PHOENIX — He is a man of many faces. A baby face. A face of intimidation. He’s man of many styles. Left-handed and right-handed. Heavy-handed, too.
In the end, the many sides of Russian welterweight Konstantin Ponomarev provided to be too much for Cosme Rivera Saturday on a UniMas-televised card
Ponomarev baffled Rivera with a variety of looks and style, scoring a decision that was more one-sided than unanimous at Celebrity Theatre.
Rivera, a well-traveled Mexican with losses to Zab Judah and Alfredo Angulo on his resume, simply couldn’t keep up with Ponomarev’s quick feet. The young Russian (25-0, 12 KOs) moved from southpaw to right-hand leads and back, landed solid shots with both hands from the outside and seemed to baffle Rivera from start finish throughout the 10-round bout.
Ponomarev (25-0, 12 KOs) proved to be a lot of things in scoring a 100-90, 98-92, 100-90 victory on the cards. He danced on agile feet. Despite a baby face, he had undisguised contempt in his eyes. After the fifth round, he at Rivera as if to say the Mexican had no chance. Maybe a younger Rivera would have. But at 38-years-old and 59 fights (37-19-3, 26 KOs), there was just too much wear-and tear for Rivera to have any shot at scoring an upset.
The Rivera who lost to Judah and Angulo might have been able to capitalize on another another side to Panomarev. Roy Jones Jr. employed more defense. The Russian keeps his hands down while moving his head. His energetic feet allow him to dance him of harm’s way, at least from an older fighter. Against a younger fighter, he might not be so hard to figure out.
Two other Eastern Europeans, both trained by Robert Garcia, were impressive on a staged by Top Rank in a partnership with Iron Boy Promotions of Phoenix. Ukrainian Oleksandr Gvozdyk (3-0, 2 KOs), a bronze medalist at the 2012 London Olympics, knocked out Lamont Williams (5-6-1, 2 KOs) with a crushing right hand at 1:38 of the fifth round. Lithuanian welterweight Egididjus Kavaliauskas (8-0, 7 KOs) , a two-time Olympian, scored three knockdown for a first-round TKO of Eduardo Flores (17-15-3, 12 KOs) of Ecuador.
“Both are very, very disciplined,” said Garcia, who also said that both Gvozydk and Kavaliauskas are living with their families near his gym in Oxnard, Calif. “They’ll succeed because of that discpline. They are on a mission to accomplish something in the United States.”
Best of the undercard: Victor Castro, a Phoenix lightweight, had super-bantamweight legend Israel Vazquez in his corner and perfect timing in his left hand. Pablo Becerra never had a chance. Castro (12-0, 6 KOs, who has been training under Vazquez’ guidance for the last several weeks, rocked Becerra (7-6, 6 KOs) with a succession of punches during the third round’s final minute. Then in the round’s final seconds, he landed a left hook, as wicked as it was beautiful. It lifted Becerra off his feet and onto his back. Becerra appeared to be unconscious before he hit the canvas in a devastating knockout at 2:59 of the third. “It’s an honor to to have somebody like Israel training me,” Castro said. “It’s about confidence. He gives me that confidence.”
The rest: Another Garcia-trained fighter, Phoenix light-heavyweight Trevor McCumby (16-0, 13 KOs), scored a first TKO of Martin Verdin ((20-19-2, 11 KOs) of Houma, LA. In noteworthy upset, Shane Mosley son lost in only is third pro bout. Super-welterweight Shane Mosley Jr. (2-1, 2 KOs) lost a split decision to Marchchristopher Adkins (3-1 1 K0) of Dallas.
