Vazquez Pushes, Sonsona Caves; Holt Quits (And The Rest of The Weekend Action)

Bayamon, Puerto Rico- In a surprisingly easy evening of work, Wilfredo Vazquez, Jr. (18-0-1, 15 KOs) beat Marvin Sonsona (14-1-1, 12 KOs) via TKO in the 4th round.

Sonsona had a good 1st round, but folded as soon as Vazquez started applying pressure. The end came thanks to a wicked left hand to the body of Sonsona.

Vazquez picks up the vacant WBO super bantamweight title.

Guadalajara, Mexico- On the same telecast, the Rodel Mayol (26-4, 20 KOs)-Omar Niño Romero (28-3, 11 KOs) bout for Mayol's WBC jr. flyweight title ended in a controversial technical draw.

The first two rounds were even and the bout showed signs of being an exciting encounter, but those hopes were dashed in the 3rd round when Romero knocked Mayol out while ref Vic Drakulich was trying to stop the action after a Romero low blow.

A defenseless Mayol, still recoiling from the low blow was knocked down hard and had to be carried out of the ring on a stretcher.

The bout was declared a technical draw and WBC officials announced that an immediate rematch would be ordered.

Atlantic City- Kendall Holt (25-4, 13 KOs) put in the non-performance of the night in a RTD 6 loss to unknown South African, Kaizer Mabuza (23-6-3. 14 KOs).

After an ok 1st round, Holt simply stopped fighting and stopped trying while Mabuza applied even pressure throughout.

Holt did not answer the bell for the 7th. Neither Holt nor his trainer offered any explanation for this extremely passive performance.

Mabuza is now the top challenger for the winner of the upcoming Juan Urango-Devon Alexander bout.

Also, on the card, BTBC Co-House Fighter and welterweight prospect, Mike Jones (20-0, 16 KOs), overcame his biggest test to date by beating veteran Henry Bruseles (25-4-1, 13 KOs) via UD.

Jones struggled at the beginning, but found his rhythm in the middle rounds and outclassed the experienced Puerto Rican over the full 10.

Scores were: 98-92 (Twice) and 97-92.

On that same card, Gabriel Rosado (14-4, 8 KOs) put last August's slaughter at the hands of Alfredo Angulo behind him by beating tough veteran, Saul Roman (32-6, 27 KOs) via split decision.

Roman started strong, but Rosado's better technique and execution took over and allowed him to beat the aggressive Mexican.

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Marvin Sonsona vs.Wilfredo Vazquez Jr.; The Way Boxing Should Be

by Paul Magno

As 19-year old Filipino phenom and former world titlist, Marvin Sonsona, prepares to clash with the son of a Puerto Rican legend, Wilfredo Vazquez Jr., this Saturday, all old school boxing traditionalists have to be sporting a satisfied grin.

These days, the boxing purist is being outsourced to parts unknown and in his place is a generation of fans that take record-padding and boxing politics for granted as part of the sport.

The new breed of fan will never understand how, in the old days, hotshot prospects actually fought one another on the way up, forging their skills until bursting onto the world stage as a professional, battle-hardened fighting machine.

Nowadays, a prospect will be spoon fed until a mega-payday and title shot against some paper champion comes his way. Then, and only then, will the world see if the young star truly has what it takes to be a world class fighter. That's why we have guys like Andre Berto and Nonito Donaire sporting two and three year title reigns, respectively, without having faced more than one world-class challenger apiece.

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The Best of the Rest: A Recap of Saturday's Action

The big stories yesterday were Andre Ward's dominant win over defending champ Mikkel Kessler and Edgar Sosa's shocking loss to Rodel Mayol, but there was plenty of championship-level action all over the globe. Here's the recap:

Maidana Crushes Gonzalez in 3

Despite a brave attempt at a quick start against a hometown champ, Gonzalez (22-6-1, 7 KOs) was outgunned by defending WBA interim champ, Marcos Maidana (27-1, 26 KOs). The end came via thudding left to the liver in the third round.

Up next for Argentina's Maidana is the winner of the Amir Khan-Dimitry Salita contest.

Erdei Gets the Nod in Germany

Unbeaten Zsolt Erdei outthought once-beaten Giacobbe Fragomeni in their title fight in Germany tonight to win the Italian’s WBC Cruiserweight crown via majority decision.

In a slow start, Erdei struggled to adapt to Fragomeni’s 17 pound weight advantage, and the relentless pressure brought by the 40 year old won him most of the opening half of the fight.

But Erdei, the former WBO Light-Heavyweight titlist threw more punches in the second half of the fight, which saw both fighters go toe-to-toe from round 9 on.

As they exchanged heavy hooks in the middle of the ring, Fragomeni tired and Erdei fully capitalized by wobbling him in the 11^th. The fight went to the scorecards, and Erdei was the winner 115-113, 115-113, 114-114. The BTBC had it 115-113 to Erdei.

On the undercard, recently crowned WBC Super Featherweight champion Humberto Guttierez defended and dropped his belt to Vitali Tajbert by unanimous decision.

Segura Blows Jaro Away

In defense of his WBA Mini-Flyweight title, Giovanni Segura (22-1, 18 KOs) even surprised himself by blowing away the Philippines' Sonny Boy Jaro (30-7-5, 19 KOs) in just 88 seconds.

It was a big body shot in the first that did the trick.

Sonsona Loses With a Draw/ Molitor Stays Afloat

The Casino Rama in Ontario, Canada was not friendly to Marvin Sonsona (14-0-1, 12 KOs) yesterday as he lost his WBO Super Flyweight belt on the scales earlier in the day and then, later on, was fought to a draw by tough-as-nails Alejandro Hernandez (22-7, 11 KOs). Scores were: 115-113, 113-115, 114-114.

On the same card, Canada's own, Steve Molitor (31-1, 12 KOs) survived a fifth round flash knockdown to win a unanimous eight round decision over rugged, but crude, Jose Saez (17-9-4, 8 KOs). Scores were: 78-73, 79-73, 78-74...all in favor of the former IBF Super Bantamweight world champ.

Jorge Barrios stops Michael Lozado

In Buenos Aires, Argentina, former world champ, Jorge Barrios (49-4-1, 35 KOs) stopped former world title challenger, Michael Lozado (33-6-1, 26 KOs) in the fifth.

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Puerto Rico vs. Philippines: Three Months, Three Title Fights- Round 2

by OneKrazyRican

Last Friday, September 4th, Philippine’s Marvin “Marvelous” Sonsona not only became one of the youngest Filipino world titlists in history, he became the first Filipino fighter to beat a Puerto Rican champion. After compiling a 6-0-2 (5kos) record in world title fight against the Philippines, Puerto Rico loses the first of this unofficial 3 fight series and gets to meet the latest pinoy boxing sensation in the explosive punching Sonsona.

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Puerto Rico vs. Philippines: Three Months, Three Title Fights- Round 1

by OneKrazyRican

Next Friday September 4th kick starts an unusual three months period in which three pinoy fighters will be challenging for world titles against Boricua champions.

Manny Pacquiao’s battles against the most recent crop of Mexican greats ignited a national boxing rivalry between Philippines and Mexico that has claimed a spot for the Philippines in discussions about boxing power houses. Is Puerto Rico up next?

Up to this day there had been very few notable title fights involving Puerto Rico and Philippines with Puerto Rico holding a comfortable lead.

Puerto Rican hall of famer Carlos Ortiz’ two knockout wins over late Filipino great Flash Elorde, Samuel Serrano’s win and draw against Ben Villaflor, Nelson Dieppa’s explosive 11th round ko over Andy Tabanas, Ivan Calderon’s 8th round ko over Noel Tunacao, Juan Manuel Lopez 10th round stoppage over Gery Penalosa and most recently Ivan Calderon’s technical draw against Rodel Mayol combine for a 6-0-2 (5 kos) record in favor of the Caribbean warriors. Can this new group led by pound for pound ruler Manny Paquiao turn the tide?

Round one of three starts matching 37 years old veteran Jose “Carita” Lopez 39-7-0 (32 Kos) against 19 years old rising prospect Marvin Sonsona 13-0 (12 Kos). It has been a rough journey for Lopez who holds the particularity of having won his first world title in his 5th attempt. The experienced and powerful boxer puncher has been in an impressive run since his last loss in 2001, a title fight in which he managed to score a knock down over defending champion Fernando Montiel.

During this time Lopez worked his way up the rankings ladder the old way. He has compiled a 15-0-1 (8 Kos) record including a mild upset knock out over Dominican young gun Juan Mercedes. After collecting most regional titles available Lopez finally got his world title via unanimous decision over 45-1-1 Pramuansak Posuwan last March.

In Sonsona he faces an explosive punching southpaw that many writers have gotten to compare with the great Manny Paquiao. Lopez’ camp pays no attention to the comparisons and has expressed to have trained as hard as he trains for any other fight. “I always come well prepared and this will be no exception. He’s young a little taller than me but we will do a good work. I will be prepared for anything he brings. I don’t think he can bring anything that I have not seen before but I'm sure he will be facing something new when he faces me due to his inexperience which can be a big factor. Nevertheless I can’t be overconfident and I am not,” were Lopez’ words when asked about his young challenger.

In preparation for this bout Lopez has accumulated a total of 140 rounds of sparring, including several encounters with fellow champion Ivan Calderon who by the way faces Rodel Mayol next month in the second round of this series. Lopez has been already close to the 115 pounds limit for several days so he expects to have no problems to comply with a contracted rare same day weight in. “It’s rare and unusual but its the same for both of them. “Carita” is making the weight comfortably. expressed Lopez trainer after revealing the strange agreement.

Round one comes up next Friday and many questions will be answered. Will experience prevail over youth? Will this be Sonsona’s coming out party as the next Philipino boxing sensation?

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