SANTA YNEZ, CALIFORNIA — Making the move from prospects to contenders, featherweight Luis Franco and cruiserweight Lateef Kayode were matched tough, but well as they passed their most demanding tests to date at the Chumash Casino Resort on Friday night.
Competing for just the ninth time as a professional, Franco (9-0, 5 KOs) of Miami, Florida by way of Havana, Cuba moved past veteran Leonilo Miranda (32-3, 30 KOs) of Huatabampo, Sonora, Mexico with an entertaining ten-round split decision.
Things did not start out well for Franco, 126, in the first. Miranda, 126, buzzed him early in the round and seemed to score a knockdown with straight left as Franco backed up. Though Franco looked hurt, referee Marcos Rosales ruled it a slip.
After a first round that was all Miranda, Franco came out and boxed in the second as if the fight was starting over. When the former Cuban Olympian utilized his superior boxing skills, he seemed to be on a completely different level than Miranda. Through the fourth round, Franco kept his range and frustrated the free-swinging Mexican with his constant movement.
Inexplicably, with the fight going his way, Franco decided to stand and trade with Miranda in spots. Franco was giving Miranda his only chance for victory, because when the Cuban boxed and moved, the Mexican had no answer. In the fifth, Miranda seemed to stun Franco with a left hook at one such instance, but the Cuban came back and closed out the round well.
In the sixth, Franco, the WBO #9/IBF #13 ranked featherweight contender, went back to his bread and butter style and controlled the next few rounds. Franco closed out the eighth pressuring Miranda against the ropes has he sat down on a flurry. However, in the ninth, Franco again decided to stand his ground and trade with the Mexican puncher. It was a risky move, but Franco was outworking the tiring Miranda.
Franco fought the tenth much the same as the ninth, and Miranda obliged as the round featured some excellent two-way action. Both warriors were visibly tired, but still throwing a ton of punches. Franco’s higher output and movement gave him an edge in the round as they closed out the ten-round bout.
Judge Ray Balewicz saw the fight for Miranda, 96-94. Judges Ralph McKnight and Steve Morrow had Franco the winner, 97-93 and 96-94 respectively. With the win, Franco retained his WBO Intercontinental Featherweight title and likely improved upon his world rankings.
In the co-feature, WBA #4/WBO #4/WBC #6 ranked cruiserweight Lateef Kayode (16-0, 14 KOs) of Hollywood, California by way of Lagos, Nigeria saw his 14-fight knockout streak snapped, but he did score a ten-round unanimous decision over Nicholas Iannuzzi (16-2, 9 KOs) of Tampa, Florida.
Iannuzzi, 198, probably fought the best fight he could have, but it was not enough to win over the official scorers seated ringside. The first two rounds featured little action, as Iannuzzi moved and moved, and Kayode, 199, was far too patient. The fight began to pick up a bit in the third, after Iannuzzi gained some confidence after landing a solid counter right. Iannuzzi began to mix in some offense with his constant movement, as he landed well in spots and wisely got out of danger.
In the fourth, Iannuzzi was even braver, as he stood his ground at times and landed well. Kayode was slow to pick up his work rate until late in the fifth round. The sixth round told the story of the fight. Iannuzzi landed a good combination after countering Kayode and picked his spots at other times in the round. However, the most telling blow was landed by Kayode, a short left that rocked Iannuzzi. It would be up to the judges if they preferred Iannuzzi’s higher output, or Kayode’s one or two power punches.
Iannuzzi continued to stick to the game plan in the seventh, as he landed a quick combination upstairs and quickly got out of range. At one moment, Kayode feinted being hurt to try and entice Iannuzzi forward. Late in the round, Kayode landed a solid hook upstairs and then placed another to the body. The second one seemed to take a little steam out of Iannuzzi for a bit.
Iannuzzi had his moments in the final two rounds, most notably a left hook that snapped Kayode’s head back in the ninth, but the Nigerian’s pressure seemed to win him the rounds. Iannuzzi was not moving as well as earlier in the bout, which allowed Kayode to get more work done. They traded at the bell to close the fight, with Iannuzzi getting one or two in after.
In the end, Iannuzzi had won over the crowd, but had lost the fight. Judge Ray Balewicz had it close, 95-94, but judges Ralph McKnight and Steve Morrow had it rather wide, 97-92 and 98-91 respectively. With the win, Kayode retained his WBO NABO and NABF Cruiserweight titles and gained some much needed experience.
Francisco Santana (12-2, 6 KOs) of Santa Barbara, California returned to action with a devastating first-round stoppage over Adan Leal (6-3, 5 KOs) of Nogales, Arizona by way of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. Santana, 156, quickly got Leal, 158, to retreat to the ropes and uncorked a picture perfect left hook that absolutely wreaked Leal. Referee Marcos Rosales began his count while Leal gamely tried to get to his knee. When Leal fell into the ropes, Rosales waved off the fight at the 1:57 mark of the first.
Welterweight prospect Michael Anderson (10-0, 8 KOs) of New York, New York scored a come from behind victory of sorts, stopping determined journeyman Octavio Narvaez (7-8-1, 4 KOs) of Chinandega, Nicaragua in the fourth round of a scheduled eight.
Narvaez, 148, was an aggressive adversary from the outset as he repeatedly pressured Anderson, 147, to the ropes. Narvaez did not seem to have all that much on his punches, but the sheer volume kept Anderson on the defensive for much of the four rounds. Anderson employed a Floyd Mayweatheresque defense, and was very selective with his shots.
Before the start of the fourth, Anderson was down 30-27 on two cards and 29-28 on the third. Scoring would not matter, as Anderson unleashed a left hook to the body that took the wind and all of the determination out of Narvaez. Official time of the stoppage was 2:42 of the fourth round.
Rufino Serrano (8-3) of nearby Santa Maria, California outboxed Jose Morales (6-3, 1 KO) of Denver, Colorado en route to a six-round unanimous decision. Serrano, 128, had both the better boxing skills and conditioning, which was more than enough to get the better of Morales, 128.
After controlling most of the first three rounds with his jab and movement, Serrano began to sit down on his punches more in the fourth. An exchange of hooks late in the round sent Morales to the ropes where Serrano landed a clean left hook just before the bell. Serrano highlighted the fifth with an attempted bolo punch and a clean uppercut. Morales seemed to be danger of getting stopped in the sixth, but Serrano did not have the power to get him out of there. In the end, two judges scored it 59-55 and the third had it 60-54, all for Serrano.
In his debut under the Gary Shaw Productions promotional banner, Kurtiss Colvin (3-0, 3 KOs) of Austin, Texas wowed the crowd with a first-round knockout of accomplished mixed martial artist-turned boxer Tony Hervey (0-2) of Detroit, Michigan. Hervey, 159 ½, stood up to the onslaught early, but eventually Colvin, 162, caught him with a combination upstairs that sent him bouncing against the ropes on two sides of the ring. Referee Raul Caiz Jr. stopped the bout with the official time of 2:12 of the first.
Former amateur standout Roman Morales (1-0, 1 KO) of San Ardo, California looked impressive in his debut without headgear as he stopped Shaun Solomon (1-2-1) of Moreno Valley, California in the first round. Morales, 123, landed a left hook, followed by a straight right hand up the middle that downed the southpaw Solomon, 124, early in the round. Another left upstairs forced a wobbly Solomon to touch one of his gloves to the canvas and thus another knockdown. Referee Marcos Rosales allowed the fight to go on, but when Morales landed two more hard rights, he leaped in to stop the bout at 2:59 of the first.
Two amateur exhibitions began the night. In spirited bouts, Francisco Ortega, fighting out of the Santa Rita Boxing Club, took on Brandon Gutierrez of the Santa Rita PAL and Maggie Soares of the Santa Rita Boxing Club met Erika Guaderama of the Santa Rita PAL to open up the evening.
Photos by Mark Ortega
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected].
