Austin, Julio retain Bantamweight gold

By Boxing Rules

What has boxing gone to? Before, with nothing short of a knockout, when you dominated the fight, you won the fight. Now, we face the corruption of the boxing world. The statement has gone from Is Boxing Fixed? to Boxing is Fixed.

This was shown in the controversial Holyfield/Lewis Heavyweight Championship of two weeks ago and then displayed again in the first half of a Bantamweight Championship Double-header. Jorge Eliecer Julio, who has fit into this category before (namely his title-winning gift decision over Oscar Maldonado in 1997), was given a miracle win over Nicaraguan Julio Gamboa tonight in their WBO Championship match.

Gamboa shocked the Boxing World when he staggered the Colombian champion in the opening round. Gamboa had come out fast but soon was caught with a lightning fast jab by Julio. When the Challenger came back, it had the crowd in the Jai Alai Fronton roaring. Surprisingly, when Gamboa returned to his corner, he was wounded with a deep gash on his right eye.

The second round was more of the same, with a relentless Gamboa determined to take the crown. The Challenger dominated until the fourth round, where Jorge began to fight back. Known as a tough fighter, Julio pecked at Gamboa with his trademark right hand.

Soon, however, Gamboa would fight back. The two fighters split the next four rounds where the match was suddenly close. In the closing rounds, the match was fought at an even pace. The Challenger was narrowly ahead.

To solidify his claim at the WBO Bantamweight Championship, Gamboa ended strongly. Fighting two badly-cut eyes, he landed a barrage of blows that stopped Julio in his tracks. This should have been his big break in the fight, the real tie-breaker.

In reality, we forgot that we were watching a fight promoted by Don King Productions. Julio wins by split decision, improving his record to 41-1 with 30 knockouts at the side.

Gamboa, in his second consecutive Championship loss (the first one to Satoshi Iida last Summer for the WBA Jr Bantamweight strap), downs to 24-4-1 in his career.

No one expected this kind of opposition to show up for this fight for two valid reasons. 1) Gamboa is a Natural Jr Bantamweight, so knowledgeable boxing fans would think he was blown up for this fight. 2) He lost his last fight,
and many thought this match was unrightfully made.

Emanuel Steward said it the best, "This is what's killing boxing". Let me correct you, Don King is what's killing boxing. This man has no right to be in this sport, and he should be banished before he causes another robbery. Though there is no proof, isn't it a little ironic that many of his Championship fights end up in controversy? Remember Holyfield/Tyson II, Chavez/Gonzalez, Boudouani/Jones I & II, Lewis/Holyfield, and tonight. This is getting sickening and it must come to a stop.

On the other side of the card, Tim Austin made his record a flashy 19-0-1 with his 18th knockout, knocking out a game but overmatched Sergio Aguila in the ninth round of their 12-round IBF Bantamweight title match. "The Cincinnati Kid" dominated with a stiff left jab. He kept the Mexican challenger off-base for the first 3 rounds.

In the fourth, it happened. It had to happen sometime. Austin was a bit too cocky for his own good, and he got decked with a left hook that sent him dazed on the floor. Aguila capitalized on this, but Tim held and cost himself another point. This could be the only round that Aguila captured.

In the next round, Austin went straight back to work. Grinding down Sergio and bloodying him. In the eighth round, we all knew it would be over soon. Tim landed damaging blows to Aguila's head, which caused the challenger to drop half-way to the canvas. Austin took his opportunities to land two extra blows. This led to controversy. The referee told the champion that he had hit his opponent when he was down, but never issued a count or said a point was deducted. This is the reason I scored this round 10-9 for Austin.

In the next round, it was all over. Aguila crumpled and there was no more waiting. Tim Austin retains the Championship for the third time, going the longest yet in his 3 championship fights (previous ones: Mbulelo Botile- tko8, Paul Lloyd- tko2, Andrian Kaspari- tko3).

After what happened tonight, do you say to yourself Could either of these men hold a candle to Johnny Tapia? I think they could, but Tapia would definitely be the better man in either match.

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Austin Survives Knockdown, Retains IBF Bantamweight Title
By Francis Walker

Making the third defense of the IBF world bantamweight title, Cincinnati's Tim Austin (19-0-1, 18KOs) overcame a scary moment in the fourth round, when top-10 contender Sergio Aguila (25-13-1, 16KOs) knocked the champion down for the first time in his career. Nonetheless, Austin still had enough in his tank
to come from behind to stop Aguila in the ninth.

The bout, promoted by Don King Productions at the Miami Jai Alai in Miami, Florida, was televised live on Saturday, March 27, courtesy of Showtime.

The 27-year-old Austin admitted to have known literally nothing of his opponent. Except for the fact the would return to his native land of Jalisco, Mexico a loser.

"I don't know too much about his record and I don't know anything about his style of fighting."

Throughout the contest Austin's right-jabs were finding their mark. However, in the fourth, Austin lunged a lazy straight-right below his chest when Aguila countered and dropped the champion with a hard left hook flush on his chin.

Austin, who did not have his legs underneath him, absorbed a number of punches to his cranium. Austin, who could do nothing, was docked one point from referee Jorge Alonso for holding firmly onto the ropes. Nevertheless, Austin did seize control of the bout once again behind his right-jabs.

Austin, having forced Aguila to kneel in the eighth, forced Agulia to the mat again in the ninth on a right-hand, following an accumulation of punches. Agulia was counted out at the 1:10 second-mark.

In his quest to prove he is the best bantamweight in the world, Austin showed well. However, according to Austin's trainer, Aaron Snowell, since it is difficult to get the bigger profile fights against WBA counterpart Johnny
Tapia and Nana Konadu, he may move up in weight.

"He has been looking for big fights," Snowell commented. "The guys he wants to fight like Johnny Tapia and Nana Konadu, don't want to fight him. Austin wants to stay on that high level by fighting anybody that's out there. In order for him to show that he is the premier bantamweight champion in the world, he has to fight someone with a name like Tapia or Konadu. These guys say that they are champions, but won't fight anybody who can fight."

Austin also added he, much like any other champion, is willing to fight anyone, anywhere, at anytime.

"Any guy that wants a chance at my title, I will give him a chance. My premiere match-up would be with Johnny Tapia. What I hear is that he does not want to fight me. I might have to put some pounds on and chunk up a little bit to fight guys."

In order for Austin's name to be publicized more, he has to be more active. Austin has only fought 3 times in the last 20 months. During the previous 10, Austin admitted to have battled tooth decay.

"I've been going back and forth battling tooth decay. I always had a bad tooth. It took a long time to get the dental problem taken care of professionally. Now everything his fine."

The night Austin won the IBF 118-pound title from Africa's Mbulelo Botile on July 19, 1997, he got caught with his hands down and his mouth open. Austin, who did not get knocked down, knocked Botile out in the eighth but left the ring with a broken jaw.

"My mouth was open and I got careless. I was just excited and was making a move. I got caught with my hands down. Its happens. I realize that I can't get too excited and have my mouth fall open."

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