8/15:
HARRISON CUELLO vs. JAVIER CASTRO: Castro is a pretty decent young prospect at 16-1 and Cuello is loser of three of his last 4. You may remember Randall Bailey KOing him brutally last year on ESPN.
Cuello actually won the first round on my card and that was it for him. Cuello ended up knocking him down impressively in Round 3 and the ref waived it off. I wish beating Cuello was really meaningful, but Castro didn't do anything to make me get amped.
IVAN POPOCA vs. BRIAN CARDEN: Carden I saw just a couple days later when I decided to breeze through a card shown on some midwestern FSN affiliate headlined by Rob Calloway. Popoca was 7-0-1, Carden barely above .500 and a look like a meth dealer.
Unnecessary beating taken here by Carden in the first round stoppage win for Popoca. He had a lot of heart, but the ref was late in stopping as he was in the late getting torn to shreds. It wasn't as if it wasn't obvious, and Carden had already been dropped twice. Gotta protect these guys if you're gonna allow the fights.
In between bouts, an interview with Antonio Escalante and a replay of his loss to Pastrana in January 2007. I'm guessing a rematch is coming or something?
CARLOS "EL FAMOSO" HERNANDEZ vs. HECTOR ALATORRE: Hernandez was a great crowd pleasing fighter in early part of this decade. Always gutty, even in losing efforts, Hernandez had good fights with Erik Morales and Floyd Mayweather, and against lesser but still world class fighters, he made for near classics. You can't go wrong with his fights against Jesus Chavez, Bobby Pacquiao, Kevin Kelley, or Juan Carlos Ramirez. Alatorre is exactly the kind of guy you put an aged minor draw in with to try and revive his career and get him a money fight; a mediocre journeyman.
Ugly fight, close for most rounds, but this was against far lesser competition. Hernandez was out there fighting for self respect and for his very career, and in a way, that was as impressive as any fight he's ever been in before. Lots of close "could go either way" rounds right from the start, where a single uppercut by Alatorre won him the round on my card. Hernandez was cut in round 4, gassed by round 6, and his right eye closed by the 9th. My final card had Alatorre winning rounds 1,2,9, and 10, and Hernandez winning everything in the middle. It was a split decision, but two of the judges agreed with me and gave it to Hernandez. Whether or not Hernandez should ever fight again is a different question entirely.
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8/22:
The scene shifts to Puerto Rico here, and its Miguel Cotto co-promoting this show.
HECTOR MUNOZ vs. IRVING GARCIA: Munoz has a mohawk and some of the hardest tattoos this side of Alexander Emelianenko. I have a feeling he doesn't have them because of an interest in prison tats. He's clearly the prospect here at 18-1. Garcia drew in a fight for the interim WBA welterweight title against Nuzhnenko overseas in his last fight out, so this is actually an interesting fight. Argurably better than the main event.
Garcia wins round 1 and then there's a headbutt in the second round that causes the fight to be stopped. Booourns. No contest.
RAY RIVERA vs. JAYSON VELEZ: Velez is 3-0 with 3 KOs and Rivera has a losing record.
Velez knocks down Rivera in round 2 with a body shot and out in round 3 with a monster right hand. Velez got a nice result but looked amateurish and wild.
Miguel Cotto is interviewed here. I bet they ask what the hell happened against Margarito. Can I tell? Not really.
SHAMIR REYES vs. DANIEL JIMENEZ: I don't conceal my dislike of bad fights, and this is one. Reyes hasn't beaten anyone good since he beat Ivan Valle eons ago. Jimenez isn't that good either.
Good back and forth early with Reyes fighting adeptly off the back foot and countering. Some close rounds early on, but Reyes had enough engaging by the 6th and started running. Jimenez nearly took him out in the 10th, but instead won a wide and well deserved decision. Not really worth going out of your way for.
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