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02/28/2004 Archived Entry: "AN IMPISH AND RAUCOUS NIGHT OF BOXING AT DEPAUL"
AN IMPISH AND RAUCOUS NIGHT OF BOXING AT DEPAUL
Bazan wins by DQ
By Juan C. Ayllon at ringside
Photos by Edward Zajac
CHICAGO, IL - It was all at once a festive, raucous and oddly strange night at DePaul’s Athletic Center. Home of the Blue Demons, something seemed almost impishly awry. In the main event, what appeared to be an intriguing match between two hard hitting super lightweights, Cesar Bazan (41-6-1, 29 kayos) and Roberto Ortega (17-8-2 and 13 kayos), turned to ugly disappointment in relatively short order. As the electrified and shoulder-to-shoulder crowd booed and whistled loudly, Mexican favorite Cesar Bazan writhed on the canvas, the winner by disqualification for repeated low blows.
To the cheers of “Meh-hee-co! Meh-hee-co,” Bazan started round one confidently, firing a jab to Ortega’s midsection. Ortega, for his part, fired a hook and drove Bazan to the ropes with left hooks and rights. He looked to be pressing matters, firing lead hooks and rights. Bazan appeared to be biding time as he studied his man behind a high guard. This impression was further reinforced as he began measuring Ortega with a pawing jab and fired a hard, downward right that drew a collective gasp from the crowd. Bazan pressed forward, using a shoving jab to push Ortega back into a corner. Ortega fought back off the ropes, firing lefts and rights. Bazan landed a hard left uppercut, followed by a right. Ortega countered with a left-right combination of his own, knocking Bazan into the ropes. The busier of the two, Ortega appeared to win the round, but looked like he might be losing the war.
Bazan initiated round two pressing matters with the jab. Ortega countered with a very hard, borderline hook to the lower abdomen/beltline area. Fired up, Bazan pressed matters, backing Ortega to the ropes with fiery blows. Ortega responded with heavy combinations of his own. Suddenly, Ortega landed a wicked low blow that dropped his opponent to the mat. Clearly hurt, Bazan rose, sat down stretched and rose again.
Angered, Bazan pressed the attack, punishing Ortega with lefts and rights. Ortega countered with what appeared to be a hybrid hook/uppercut to the lower abdomen an inch or two above the waistband. Bazan dropped to the canvas like a shot duck, lying prone and in agony. The referee, who appeared to be screened off from viewing the blow clearly, ruled it another low blow and deducted two points. Meanwhile, a prone and red-faced Bazan writhed and rolled in angst and spat out his mouthpiece.
After several minutes had passed, Bazan pulled himself up the ropes and reengaged Ortega, swinging freely with both hands. Firing back, Ortega burried a hard left uppercut somewhere around the beltline area, the impact of which violently roiled Bazan’s trunks and protector, sinking Bazan once again to the canvas.
As Bazan rolled around the floor, Ortega stood over him and yelled something to him in Spanish. Harsh words were exchanged and Ortega had to be restrained. The referee waived off the fight at 1:16 into the second round.
In the co-main event, Al “Speedy” Gonzalez (13-0, seven kayos) engaged in a spirited and scintillating, hard fought battle, but just managed an unpopular majority draw versus heavy handed Jesse Feliciano (12-1-1 with seven kayos).
Feliciano was physically the bigger and more imposing fighter and used this size to good effect. Eschewing the jab, his was clearly a power game, constantly pressing forward and winging heavy-handed power punches with ill intent.
For his part, Gonzalez was the lankier and better boxer of the two. He possessed quicker hands, a jab and fairly good movement when he opted to use it. However, Gonzalez often appeared content to back up to the ropes, seeking to counter his tormentor with peppering bursts of three, four and five punch combinations.
Gonzalez against the ropes
Jesse Feliciano was more than happy to pursue and bull Gonzalez into the ropes where, one shot at a time, he bounced thudding hooks and rights off of shoulders, arms, head and body with equal impunity. Gonzalez covered, countered and occasionally was rocked, but fought back hard.
To the delight of the crowd, it appeared to be a hotly contested war of attrition, with Feliciano imposing his bruising style of fighting on Gonzalez through the first four rounds.
In the fifth round, Al Gonzalez appeared to increasingly pick his spots. Although the heavier handed punching belonged to Feliciano, who continued his bulling and trapping tactics on the ropes, Gonzalez fought with good effect off the ropes and landed a strong flurry towards rounds end, possibly winning the round for him.
In the sixth, an invigorated Gonzalez moved, boxed and landed much better. When Feliciano landed a huge right hand on his chin on the ropes, Gonzalez fought back furiously with both hands. Reminiscent of his previous bout with Humberto Chavez, “Speedy” Gonzalez threw punches at a torrid pace. Mounting a huge and sustained rally, he slugged it out with Feliciano for the last minute of the round. The crowd, already enthused, roared with lusty approval. It appeared that Gonzalez won the round.
The seventh round started with Gonzalez backing up, using a little lateral movement, boxing and jabbing. Hot in pursuit, Feliciano pressed in close, where he fired hooks and overhand rights. Gonzalez ducked under a huge left hook. Make no mistake about it: the mauling Feliciano was loading up with every punch and swinging for the fences. Meanwhile, Gonzalez fired back in quick bursts of punches. The pace was torrid as the two traded freely. Teeing off on Gonzalez against the ropes, Feliciano nearly floored Gonzalez with a huge left hook at rounds end. Hard to call, the round may have been Feliciano’s by a hair.
The eighth and final round began with Gonzalez and Feliciano mixing it up: Gonzalez, who initiated matters, threw the higher and faster volume of leather, while Feliciano countered with slower, but heavier lefts and rights. Gonzalez threw a steady stream of sturdy punches while Feliciano threw one punch at a time. Lunging, Feliciano drove hard hooks to Gonzalez’ body. Gonzalez got up on his toes and peppered the incoming bull in front of him. Pressuring in close, Feliciano winged leaden leather with a vengeance. In a crescendo of leather, Al Gonzalez closed out the round with a furious, two-handed flurry. The round, once again, was difficult to score. Did Feliciano take it based on his harder hitting? Was Gonzalez’ voluminous output and flurry at rounds end enough to edge Feliciano?
The decision was scored as follows: 77-75 for Feliciano, 77-75 for Gonzalez and 76-76, resulting in a draw.
Chicago’s rising premier, heavy-handed bombers of the lower weight divisions, Luicano Perez and Miguel Hernandez, for once, had to rely on judges scoring.
Perez (5-0, 5 kayos), sustained a cut on his right eye in a very entertaining battle with Juan Aguilar (5-0, 2 kayos), winning a split decision scored as follows: 39-37 Aguilar, 39-37 Perez and 39-37 Perez.
Miguel Hernandez (7-1, 6 kayos) fought a cagey and spirited Manji Conteh (3-2, 2 kayos). As with Perez, Hernandez was the bigger puncher by far. At one point, Hernandez bent over and pounded the canvas with both fists in a gesture to entice Conteh to slug with him. However, Conteh wisely declined the offer and gave a fairly good account in his losing effort. The scores were: 57-57, 59-55 for Hernandez and 59-55 for Hernandez.
Carlos Molina (1-0, one kayo) looked very sharp in a dominating unanimous decision win over Vance Garvey (1-4-1, O kayos), scoring 40-36 on all cards.
Closing out the show, Freddy Cuevas (22-6-1, 16 kayos) showed superior work rate and slick boxing as he fought cagey and sneaky punching Verdell Smith (41-47-2, 17 kayos), winning a well-deserved unanimous decision at 60-54 all.
All in all, the evening was devilishly entertaining and proved once again that Chicago’s 8 Count Entertainment can really pack them in.
Replies: 2 Comments on this article
Hi KO Stratavarious,
Thanks for the complement! Gonzalez-Feliciano was a real "barn-burner," to be sure.
Let's hope they do it again!
Cheers,
Juan C. Ayllon
Posted by Juan C Ayllon @ 03/01/2004 01:43 PM EST
Juan- Best article on the fight. It was close, but I thought Gonzales' superior accuracey and boxing skills gave him a narrow decision.
Posted by KO Stratavarious @ 03/01/2004 10:49 AM EST
