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10/15/2005 Archived Entry: "Lopez Outlasts Barrett, Venegas Stops Vincent at ‘Latin Fire’ in Cicero!"
Lopez Outlasts Barrett, Venegas Stops Vincent at ‘Latin Fire’ in Cicero!
By Juan C. Ayllon at ringside
Lopez (right) attacks Barrett (Jorge Bravo photo)
CICERO, IL October 14, 2005 – While many of Chicagoland’s faithful stayed home to watch the Chicago White Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels 5-2 to take a 2-1 lead in the American League baseball championship series, roughly 1,000 spectators came cheer on their heroes at the Cicero Stadium. They were not disappointed.
In the main event, former WBO Welterweight Champion Jose Luis Lopez, 157.5 lbs., 47-4-2, 37 KO’s remained the effective aggressor throughout and shook off a scary last minute surge by Vinroy Barrett, 21-3-0, 11 KO’s to win by unanimous decision.
Commenting on the fight, David “Weezel” Estrada said, “Well, he [Barrett] wasn’t throwing any punches. He was being elusive, staying away from him; he looked like he didn’t want to fight. But, that last round, he hurt him [Lopez].
And, Jose Luis Lopez really used his experience by staying on the ropes and buying as much time [as he could], ‘cause let me tell you something: he was out! He was hurt, but he used his better experience by hanging on, holding on and being on the ropes. I mean, he wasted a whole 30 seconds holding onto him. But, I guess he won the fight. This other guy didn’t want to fight.”
In the co-main event, Gilbert Venegas, 147 lbs., 8-1-1, 5 KO’s administered a systematic beating in stopping game, but overmatched Steve Vincent, 148 lbs., 8-3-0, 7 KO’s at one second into round one.
And, on the under card, popular Chicago middleweight David “The Weezel” Estrada, 160 lbs., 7-4-0, 5 KO’s found the going testy at times, but ultimately prevailed via TKO in the third round over Kendall Gould, 160 lbs., 7-6-1, 4 KO’s.
Lopez the aggressor throughout
Living up to his reputation as a dangerous puncher, Lopez stalked in the opening moments of his bout. Suddenly, he jumped in behind a winging right-left combination that Barrett ducked away from. Fleet footed, Barrett circled. Lopez dug a right to his side. Barrett double jabbed and skated away. Hi s left low and his right by his chin, he moved his head and circled.
It appeared that Barrett was practicing damage control and waiting for the opportune moment to counter wit the right, which he kept coiled and tucked to his chin.
The crowd booed. Lopez missed with a left hook and grazed with a second. He grazed with a lead right at rounds end as the crowd whistled with displeasure.
In round two, Barrett circled to his right, then his left. He jabbed and sped away as Lopez gave chase. Lopez landed a lead right, then a spearing jab. Barrett ducked under a lead left hook. Lopez landed a long right and missed with a probing right. Barrett landed a quick left right, then stepped away. He actually ran to his right. At rings center, he moved his head. He was knocked off balance with a Lopez left, then got back on his bike. He landed a quick right that snapped back Lopez’ head near rounds end, then evaded in the waning moments. As he walked back to his corner, he gave Lopez a knowing look.
Round three, Barrett shimmied, poked and ran. Moving left to right, then squatting low, he looked to be borrowing a page from Pernell Whitaker, sans the punching. Lopez landed a stiff right. He drove Barrett to the ropes with another right. Smiling, Barrett peppered with a stiff left-right combination. He caught a right from Lopez. He jabbed and moved. And moved. Borrowing a move from Roy Jones, Jr., he high stepped. Then, he punched, banking a stiff right to the head and a left to the body. Another right followed. Lopez countered with a pair of left hooks. Barrett smiled and feinted, then smiled at Lopez as he slapped his hand at the bell. Strange.
In round four, Barrett moved side-to-side, pumped hard jabs and ducked out of the way of a right. Lopez landed a right on the ropes. Lopez dug a right to the side, and banged a right over the top. The two traded sparse blows and then Barrett skated away. Barrett landed a right. Lopez dug a low blow that bothered Barrett and followed with hooks from both hands briefly.
Starting out round five, Lopez double jabbed; Barrett jabbed and retreated, then circled. Lopez pounced on the ropes momentarily, but Barrett ducked out. He attempted a left-right combination, was blocked and scored with a right hook. Pursuing, Lopez landed single shots. However, although stiff, his blows lacked the authority they once held at welterweight.
Barrett jabbed. Lopez cracked with a lead right. Barrett countered with a one two and circled out. Lopez dug a heavy lead right to the midsection. Barrett jabbed. Lopez landed a stunning right over the top. However, Barrett shrugged it off. Coming back, he landed a right and pecked away with jabs before skittering away. Lopez landed a hard left hook at the bell.
In round six, Lopez landed a stiff lead right as Barrett shuttled away. Lopez landed another right and smiled. Lopez landed a hard right hook, then a hard right. Barrett speared with a jab. Lopez banged in another hard right and a digging left to the body. Barrett unleashed a two-fisted fusillade. Lopez smiled and pressed. He hooked with a right to the head and a left to the body.
Smiling, Barrett landed a right to the head. Lopez bulled him to the ropes. Lopez blocked a lead right, winged a looping overhand right over the top and a bruising left hook as Barrett exited, stage left.
Lopez cracked with a left hook. Barrett opened up with a flurry and skated out of harms way. Barrett unleashed another furious shoeshine on Lopez’ head and moved away. Lopez closed out the round with a hard, looping right to the head as Barrett covered.
Round seven began with Lopez feinting to the body, then digging a right to the side. Barrett stormed forward with both fists blurring, but not exceptionally hard. Lopez speared with his jab, then Barrett jabbed back multiple times. Barrett landed a right. Lopez hooked to the head; Barrett pumped the jab. Barrett sprung off the ropes with a jab and attempted a one-two at rings center before clinching. Lopez double jabbed; Barrett replied in kind, following with a quick lead right. The two exchanged in close.
Lopez was cut behind his left eye. He caromed a hard left hook off Barett’s head that turned him sideways. Following up, he thumped Barrett with thudding rights along the ropes. After the bell rang, Lopez shook his head confidently to fans in the crowd.
In round eight, Barrett came out jabbing, landed a right, and caught some stiff jabs to the head. Barrett peppered with both hands. The two traded in close. Lopez landed a right to Barrett’s side.
Lopez drove Barrett to the ropes with a one two. The two smeared each other’s faces in close as the ref broke them. Lopez laughed as the two clinched. Lopez banked four or five rights. Taunting him, Barrett laughed. Barrett came back with a flurry of a half dozen punches. As the two clinched, Lopez laughed.
Breaking, Lopez speared with jabs and Barrett held. Barrett and Lopez traded briefly in close. Lopez trapped Barrett’s left arm under his right.
In round nine, Barrett landed a right following a jab. Taking the initiative, Barrett landed a left hook to Lopez’ head after some flurries to the body. Keeping in close to smother Lopez’ offense, Barrett tried to overwhelm Lopez with heavy work rate. Lopez surged, then retreated as the two traded hard hooks. Barrett snapped Lopez head back with a sharp blow. The two jabbed. Barrett landed a stiff right to the head. Barrett landed a lead right and left, backing Lopez up.
In the fateful tenth round, Lopez backed up Barrett behind a stiff jab. Trapping Barrett in a corner, he rained down lefts and rights, caught some blows and pushed Barrett’s head back in frustration. Lopez jabbed and cracked with a double left hook, then pushed Barrett’s head back in a clinch. Barrett tried to get an armbar on Lopez as the two locked up, drawing a warning from the referee. Lopez landed a hard right to the head, then another. Barrett held. Lopez launched a hard right as the referee separated the two. Enough was enough, as the ref deducted one point from Lopez. Angered, Lopez dropped another hard right bomb that glanced. He caught a right to the head and landed a hard left hook to Barrett’s head. Barrett practically ran from Lopez as he sought to avoid the incoming.
Suddenly, the moment Barrett had been waiting for happened: Lopez walked into jarring rights and lefts that hurt him! Grabbing on for dear life, Lopez trapped Barrett’s arms under his with a vice grip that the ref could not break, try as he might, for a good 20 to 30 seconds as the final moments of the bout tolled off.
Beer, plastic cups and other refuse were thrown into the ring as Barrett—who seemed to feel vindicated—raised his hands overhead as if he’d won.
The fight was scored 96-92, 98-91, and 97-92 for a unanimous decision victory for Jose Luis Lopez.
Following the match, several policemen escorted Barrett through the largely Hispanic crowd. Even so, he was pelted by some debris and verbally abused by some as he exited.
Asked what he thought about the bout, 8 Count Productions promoter Dominic Pesoli said, “Boring.”
Venegas administers a beating
Venegas (right) attacks Vincent with a fury (Jorge Bravo photo)
In the lively co-main event, Gilbert Venegas delivered on his promising previous form in breaking down and ultimately stopping a gritty Steve Vincent.
After a short feeling out period in round one, Venegas took the lead, glancing with a lead right and dropping in another potent right. Vincent countered with his own pair of lead rights. He followed with a short right, a big left hook, a right and left hook to the head. Venegas landed a hard lead right and doubled up with hooks to the body.
Venegas initiated round two with a jarring lead right to the head. Another lead right caught Vincent. Bleeding from the nose, Vincent jabbed and sought to wrest control of the action. Vincent banged in a hard lead right, but was backed up by a furious counter assault. Venegas appeared to rock Vincent with a right. He nailed him with a crackling right and began banging body and head at will. Vincent jarred with a good right, but caught another in return. Venegas worked him up and down. Vincent surged back strongly but was hammered for his efforts in close. A hard right left combination by Venegas punctuated an exhilarating round dominated by Venegas.
In round three, Venegas drilled four hard shots to the beltline, drawing a warning from the ref. Stepping of f to the side, Venegas landed a hard right. Venegas rocked Vincent with a flurry of blows to the head. However, Vincent came alive and fought back. No matter. Venegas hurt him again at rounds end, and dropped him with a heavy low right.
Beginning round four, Venegas bobbled Vincent’s head with a left on the ropes. Venegas hurt Vincent with a right and as he followed, Vincent turned away partially. Venegas unleashed a furious two-fisted assault, but somehow Vincent survived.
Regrouping, Venegas resumed systematically breaking him down with blows up and down.
Vincent appeared to be absorbing the abuse in hopes of tiring Venegas, then capitalizing. This appeared to work momentarily, as Vincent caught Venegas with a left hook as Venegas wearied and slowed down. However, the opportunity passed as Venegas remounted another assault. The pace was blistering.
In between rounds, Vincent’s corner surrendered. The fight officially ended at one second into the fifth round.
Afterwards, Venegas said, “One of many coming. I’m going to only get better. Thanks for everyone coming out!”
Estrada Overcomes Power with Power
Estrada (right) lands a crunching right in close (Jorge Bravo photo)
David “The Weezel” Estrada, whose nickname was purposely spelled W-E-E-Z-E-L at the request of a friend because it was more creative and original, picked his spots and created opportunities in stopping an opponent who at least on paper was evenly matched with him.
Round one began and ended with the two trading jabs. In between, the two had a healthy scrap, as Estrada caught some body blows and a right to he head on the ropes early on, but returned the favor with a hard right at rings center and a heavy right uppercut and left that had Gould hanging on. Gould stormed back, driving Estrada to the ropes with a two fisted assault that largely was blocked. Estrada surged back, then Gould, once again, trapped him on the ropes and banged away as Estrada covered. Escaping to the center of the ring, Estrada reestablished the jab as the two returned to the same form as they started, trading jabs.
An ecstatic Estrada (right) wearing glasses says, "I can see!" and embraces Gould (Juan C. Ayllon photo)
Estrada initiated round two with a spearing jab, then a right. Gould charged in with two fists blazing, then winged a hard right over the top.
Fighting back, Estrada landed a low right and was warned. Estrada landed a sneaky uppercut as the two traded in closes. Estrada landed a hard right that dropped Gould.
Cautiously pressing, Estrada landed a right hook. The two traded and Estrada landed a right that buckled Gould. Gould came back hard. The two traded along the ropes. Gould connected with a hard right over the top and unleashed a furious head and body assault at rounds end that had Estrada covering and ducking.
In round three, Estrada jabbed away hard; Gould charged with looping lefts and rights, driving him back.
Suddenly, Estrada dropped Gould with a hard left hook to the body. Swarming, Estrada jabbed and banged rights to the head. Switching momentarily to southpaw, he cracked in a left uppercut. Switching back to conventional stance, he continued to rain in blows.
Another right hand dropped Gould to all fours. The ref waved off the fight at 1:40 into round three.
Afterwards, David Estrada said, “Well, first of all, a lot of respect to Kenny Gould. He has a lot of amateur experience. You know, he came to fight, and so did I. And, what can I say? You know, God was with me and my power overpowered his power and I certainly need to work on a lot of stuff, but I’m glad it’s a win for me. I’m back on a winning streak. And, you know, we’ll see what happens! Boxing’s rough. It’s not as easy as people think. Kenny Gould’s good and he’s better than what the record says, so, a lot of respect for him. But, I came out victorious, thank you God!”
Telefutura televised several bouts from this show on their production, Latin Fire/Solo Boxeo de Miller. Dominic Pesoli's 8 Count Productions promoted the event.
Additional bouts from the under card will appear in Jorge Bravo’s report.
Rudy Cisneros at ringside (Juan C. Ayllon photo)
