from his awkward tumble, he emerged with an injured left shoulder. The wincing St. Juste, bent over with his left arm dangling, pointed out the injury to the referee who stopped the bout. The official time was 2:54 of round four.
While it may not have been the most satisfying way to win, Dirrell, who entered the bout as the WBC #1/WBA #2/IBF #14 ranked super middleweight, has to be happy with the end result. With the victory, Dirrell is now the mandatory challenger for the WBC title, which will be up for grabs in the Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament final between Carl Froch and Andre Ward on December 17th.
In the co-feature, IBF #14/WBO #14 ranked Jhonatan Romero (20-0, 12 KOs) of Cali, Colombia pulled off a minor upset against WBO #4/WBA #8/IBF #10 ranked 122-pounder Chris Avalos (19-2, 15 KOs) of Lancaster, California with a less than warmly received ten-round split decision.
Avalos, 121 ¾, was the aggressor throughout the contest while Romero, 121, consistently looked for one shot at a time. Avalos pressed early, but Romero had control for most of the first round. Romero backed Avalos up with a solid right and caught the Lancaster native with two more soon after. Just when Romero seemed to have the round, Avalos caught the Colombian with a head-snapping combination. Avalos followed his stunned opponent from one side of the ring to the other and dropped Romero with a two-fisted flurry at the bell to end the round.
Avalos seemed to carry the next two rounds with his higher output, while Romero looked to hold on the inside and wing wild shots at a distance. Occasionally Romero did land when he threw, most notably with a right uppercut from way outside in the second round.
Both fighters had their moments in the fourth. Romero found some success countering with hard shots of the ropes, and again found a home for his right uppercut. However, Avalos seemed to take all the shots well and was still the much busier fighter.
After some close middle rounds, Avalos stormed out in the eighth and rocked Romero against the ropes with a left hand. Much like late in the first round, Avalos followed-up with both hands as Romero tried to cover-up against the ropes. Though his head was snapped back a time or two, Romero withstood the flurry and remained on his feet.
After one of his worse rounds, Romero had one of his better rounds in the ninth. A one-two combination out of nowhere landed for Romero, who took advantage of a tiring Avalos and upped his offense. With the fight apparently on the table, Avalos and Romero exchange solid rights early in the tenth. Avalos still imposed himself as he had done for much of the fight, but when Romero would land they were often the harder shots.
In the end two judges favored Romero, 96-93 and 96-94 respectively, with one judge favoring Avalos, 96-94. Despite the close fight, the decision was loudly booed by the crowd.
In another closely-contested battle between a fighter from Colombian and a California resident, featherweight prospect Gabriel Tolmajyan (12-1-1, 3 KOs) of Glendale, California by way of Yerevan, Armenia scored the biggest win of his career over WBA #5/IBF #7 ranked 126-pounder Daulis Prescott (23-1, 17 KOs) of Barranquilla, Colombia via eight-round split decision.
A right-left combination which dropped Prescott, 127, in the fifth proved to be the difference in the scoring. Tolmajyan, 127, did not fully capitalize on the knockdown and allowed Prescott back into the fight, but banked enough rounds with the official scorers to take two cards, 76-75. The lone dissenting judge had the fight for Prescott, who was making his U.S. debut, 76-75.
2008 Colombian Olympian Darley Perez (24-0, 18 KOs) of San Pedro de Uraba, Colombia consistently pressured an outgunned Fernando Trejo (33-17-6, 19 KOs) of Jarrell, Texas by way of Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico en route to a one-sided eight-round unanimous decision.
Trejo, 135, began the fight in an offensive mindset, but was quickly picked apart by Perez, 134, whenever he decided to throw. Perez, the WBA #4/IBF#9/WBO #10/WBC #13 ranked lightweight, was clearly the stronger fighter and did not appear too concerned by Trejo’s punches.
Perez had Trejo in the most trouble in the fourth as he landed a right uppercut that began a series of unanswered shots late in the round. Trejo managed to withstand the onslaught and battled his way off the ropes. If there was a knock to be made on Perez, it was that he seemed satisfied to take the decision, as Trejo continued to backpedal as the fight concluded. Perez simply walked down Trejo, but never really attempted to close the show. In the end, all three judges had the fight for Perez, 80-72.
Super bantamweight prospect Roman Morales (8-0, 5 KOs) of San Ardo, California continued to roll through his early career competition with a dominant six-round unanimous decision over Alejandro Castillo (4-2, 1 KO) of Denver, Colorado by way of Ciudad Cuauhtemoc, Chihuahua, Mexico.
After a cautious opening round, Morales, 120, settled in and began to punish Castillo, 119, in round two. Morales staggered Castillo with his right hand on three separate occasions in the round. With Castillo in retreat, Morales unloaded in combination as the round closed. With Castillo still feeling the effects of the previous round, Morales dropped the Denver resident with a right-left combination in a corner early in round three. When Castillo returned to his feet, Morales worked him to the body and head in an attempt to end the fight. Castillo caught a break when a double left hand that seemed to score a second knockdown was ruled a slip by referee Jack Reiss.
In rounds four and five, Castillo found his bicycle and managed to limit the damage Morales was able to cause. The occasional punch Castillo seemed to land just seemed to irritate Morales. In the sixth, Morales managed to pin Castillo in a corner, but Castillo stood up to the combination and lasted until the end. Scores read 59-54 and 60-53 twice for Morales.
Roy Tapia (2-0, 1 KO) of East Los Angeles, California scored a four-round unanimous decision over Jose Garcia (0-5) of Bakersfield, California. Outside of a sold round two for Garcia, 122 ¾, it was the clean punches of Tapia, 123, that carried the fight. Tapia was effective with well-placed counters throughout. Scores read 39-37 and 40-36 twice for Tapia.
Super bantamweight prospect Jonathan Arrellano (11-0-1, 2 KOs) of Ontario, California remained unbeaten with a six-round unanimous decision over always game Jonathan Alcantara (4-6-2) of Novato, California. In a fight that featured many two-way exchanges, Arrellano, 122, won over the judges with his higher work rate. Per usual, Alcantara, 122, made his opponent earn the victory, but in the end came up short against a touted opponent. Scores read 59- 55 and 58-56 twice for Arrellano.
In the walkout bout, Glenn Porras (27-3, 17 KOs) of M’lang, Cotabato, Philippines scored an eight-round unanimous decision over journeyman Adolfo Landeros (21-23-2, 10 KOs) of Hidalgo, Hidalgo, Mexico.
Porras, 120 ½, loaded up on wide left hooks to great effect all night against stationary Landeros, 122. Porras nearly scored a knocked with his left in the third as he wobbled Landeros against the ropes. When it looked as though the Mexican would go down, Porras backed away, which allowed Landeros the seconds he needed to survive.
To Landeros’ credit, he kept throwing back down the stretch of the fight and gave Porras trouble in spots in the final rounds. In the end it was a wide decision for Porras, 80-72 and 79-73 twice.
Photos by Tom Casino/Showtime
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected].
