| |
|
|
Kevin Anton Batters Freudis Rojas
Tonight at Rawhide Western Town & Event Center in Phoenix,
Arizona, Joshua Kevin Anton pressured, bullied and then
exhausted Freudis Rojas to win a unanimous 10-round decision
and successfully defend his WBC Continental Americas junior
welterweight championship for the second time.
Fighting in the 10-round main event of ProBoxTV’s latest
“Members Only” live broadcast, Guatemalan American prospect
and WBC No. 16-ranked Anton, 15-0 (12 KOs), got stronger
every round to quickly overtake the advantage from Rojas,
15-2 (11 KOs), of Las Vegas.
Rojas showed his slick southpaw boxing skills in the first
two rounds but progressively wilted as Anton’s conditioning
and superior power took over the flow after that.
By mid-fight, the punishment worsened, but referee Joey
Chavez allowed things to continue.
Under-powered Rojas, forced to sprint to keep world-class
fighters off him from the start of fights, has now run out
of gas midway through his last two fights and did well to
(hopefully) escape lasting damage in this one.
The judges agreed on the winner, with scores of 98-91, 98-91
and 97-92.
It's always different when you find someone with that kind
of style,” said Anton after the fight.
“Freddy and I both had similar styles from the get-go and I
just want to give him thanks. He was the late replacement,
but I don't look away from the challenge. He put up a great
challenge, and I knew he was a great fighter, so we had to
adjust.
“We're here to give our all. Long live Guatemala!”
In the night’s co-main event, Justin Pauldo won the WBC
Latino lightweight title with a 10-round split decision over
fan-favored Rene Tellez Giron.
Showing “ready for primetime” skills, Pauldo, 20-2 (10 KOs),
of Houston, was able to outfight Tellez Giron, 23-5 (14
KOs), on the well-known Mexican slugger’s terms, nullifying
his own size advantage to stand inside and trade with Tellez
Giron.
In a tense fight throughout, most punches were met with an
equal reply and neither man perceptibly seizing control for
long. In fact, the two normally entertaining styles produced
a surprisingly tame affair with both contenders having
moments, but not taking control.
Pauldo worked slightly harder. Tellez Giron was more
accurate.
After the announcement of a score of 96-94 for Tellez Giron
being overruled by scores of 98-92 and 97-93 for Pauldo.
In a 10-round “ProBoxTV-typical” featherweight war between
Mexican sluggers, Carlos Arteaga moved to 17-1-1 (154 KOs),
with a fourth-round stoppage of fellow Mexican Bryan Acosta,
21-3 (8 KOs).
Acosta was badly rocked by an Arteaga hook inside his own
wider hook midway through the first and showed inhuman
levels of durability to withstand a savage follow-up beating
for the remainder of the opener.
So brutal was the pasting Acosta took, he was examined
extensively by the ringside physician before the start of
round two.
Despite still being clearly dazed, Acosta collected himself
enough in round two to stage a power-punching rally and
probably edged out the action-packed round purely out of
instinct and fighting heart.
Coming back to life more in round three, Acosta took control
of the action by outfighting a seemingly tiring Arteaga with
a two-fisted assault.
Appearing to be losing momentum, Arteaga suddenly discovered
his uppercut in round four, slamming several of them to the
jaw of Acosta and dropping him late in the frame.
Acosta bravely rose from the knockdown, but referee Chris
Flores decided he’d seen enough. The end of the fan-friendly
battle came at 2:12 of round four.
Junior-welterweight Charles “LoLo” Harris Jnr put his
educated skills on display in an entertaining but convincing
unanimous decision over Misael Cabrera.
Fighting in his first 10-rounder, Harris, 13-1 (7 KOs), of
San Bernardino picked up the WBC Latino championship by
utilizing a strong body attack and impressive ring IQ to
overcome Cabrera, 18-3-1 (12 KOs), of Ciudad Obregon,
Sonora, Mexico.
Harris, who fights out of Brian "BoMac" McIntyre’s BoMac's
B&B Boxing Gym in Omaha, Nebraska, showed why the
award-winning trainer freely touts the 23-year-old prospects
potential by nullifying Cabrera’s offense with two-handed
shots to the liver and solar plexus.
Cabrera fought with determination and landed several strong
shots, but Harris showed no reaction.
The scores were 99-91, 99-91 and 98-92.
In an eight-round junior welterweight bout to open the
broadcast, Heidan Martinez stayed undefeated by winning a
“southpaw vs. southpaw” showdown against Willmank Canonico
Brito by unanimous decision.
In an awkwardly fought puncher’s duel, the Bob
Santos-trained Martinez, 19-0 (17 KOs), of Santo Domingo,
Dominican Republic, got off to a slow start against Canonico
Brito, 14-11-2 (12 KOs), of Caracas, Venezuela.
Canonico Brito was able to frustrate the 22-year-old
Martinez, especially early on.
Martinez was warned for several fouls including hitting
after the bell and using his forearm and was finally
deducted a point by referee Jonathan Puu for a low blow in
the fight’s final round.
Beginning in round six, Martinez found a rhythm by moving
forward against his crafty foe and slowly gained the clear
advantage as the fight progressed.
The scores were 78-73, 77-74 and 77-74.
|
|
|
