[Previous entry: "Weigh-In Results for Solo Boxeo 'Night of Thunder' Friday Night!"] [Main Index] [Next entry: "Barrera and Peden to Unify 130 Lb. Titles September 17!"]
07/16/2005 Archived Entry: "Velasquez Halts Mendoza, Kost Edges Hernandez in a Close One!"
Velasquez Halts Mendoza, Kost Edges Hernandez in a Close One!
By Juan C. Ayllon at ringside
Velasquez has his hand raised in victory (Juan C. Ayllon photo)
CHICAGO, July 15, 2005 – In the midst of another heat wave, sparks flew at the Aragon Ballroom, producing stoppages and slugfests aplenty, thrilling a very vocal and boisterous crowd to no end. Dubbed, “Night of Thunder” by Bob Arum’s Top Rank and Dominic Pesoli’s 8 Count Productions, the main and co-main bouts of this exciting fight card were broadcast by Telefutura’s Solo Boxeo television show.
In the main event, Hector Velasquez, 129.5 lbs., 41-10-2, 30 KO’s, applied a steady, varied, and withering attack and halted Trinidad Mendoza, 130 lbs., 21-9-2, 16 KO’s, in the fifth round.
Velasquez (left) bangs away
From the get-go in round one, the taller Velasquez applied the pressure, while Mendoza backpedaled. Velasquez chipped away with both hands to head and body, while Mendoza countered neatly in spots.
In round two, Velasquez was warned to keep his punches up. Several other blows strayed south of the border in this and in subsquent rounds which either went undetected or ignored. Never the less, he maintained a high work rate, raking Mendoza up and down as he kept both hands busy. To his credit, Mendoza stepped up production in the latter half of the round and gave a decent account of himself.
Round three saw the two trade more evenly, which witnessed Mendoza pressuring and Velasquez countering. In a violent dance, the two took turns taking the lead, while the other retreated.
In round four, Mendoza’s left knee buckled momentarily from a shot of Velasquez’, but he pressed on. Velasquez kept a smacking glove on Mendoza at all times—or so it seemed—whether to head or body. A right to the side hurt Mendoza and he dropped momentarily. Upon rising, his mouthpiece dropped to the mat. After action resumed and Velasquez bombed away, he dropped his mouthpiece yet again, buying himself further respite.
Round five saw Velasquez bang away with abandon, buckling Mendoza’s legs with a left hook to the head. A right-left combination abruptly terminated matters. The ref stopped the bout at 1:25 into round five.
Velasquez is slated to fight former WBC Flyweight, WBC International Super Bantamweight and IBF Super Bantamweight Champion Manny Pacquiao in September.
Kost (left) bounces a left off of Hernandez
“Kayo” Kenny Kost, 160 lbs., 9-1-0, 6 KO’s, won a somewhat controversial decision in an entertaining battle over hometown favorite, “Macho” Miguel Hernandez, 160 lbs., 16-2-0, 9 KO’s.
As the two boxed crisply but with restraint, Hernandez—as would be the pattern in this bout—dipped forward and landed a big overhand right, drawing cheers from the crowd. In return, Kost landed several right hands over a left that dropped somewhat, prompting friend and fellow Chicago boxer, David Estrada, to shout, “Keep those hands up Miguel!”
Round two saw another big Hernandez overhand right stun Kost, forcing a clinch. Kost punched several hard and straight right hands through Hernandez’ guard, as well. Hernandez appeared to edge a tightly contested round based on more effective aggression.
Hernandez traps Kost on the ropes
In the third stanza, Hernandez jarred with several other overhand rights. Kost also landed several of his own, backing him to the ropes. In a hard, tough fought round, arguably the difference may have been Hernandez’ jab—for which Estrada kept yelling out, “Double up the jab,” repeatedly—as well as the more effective landing blows.
Hernandez appeared the aggressor for the better portion of round four, crowding Kost and banging in potent jabs, hooks and rights. He jarred Kost with a left hook that dumped him into the ropes. Kost also remained busy, always dangerous with hard rights and threatening hooks. He landed a right hand that caught Hernandez walking in, prompting Estrada to shout, “Don’t get sloppy in there!”
Hernandez continued to press in round five, often electing to stay in close and negate Kost’s reach advantage. Never letting up, Kost kept his hands busy and landed some hard rights and the occasional left. It appeared that Hernandez’ effective work rate carried a close round.
Kost appeared to hit a new stride in round six as he started out as the aggressor and dominated, while Hernandez appeared to be taking the round off. Boxing carefully, Hernandez dodged, held and blocked pretty well. In the last minute of the round, Hernandez surged, vying to steal the round.
Kost continued to advance his cause in round seven, mixing overhand rights with uppercuts and digging shots to the body. However, Hernandez persevered and jarred him with an overhand right; bombing away with both fists, Hernandez attacked as the frenzied crowd cheered lustily.
In round eight, Hernandez sparked a furious exchange with another patented overhand right. Slugging back and forth, the two traded hard. Hernandez however used spacing to his advantage, keeping close for a majority of the round.
Hernandez (left) and Kost trade hard leather
Round nine was give and take, with Hernandez perhaps edging in terms of effective aggression, but Kost perhaps the busier of the two. Hernandez landed several jarring right hands which—while not hurting Kost—scored well in a closely fought round.
The two traded back and forth with fervor in round 10. Kost appeared to shift into a higher gear, stepping up his effort; he appeared a little fresher and slightly more productive, banging away with conviction, while Hernandez willed his tiring body to slug some more in a solid effort to close the show strongly.
To the chagrin of the crowd, the judges scored the bout 96-94 for Hernandez, and 97-93 twice for a split decision victory for “Kayo” Kenny Kost.
Commenting afterwards, 140 pound Indiana fighter Jermaine White said, “I got here too late to catch a lot of the fight, but I thought Kost won it. Miguel wasn’t busy enough. You’ve got to let your hands go.”
Popular Chicago junior welterweight boxer Rita Figueroa said, “I thought Miguel clearly won. He landed the more effective punches.”
www.fightnews.com’s Robert Hoffman said, “I think Miguel did enough to win it. It was a close fight, though.”
Hoffman’s sentiments were echoed by the Cyber Boxing Zone’s Karl Hegman, who himself had an extensive amateur career. Watching the fight on television, he said, “Hmmm. I'm no judge; but in my opinion, Miguel seemed to shade the other kid tonight. A poor but not terrible decision.”
Estrada (left) and Hernandez visit at the conclusion of the bout
Afterwards, David Estrada said, “To be quite honest, I thought Miguel won. Especially, a split decision, I would think it would go to the hometown guy, but unfortunately it went the other way. Honestly, it definitely wasn’t no 97-93. I can see him losing 96-94, but again, the hometown favorite, you’ve got to give it to the hometown favorite. Miguel landed the bigger, harder shots. The other guy landed more shots, but they weren’t effective or anything, but he looked busier.
"But, hey, you know, unfortunately, he lost the fight. Everyone thought he won the fight. You know, but it’s not what we think, it’s what the judges see and the other guy coming forward throwing more punches, even though Miguel landed the harder, bigger punches. I thought, personally, he won it.
"Miguel was waiting a lot. You know what I’m saying? He should have been putting the pressure on him.
"But, you know, he’s got all my support also. You know, I’m one of his biggest fans. He’s actually one of the reasons why I came over here—to help him out, you know, by yelling out there, I’m f—ing hoarse! I’ve always had my support with Miguel also. That’s why we have a pact: I will never fight him. Him and Donavan George are the only guys in Chicago that I would never fight.
"I told him, ‘Keep your head up. You know, I’ve got four losses; you know, you’re 16 and three.’ He’s 16 and three. He’ll be back. That’s all I’ve got to say.
"And I told him, ‘Next month, we’re going to be helping each other out and we’ll get back in the gym.”
Miguel Hernandez said, “All my fans thought I won the fight. I believed I won the fight. I went in there with a game plan and stayed boxing. And I boxed the guy; I was landing the jab. I should have put more pressure on him when I had him hurt with the overhand right and stuff, but, that’s boxing, you know? I’ve got to go back to the drawing board, and see what I’ve got to do.
“You know, I’ve been fighting too many fights back to back. I got to go back and take my time, you know, to the gym, train a month—a lot of conditioning, running and stuff like that.
“You know, I was in great shape for this fight. We stuck to the game plan and sometimes the judges, they go for the aggressor, but a lot of his punches, I was catching them; I was blocking a lot of his punches. I mean, you never know. This is a rough sport, man.”
Gonzales (right) attacks with a fury
In a hard fought contrast of styles, Jimmy Gonzales, 161.5 lbs., 2-0-0, 2 KO’s and Michael “The Midnight Stalker” Walker, 161 lbs., 7-0-0, 5 KO’s had the audience screaming and roaring throughout, stealing the evening's thunder with furious, nonstop slugging. Gonzales was the wide swinging and raw puncher, while Walker threw straighter and more compact punches, appearing the more disciplined and experienced boxer-puncher of the two. Unfortunately, the official decision was less than satisfying, as the judges scored it a draw.
In round one, Walker bull rushed Gonzales to the ropes, but after that, it was all Gonzales and he bombed away, cracking away with both hands with wanton abandon. Covering, Walker managed to knock Gonzales back a step with a well-placed right. But, Gonzales was back on him winging hard left hooks, uppercuts and stupefying clubbing overhand rights.
Gonzales continued to bang away in the second round, hooking, jabbing and landing heavy rights from up high. However, Walker landed a hard left hook and banked some solid bodywork with ripping inside shots in a closer round.
Walker (left) fires back with a compact fury of his own
Walker had his best round up to this point in round three, landing a vicious right left right, a chopping right and hitting with real commitment. Bleeding from the nose, however, a snarling Gonzales banged back hard, landing very hard rights and thudding lefts to the head.
The two took turns landing hard bursts of shots in round four. Swelling badly from his right eye, Walker shook his head “no” and waved Gonzales in with his right hand after absorbing a particularly heavy volley. Walker was holding and walking down Gonzales more, but also landed a preponderance of very effective head and body shots.
Up on his toes at beginning of round five, Walker sought to box more. However, it was only for a moment, as science quickly devolved into a frenzied and prolonged brawl. Taking turns backing one another up, both landed very hard lefts and rights in bunches. The pace was staggering. Depending on ones point of view, a slight edge appeared to belong to Gonzales. However, an argument could be made for Walker in this round as well.
In round six, Gonzales appeared to tire greatly, throwing more arm punches as Walker surged with a vengeance. Pinning Gonzales to the ropes behind a vicious fusillade of leaden lefts and rights, Walker stormed with a searing two-fisted flurry. Striking back with the fury of a cornered wildcat, Gonzales tore back at Walker with hard, looping punches. The two fought furiously till rounds end.
The verdict proved anti-climactic, as they read 56-58 for Walker, 56-58 for Gonzalez, and 57-57 even for a split decision draw.
Octavius James (right) talks with Walker
Afterwards, David Estrada said, “Mike won it hands down, five rounds to one.”
In the dressing room, as those around him groused and an assistant applied an enswell to his swollen eye, a disconsolate Walker said, “It’s my fault. It’s my fault!” His promoter and manager Octavius James, got up close to him and shouted, “Don’t ever let me hear you…say it’s your fault! It’s not your fault! It’s the…judges!”
Turning to this writer, James said, “Gonzales’ trainer, Arturo Salsas, pulled me aside and went on record to say that Michael won the fight. He went on public record!”
A swarming Mike Gonzales, 134.5 lbs., 1-0-0, 1 KO overpowered and stopped Tommy Bach-Pyle, 134 lbs., 2-0-1, 1 KO, in the fourth round.
Round one started out fast. Gonzales tagged Pyle with a hard right and some follow up punches, but Pyle countered well with a big right hand of his own, as he sought to time and punish him coming in.
Gonzales halts Pyle as the Referee Rodriguez intervenes
Round two saw Gonzales the more effective aggressor, with Pyle backpedaling and countering. Gonzales landed a couple big right hands and flurries, only to have Pyle turn it on and land several jarring rights of his own at a little past the midway mark. Gonzales continued to press matters, however, relentlessly stalking Pyle at rounds end.
Repeatedly backing Pyle back to the ropes in the third round, Gonzales began hurting Pyle and appeared to be on the verge of stopping him. However, Pyle fought back aggressively at rounds end, landing several stunning right hands in the process.
Gonzales tore into Pyle with a vengeance in the fourth, while Pyle countered with single right hands and short bursts of two and three punch combinations. Trapped in a corner, Pyle dropped, ostensibly the result of an accumulation of blows. Receiving a standing eight count, Pyle backed to an opposite corner, where Gonzales unleashed a fusillade of concussive blows to body and head. At 2:59 into the fourth round, Referee Geno Rodriguez stopped the bout.
Rios (left) knocks down Alvarado
Normally rugged Jaime Alvarado, 134 lbs., 3-2-2, 2 KO’s, came apart against crackling upstart Brandon Rios, 134 lbs., 5-0-0, 5 KO’s, losing by TKO in the first round.
Alvarado jumped on Rios from the get go in round one. The two traded freely. A wide left hook knocked Alvarado back from the ropes. Later, a right hand by Rios dropped Alvarado hard. Eyes appearing somewhat glassy, Alvarado sought to fend off Alvarado’s blistering charge. However, he never had a chance, as moments later, the ref intervened and waved it off after witnessing the briefest of follow-ups by Rios. To the surprise of many, the referee stopped the bout at 2:08 into round one.
Davis relaxes on the ropes in the background as Johnson is counted out
Carl Davis, 226 lbs., 7-2-0, 6 KO’s rushed out and immediately swung for the proverbial fences, making short work of Joe Johnson, 207 lbs., 6-7-0, 4 KO’s, as he knocked him out with a right hook to the body at 1:18 into round one.
And thus, the fights at the Aragon Ballroom lived up to their billing. They truly produced a heated “Night of Thunder”, to the delight of a delirious crowd. Interestingly enough, drops of rain began falling from the heavens not too long afterwards, as if to cool down super-heated spectators as they walked back to their cars. Amazing.
David Estrada (left) with UFC Heavyweight Interim Champion, Andrei Arlovksi
Cruiserweight Mike Nevitt and his date at ringside
UFC Heavyweight Interim Champ, Andrei Arlovski (left) and Alex Dubovic at ringside
Jermaine White (left) with guest CBZ writer, Tom Morris
All photos by Juan C. Ayllon, Copyright 2005
