[Previous entry: "Catch a Rising Star: David Diaz Headlining ‘Latin Fury’ on Friday, July 9th!"] [Main Index] [Next entry: "CATALINA'S RESTAURANT HOSTS KNOTT STREET AMATEUR BOXING SHOW--PORTLAND, OREGON"]
07/10/2004 Archived Entry: "Diaz Dominates in Rock and Roll Performance in ‘Latin Fury’ at the Star Plaza"
Diaz Dominates in Rock and Roll Performance in ‘Latin Fury’ at the Star Plaza
In a scheduled eight rounder, rising junior welterweight star David Diaz (24-0-0, 13 KO’s) thoroughly dominated a rugged and surprisingly slippery Jaime Morales (7-24-4, 1 KO) in an over-the weight limit lightweight bout for a unanimous decision victory.
David Diaz (R) about to land a big right hook on Morales!
In round two, Diaz landed a right jab and pursued Morales into a corner, where he landed a big straight left to the head. Morales landed a counter right as the two exchanged blows. A right hook and straight left by Diaz was countered by a big Morales right hook to Diaz’ side. Diaz began teeing off with rapid combinations and landed two big right hooks to Morales’ side. Morales hit back with a couple right hooks to the body, a left hook to the side and a right to the head. Diaz countered with a pair of lefts and increased the pressure with potent combinations. He landed a big right hook to the head and backed Morales into a corner where he punished him with several hard combinations.
In the early moments of round threee, David Diaz landed a left-right, a big straight left and a good right hook to the head when Morales missed a right hand counter. Diaz strafed him with a potent four-punch volley, after which Morales landed a low right hand for which he was warned by the referee. The action resuming, Morales landed a chopping left to the head. Diaz backed Morales to the ropes and landed left and right hooks. Morales landed an overhand left along the ropes. Diaz landed a heavy straight right and a snapping right hook to the head. Pursuing him to the opposite corner, he loaded up on roundhouse lefts and rights, landing some and missing a couple that Morales ducked under.
At the commencement of round four, Diaz missed a big straight left that sailed over Morales head. Morales jabbed, then retreated to a corner. At rings center, Diaz fired a burst of lefts and rights and caught a sharp right hook to the ear. He landed some bruising right hooks to Morales’ head, some uppercuts and rights and caught an overhand right hook to the head. Diaz landed a pair of right hooks and caught a right in return from Morales. The two exchanged punches in close, Diaz blocking and ducking effectively.
Morales proved to be trickier than he appeared.
In round five, the two exchanged a couple hooks to the body and Diaz stalked Morales. In a corner, he landed a straight left and a right hook. In the adjacent corner, he fired away with bad intent, but Morales rolled with the punches and fired back hard. Diaz landed a heavy three-punch salvo and backed up to rings center. Backing Morales to a corner, he landed hard straight lefts and right hooks, sending sweat cascading form his head into the audience. Morales landed a hard left hook to the body during a brief lull and Diaz pounced with a pair of left hooks. Diaz appeared to stun Morales momentarily with a hard left hook knocking him a step back into the ropes, but caught a hard right counter to the body as Morales pushed free of the ropes.
As round six began, Diaz landed a straight left and followed Morales into a corner, landing a couple jarring punches. In the opposite corner, he landed several others and then backed off. Resuming his attack, he pursued Morales and jarred him with some hard right hooks to the head, caroming him off the ropes. Morales countered with a hard right and escaped. Possessing the heavier blows, Diaz began bombing Morales with heavy straight lefts and rights in the final 20 seconds of the round.
Diaz opened round seven with a pair of jabs, then jabbed and speared with straight lefts. Escaping momentarily, Morales managed to get batted about the ring as he retreated slowly along the periphery of the ring to his right. David snapped his head back with a straight left. Morales landed lefts and rights as he momentarily trapped Diaz on the ropes. However, Diaz fought his way free in short order and bludgeoned Morales with a vengeance behind punishing flurries. He landed a big straight right on Morales on the adjacent corner, caught a couple lefts and a big right to the head backing him off at rounds end.
In the eighth and final round, Diaz continued systematically breaking down Morales until the referee halted matters momentarily due to loose tape on Diaz gloves. Resuming action, Diaz backed Morales into a corner, banging him hard but also catching a hard right to the head. Continuing his pursuit, Diaz landed lead lefts ad a couple of hooks. The crowd chanted, “David, David!” He snapped Morales’ head back with a straight right and finished strongly with a savage fusillade of rights and lefts for the final ten seconds of the fight. The final scores were 80-72, 79-73, and 80-72 for a unanimous decision victory by David Diaz.
Afterwards, sitting next to his opponent on a couch in their dressing room suite, a jovial David Diaz said to Jaime Morales, “You’re awkward, man! I couldn’t get a read on you!”
Morales responded, “I couldn’t get a read on you!”
Diaz continued, “I’ve fought a lot of guys, but I couldn’t read you!”
Interjecting, the Cyber Boxing Zone’s Juan Ayllon initiated a brief post-fight interview.
Juan Ayllon: How do you feel about the fight?
David Diaz: Not satisfied, but content. I mean, Jeffrey Russell [Editor’s note: possibly Jeffrey Resto (17-2-0, 11 KO’s) who won a six round decision over Morales in May 2000] was supposedly the guy who I was supposed to fight and he couldn’t touch him. He was very awkward.
I dropped weight for this fight. I was a lightweight! I weighed in at 139 with my pants on; I was about 137. He weighed in at 143 ½. I felt I did okay fighting him when he weighed that much. He was a very difficult and awkward fighter. He came in and toughed it out. I tried to fight him out left handed and right handed.
JA: Was this a deliberate move to 135?
DD: Yes, it’s a deliberate move to 135. I wanted to test out the waters at 135. I’ll go either way, 135 or 140. I am waiting to see if I get an offer at the end of this month.
JA: You are waiting to receive an offer from whom?
DD: My managers know that information; I don’t. They’re working that out. Anyways, I took a big risk fighting Morales. We pulled it out at the end and that’s what’s important!
Local favorite, Jeff “Boom Boom” Baker (5-0-0,2 KO’s) won an entertaining battle against Guy Solis (8-2-1, 3 KO’s) for the Indiana Boxing Association’s Light Heavyweight Championship.
Baker, who appeared a good three to six inches taller, began matters on the defensive in round one. Solis landed the first jab in the opening moments. Solis backed Baker to the ropes with no consequence, but moments later at mid ring landed a series of lefts and rights bringing cheers from the crowd. He landed a good left hook in close. Pressing in closely against his taller foe, it became evident that he sought to get under his rangier opponents kill zone, picking his spots and coming in with a busy attack. The crowd started shouting “Solis, Solis, Solis…” as he finished the round the busier scoring fighter.
Baker opened the second round with several snapping jabs while retreating and a hard right. Solis resumed pressing the fight behind a high guard. Baker landed a right, which sent sweat flying form Solis’ head. Solis countered with lefts and rights. Baker just missed with a haymaker of a right uppercut. Baker landed a flurry of about six lefts and rights in a row then backed off. He landed a big right hook to Solis’ side. He landed another glancing heavy right hand as Solis pressed in. Hesitant, Solis appeared to be trying to solve his new dilemma; this Baker could crack a bit! Meanwhile, Baker landed another heavy right hand. However, near rounds end, Solis landed a good right uppercut and hook of his own as the bell rang.
In round four, Baker pumped a jab into Solis face as he came in, then landed several other labs as he retreated. A quick one two followed, then more jabs. Solis followed him around, then landed a left hook to the head and a right the chest. Baker landed a good right to the side and a couple rights to the head. Significantly, in following him around, Solis wasn’t landing too much, while Baker peppered him with jabs and the odd rights. Baker landed a heavy right to the side, while Solis landed some ineffectual lefts and rights to the head. Solis landed a right to the head, caught a glancing uppercut and landed another right. Baker was having a hard time catching the oncoming Solis squarely as he ducked and slipped the brunt force of his blows.
Baker began round five upon his toes and jabbed single shots with some pop. Solis pursued, throwing rights, landing a couple in the process and rocking Baker with a straight left. He landed another lead right, knocking him into the ropes. Solis appeared to be surging, rocking Baker with a solid right and left hook, forcing Baker to hold. He caught Baker with another fight and again forced the clinch. Baker was gasping for breath and holding more. A look of growing desperation furrowed his brow, as he seemed hard pressed to fend off the renewed vigor of Solis.
In round six, Solis continued his offensive, landing a good right hand to the head in the process. He landed a another left-right-left combination. Then, as he rested, he caught a left-right-left in return. However, moments later, Solis was on the attack. Solis clearly had the momentum as he pressed in, but caught a hard right that bounced relatively unnoticed off his chin. He caught another right hand walking in and, this time, fell into a clinch. Baker retreated, jabbed and landed a right. Solis appeared to tire. Baker landed a series of spearing jabs at rounds end.
Up on his toes, Baker jabbed and retreated at the beginning of round seven. He missed with a solid right that sailed over Solis shoulder. Solis landed a series of three jabs on Baker as he pressured. The two clinched and exchanged blows to each other’s sides. The two traded jabs, and Solis backed up Baker and snapping his head back with a potent right uppercut. Bleeding from the nose, Baker attempted a lead right uppercut that missed by a good foot. The crowd began chanting, “Solis, Solis, Solis.” The referee called time in order to have a loose strand of tape hanging from one of Solis’ gloves secured. This break seemed to suit a tired Solis—who was expending great energy in pressing matters—just fine. Once the action resumed, he launched into Baker afterwards, but fell into a clinch. The two pummeled each others sides from a semi-clinch position as the bell rang.
In round eight, Solis missed with a left hook-right hook combination, and the two fell into a quasi clinch. Solis landed a big right hand that drew cheers from the crowd. The busier of the two, he pressed the action with hooks and jabs and rights while Baker sought to catch him in with desperate rights coming in. Clearly frustrated, in a clinch, he smacked Solis' side with about five slapping hooks.
Lightweight Jaime Alvarado (0-1-0) vs. Chris Regular (3-14-2, 1 KO) proved to be an entertaining scrap, with Regular prevailing via unanimous decision.
Both started out round one aggressively, swinging hard with both hands. Regular landing a hard left hook, which drew gasps from the crowd. Alvarado pressed the action, snapped Regulars head back and caught some hard punches in return. Alvarado made it a phone booth battle early on, pressuring in close. Settling in about a minute and a half into the bout, Alvarado knocked Regular into the ropes with several hard shots. Inexplicably, the ref intervened. Resuming the action, Alvarado pressed for the knockout. Hanging on for deer life, Regular struggled to shed the cobwebs from his groggy head. The bell saved him from further punishment.
Regular flicked out a jab repeatedly at the initiation of round two and began putting together punches as Alvarado pressed in. Alvarado rocked Regular with a lead right. Alvarado swinging wide with wicked hooks was caught shortly thereafter with some potent and strikingly effective Regular. Surging, Regular backed Alvarado to the ropes with a blistering two-fisted attack. However, Fighting off the ropes, Alvarado staggered Regular in return.
In round three, while pressing the action, Alvarado walked into a big right and was staggered badly. Regrouping, he pressed on again. However, Regular swarmed hard with both hands. Failing to knock his guy down, he backed off as Alvarado pursued. Alvarado swung and caught mostly air as Regular retreated behind a steady jab. At rounds end, Alvarado trapped Regular against the ropes and the two exchanged fiercely. At the beginning of round four, Regular flicked a steady and pesky jab as Alvarado sought to come in. He teed off with a big overhand left, but soon found himself in a fierce firefight. Spinning Alvarado to the ropes, he landed a big right before the fight went to rings center with Alvarado in pursuit. Regular appeared to do the more effectual scoring of the two, although he also had his head snapped back periodically. Coming into the final stretch, Regular pressed the attack, backing up Alvarado with a furious two-fisted assault. The final scores were: 39-37 all for Chris Regular.
Super middleweights Omar “Pit bull” Pitman (3-0-0, 2 KO’s) vs. Anthony Ivory (29-7-4, 11 KO’s) did a pretty good job of imitating today’s heavyweight division at its worst, engaging in a ‘clinch-a-thon’ of epic proportions. In the end, Ivory prevailed by unanimous decision.
Round one started off conservatively. Ivory initiated a clinch as Pittman fired hard right hooks to Ivory’s back. The two fell into a pattern of scattered punching—mostly stifled by other’s blocking—and clinching. Growing quickly restless, the crowd began howling for some action. Anthony landed a looping overhand right, but fell into a clinch. Coming in, he caught Pittman with another right along the ropes and fell into yet another clinch.
Round two saw a lot of muted action, as the two alternatively threw punches and held, again prompting scattered booing form the crowd.
Round three saw more stifling phone booth warfare with a heightened sense of purpose, as both apparently sensed the bout was very much in the balance. It was a tough round to score.
In round four, Ivory appeared to be surging with the more effective aggression in the firs half, but Pittman surging later. However, the ref called Pittman one point’s deduction for holding.
Pittman landed some substantive blows early on in round five. Then, Ivory surged back. More holding. Pittman was warned for holding, even though Ivory often participated in the holding tactics; Pittman clamped down on Ivory’s left, but which Ivory placed on his right side and clasped with a hooked hand. The crowd booed in between rounds five and six.
In round six, Pittman began letting his hands go to the body with hooks, then fell into a mutual clinch. The two fought in spirited and brief spurts in between clinches, seeking to wrest control of a close and dreadfully boring fight. As the fight drew to a close, it became increasingly apparent, however, that Ivory was making the more consistent efforts while conversely, Pittman held more. The scores were 58-55, 57-56 and 60-53 for Anthony Ivory.
Lightweight Wyatt “Iceman” Frost (0-2-0) proved wild and wooly versus Jermaine “Too Sweet” White (3-0-0, 1 KO), ultimately losing by TKO in the second round.
In round one, Wyatt initiated aggressively, winging hard shots with both hands but got staggered for his efforts. A left hook knocked Wyatt into the ropes drawing large ‘oohs’ form the crowd. A pair of rights by Jermaine knocked him into the ropes. A left hook staggered him and an right knocked him down into the ropes where he received a standing eight count. After fighting resumed, a left rocked him. Swinging wildly with both hands, Frost grew winded. Hit with a hard left hook, he suffered a delayed knockdown. Breathing heavily, he awaited the inevitable as White came in. However, the bell saved him from further punishment.
Swinging hard with both hands, Frost initiated round two by wading in and landing several hard shots in close. However, White caught him with some solid sots at close quarters and knocked him down with a right hook. Gasping for breath on one knee, Frost took the initial count lucidly. However, looking closely, the ref waved off the fight at 1:06 into the second round.
Middleweight Michael “The Midnight Stalker” Walker (2-0-0, 2 KO’s) kept his stoppage streak intact by stopping limited Mike McGuire (?) in one round.
Round one began with the stocky and shorter armed McGuire circled nervously, throwing arm punches awkwardly as Walker stalked and cut off the ring. About a minute into the round, Walker knocked down McGuire with a right hook to the temple, resulting in a standing eight count. About ten seconds later, he staggered McGuire with a left hook, sending him stumbling to the ropes and receiving a second standing eight count. A big right knocked him down definitively, causing the ref to wave off the fight at 1:47 into round one for an automatic TKO victory by Walker.
In a somewhat spirited and entertaining, but short lived melee, Cruiserweight Greg Jones (13-4-0, 6 KO’s) officially TKO’ed James Hopkins (2-4-0, 1 KO) at 3:00 into round three, as Hopkins got gassed and, appearing on the verge of getting knocked out, quit in his corner between rounds three and four. Afterwards, Hopkins said, “I have no excuses. I just ran out of gas.”
Hopkins may have run out of gas, but the event surely did not, as fight fans went home thoroughly satisfied with the great evening of fireworks they had just witnessed, courtesy of One In a Million, Inc.
Photographs by Tom Glunz
http://photos.yahoo.com/juancayllon
FOR AN EXHAUSTIVE ARRAY OF GLUNZ’ PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE FIGHT, GO TO:
http://www.comvantage.com/webpage/BoxingPics07092004/
