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02/26/2005 Archived Entry: "Bravo! Oscar Demolishes Brady in One at Entertaining 'Night of Destruction'!"
Bravo! Oscar Demolishes Brady in One at Entertaining 'Night of Destruction'!
By Juan C. Ayllon at ringside
Oscar Bravo (R) attacks Joseph Brady in a corner
CHICAGO, IL – In an entertaining fight card that lived up to its name, Friday night’s signature fighter at the Aragon Ballroom, super middleweight Oscar Bravo (168.5 lbs., 21-2-0, 18 KO’s) made short work of reluctant Joseph Brady (168 lbs., 13-2-1, 6 KO’s), stopping him in the first round.
In the short lived bout, Bravo cut off the ring and bombed away against Brady, who seemed intent on staying out of harms way as he skittered about the periphery of the ring to avoid being impaled by the charging bull before him.
Bravo after the fight
However, his efforts soon proved fruitless: Bravo trapped him in a corner, hit him with a jab and—in the process—tricked him into raising his hands; he nailed him with a left hook to the body, and a left hook to the head, and dropped him. A second knockdown followed shortly, the result of another pair of hooks, the first to the head and the second to the body. The fight was waved off at 1:54 into round one. While greeting admirers outside the ring afterward, Bravo said, “I’m breaking more of a sweat out here!”
In earlier action, rugged warrior and former Golden Gloves standout Ivan "Hurricane" Rodriguez (125.5 lbs., 4-0-0, 2 KO's) suffered a stunning defeat at the hands of Sadot Vasquez (125.5 lbs., 1-0-1, 0 KO's) as a shocked audience looked silently on. To his credit, Sadot was much more composed and adept in the ring than his record might have suggested.
Prior to commencement of the first round, a look of awe betrayed Rodriguez’ visage as he glanced at his notably taller and larger opponent, whose weight was identical with Ivan’s at Thursday night’s weigh in, appeared a good 10 to 15 pounds heavier by fight time. It was as if Rodriguez thought, “Wow, this guy is really huge.” As such, Vasquez seemed to take momentary advantage prior to a single punch being thrown.
This was the same effect that the towering heavyweight brothers Klitschko—Wladimir and Vitali—enjoyed to great effect over opponents encountering them face to chest for the first time. That is at least until Wlad was found to be merely human in high profile stoppage losses in 2003 and 2004.
Perhaps this same human weakness was what Rodriguez was hoping for as he trudged forward to marching orders behind a high guard.
Vasquez (R) lands a wicked right uppercut to Rodriguez' head
In round one, Vasquez moved and jabbed and threw a three-punch salvo to the head. The shorter Rodriguez returned his own three-punch salvo to the body. Playing it far more conservatively than usual, Rodriguez sought to fend off the incoming blows and pounce at opportune moments in bursts, seeking to bury his head in Vasquez’ chest and winging frenzied punches with both hands. In turn, Vasquez retreated, sidestepped and threw punches at angles.
Vasquez landed a good right hook. Vasquez used his reach and height advantage to full effect, landing with much greater accuracy and effect with snappy and straight punches to edge a close round.
In round two, Vasquez pot-shotted and backpedaled as Rodriguez pressured, finding a home for the occasionally well-placed uppercut. For his part, Rodriguez sought to bang hard, looping shots over the top.
Rodriguez appeared to be gaining momentum in round three as he increased his work rate. A died in the wool slugger, he sought to trap Vasquez on the ropes as he waded in with increasing frequency and resolve. However, Vasquez landed a hard right to the body, another left hook to the body and a looping right to the head, stunning Rodriguez near rounds end. Grabbing, Rodriguez pushed Vasquez to the canvas as the bell tolled.
Digging in, Rodriguez continued the pursuit in round four. However, being the notably shorter man, he continued to make several key mistakes: he came straight in, he fought straight up most of the time and when he ducked down, he bent at the waist, not at the knees, making him an easier target for Vasquez’ uppercuts and blows in general.
Vasquez landed a good left to the head a solid right uppercut to the head, as Rodriguez charged in swarming. Rodriguez landed a good left hook of his own to Vasquez’ head.
Vasquez landed and uppercut, a right and another right hook knocking Rodriguez down. After looking checking with Rodriguez, the ref stopped the contest at 2:22 into round four for a TKO. Ivan Rodriguez Corner:
Doljanin (L) talks frankly with Rodriguez in the corner, as Al Gonzales (top/middle) and Albert Falcon (R) look on
After the fight, Rodriguez' manager Pat Doljanin said about him, “He fought the wrong fight for a [tall] guy like that. He wasn’t doing what I told him to; he wasn’t jabbing. He’d throw his jab and stand [off to the side] over here. He needed to walk him down with the jab.”
Heavyweight contender, Fres Oquendo, who is tentatively scheduled to fight Michael Moorer on the undercard of the Andrew Golota vs. Lamon Brewster WBO title clash on May 21st, visited at ringside while taking in Bravo’s fight.
On how he’s doing:
FRES OQUENDO: Good, good. Not much, just watching the good fights. Yeah we actually got in contact with Don King and I am looking forward to meeting with him next Wednesday and fighting on May 21. Sparring with Carl Davis is great. I am looking forward to getting back in the ring. It’s been over a year since I’ve fought; it will be over a year and a month when I fight on May 21st!
On whether or not he’s going to go back to working with Tito Trinidad’s father as a trainer:
FRES OQUENDO: No. Felix’s dad is focusing on Tito; Basically, I am focusing on my dad and my brother in my corner.
On whether he is doing anything special to prepare for Moorer:
Fres Oquendo
FRES OQUENDO: Right now I’m just maintaining. It's not 100%; we’re looking to staying focused and just maintaining my work ethic.
On Jirov vs. Moorer:
FRES OQUENDO: It was good, he’s one of the top ten heavyweights and he definitely earned his shot. He [Jirov] got the L and he [Moorer] got the W.
On His controversial loss to IBF Heavyweight Champion, Chris Byrd:
FRES OQUENDO: I knocked him down; I dominated him. I was stunned [with the decision].
On strategy he plans on employing versus Michael Moorer:
FRES OQUENDO: Basically keep on the outside, use lateral movements, right hands at will, which I know eventually he will go down with.
With that, Oquendo promised to fill this writer in next week on how negotiations with Don King go in Deerfield, Florida, at Kings headquarters.
The spicy fight card was dotted with its share of appreciative boxing celebrities. Local junior welterweight prospect, Al “Speedy” Gonzales, was spotted at ringside with his beautiful girlfriend in tow. Asked if he has any upcoming fights, he said, “I’ve got a fight for a belt. It’s “Big Mouth” [Paul Malignaggi]. The fight will be either June or July. I’m going to shut him up!”
Chicago junior welterweight contender, David Diaz was soaking up the atmosphere, as well, saying, “I’m just relaxing, enjoying the fights.” The effervescent and crowd-pleasing 140 lb. fighter Rita Figueroa and her mother visited; she said that she would be fighting next on April 8th. She added that Macho Miguel Hernandez had told her he’d be fighting then, too. Senior boxing statesman, Freddy Cuevas looked dapper in his dark wool overcoat and fashionable scarf and visited affably with friends at ringside.
Exciting light heavyweight slugger Elizabeth Kerrin smiled appreciatively, adding that she’s, “Doing great!” That seemed to sum up the general feel of the festive crowd, taking in the comfort of what is seemingly becoming Dominic Pesoli’s extended living room for his hip Friday night parties, cum boxing events. It’s comfortable, and it’s exciting to be there.
From left to right: Freddy Cuevas, Rita Figueroa, Rita's mom, and Juan Ayllon
All photos by Tom Glunz
tom@comvantage.com
