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08/05/2007 Archived Entry: "Diaz Retires Morales with Gritty Unanimous Decision!"
Diaz Retires Morales with Gritty Unanimous Decision!
By Juan C. Ayllon
Undercard coverage and photos of main event by Ben Torres
Other photos by Juan C. Ayllon
Diaz (right) batters Morales with a right uppercut on the ropes
ROSEMONT, Ill., August 4, 2007—Nine thousand, seven hundred and thirty-five fans never screamed so loud.
It was pandemonium and adrenalin as boxers David Diaz and Erik Morales traded blows over 12 brutal rounds at the Allstate Arena. Dubbed “War for Four!” this bout might have been more aptly entitled, “War for Gore,” as Diaz exited the ring with facial abrasions and a purplish bruised right eye nearly swollen shut, while Morales barely limped out with assistance looking like Boxing’s version of the “Elephant Man.” But, in the end, youthful energy and strength prevailed as World Boxing Council Lightweight Title holder Diaz retained his title by unanimous decision.
Loud chants of “Diaz, Diaz, Diaz!” roared as the stronger Diaz swarmed Morales in the first. Driving him back to the ropes with a four-punch volley, it looked like it would be an early night for Diaz. He pounded Morales with a punishing left-right combination to the head.
Then it was Morales’ turn.
Diaz (right) ducks out of the way of return fire from Morales early on in their gritty thriller of a war
Morales fired back hard with both fists as Diaz ducked and covered.
Diaz stormed back with jarring uppercuts to the Morales’ jaw. A crunching right knocked Morales into the ropes. A smashing straight left rocked Morales. Looping his blows in frenzied arcs, Diaz suddenly conjured memories of his sole loss to Kendall Holt, as he walked into a straight right threaded down the middle, to the head, and dropped to the mat!
Popping up, Diaz fought back. But the damage was done, as Morales scored a knockdown and finished the round with a pair of rights to the head at the bell.
Nonplussed, Diaz charged out in round two, driving Morales across the ring with uppercuts to the head. Cornered, Morales slugged back with both fists. Roars of “Morales, Morales, Morales!” erupted from the crowd. Diaz stormed back and another large contingency shouted, “Diaz, Diaz, Diaz!”
Diaz (right) batters Morales into a corner
Swinging hard, Diaz connected with a quick combination ending with a left hook that appeared to drop Morales. However, it was ruled a slip. Rising, Morales was knocked to the ropes with a right uppercut to the jaw. Morales speared back with slashing right-left to the head, and then an uppercut. Diaz, in turn, tore into Morales in a corner with both fists. Diaz dug to the body and snapped Morales’ head back with a left hook. Morales countered inside, but Diaz smothered their effectiveness. Gaining room, Morales pumped jabs and missed with a right-left at the bell.
And so the fight went. In the third and fourth rounds, Morales landed with increasing authority. He absorbing Diaz’ abuse, but was gaining momentum. Taller, at 5’ 8” to Diaz’ 5’ 7,” he capitalized with more punching room to land straight rights and lefts to the head and, occasionally, the body.
Morales (left) lands a jab to Diaz' right eye
By the sixth, Diaz’ right eye was blackened and swollen, especially below the eye, from eating jabs. Would it swell shut? There was a break in the action, perhaps due to a foul—it was so hard to hear above the roar of the crowd—and Diaz shouted something at Morales. Resuming, he drove Morales to the ropes with a straight left. He clubbed Morales over and under but again gaining room, Morales teed off with straighter blows.
Cornering him, Diaz landed sharp right uppercuts and a clubbing right over the top. Escaping, Morales speared Diaz’ right eye with hard jabs and dug a hard right hook to his side. Diaz countered with a hard right to the face. Circling and jabbing, Morales slammed four hooks to Diaz’ ribs, but ate a left hook to the head at the bell.
Shouts of “Morales, Morales!” christened round seven. Diaz rushed, jarred with a straight right to the head, and battered him along the ropes. Morales caromed a straight right off Diaz’ head, followed by stiff jabs. Pursuing, Diaz snapped Morales’ head back with a straight right, uppercut, and a left hook. Crowding Morales on the ropes, he battered with both fists. He ate a big right to the head, but finished the round strongly as he sent spray flying from Morales’ head with uppercuts and clubbing inside blows.
As Diaz continued the battery in round eight—with shouts of “Diaz, Diaz!” bolstering his efforts—he caught two rights to the head and was stunned. Morales pounced. Diaz ducked this way and that. His head cleared, he jumped back in behind jarring right uppercuts. Morales peppered with jabs and straight rights. Digging a hard right hook to the body, Diaz banged Morales’ head at point blank range on the ropes at the end of the round.
Although Morales continued ripping back with stiff rights and lefts, Diaz appeared to shift into a higher gear in the ninth and tenth rounds. He was really battering and manhandling Morales on the inside. In the tenth, shouts of “Diaz, Diaz!” echoed. His right eye swollen grotesquely, he staggered Morales with a straight left to the head. Ever the warrior, Morales fired back with rights to the head and a digging right to the ribs.
Diaz (left) stalks Morales
Trading heavily, Diaz jarred with a left to the head and ate a right to the face in return; he bounced a hard right-left off Morales’ head and caught stiff pair of jabs to the head at the bell.
Morales continued where he left off in round 11 behind stiff jabs and rights. Diaz stormed back with uppercuts in close, jarring him about the head and ripping the body with right hooks.
Trading, Diaz dug a left to the midsection and an uppercut to the head; Morales countered with a heavy right to Diaz’ head. The crowd roared. Storming back, Morales landed another. Diaz covered up. Then he tore into Morales’ body with both fists. A clinch. Diaz missed with a wide hook. Morales made him pay with raking lefts and rights to the head. No matter, Diaz backed him up with lefts and rights to the face of his own. He caught a right to the head, but knocked Morales back with a straight left—a blow that Morales can’t seem to avoid—and caught another grazing right to the head at the bell.
The crowd roared its hearty approval at the gong of the 12th round bell. Diaz smiled and patted the back of Morales head as the two touched gloves. Then, his smile gone, he battered Morales’ about the body and drove him back. Morales speared the swollen eye with hard jabs and bounced a hard right off Diaz’ head. Diaz walked right through it. He slammed lefts and rights on Morales’ ribs on the ropes. Morales fired a right over the top. He was rocked with a series of lefts and rights, punctuated by one very hard right. Morales caught Diaz with a potent right to the head. However, he was knocked backwards by a Diaz right.
Diaz was coming on and, unfortunately, Morales was wilting. Swarming, Diaz raked him over and under with punishing blows. It appeared that Diaz was on the cusp of stopping Morales. However, Morales bought precious moments of respite with several well-timed clinches. Breaking free, he landed a right and a right uppercut. Spent and unsteady at the final bell, Morales stumbled into the ropes.
A jubilant Diaz raised his hands over his head as this evening’s co-promoter, Dominic Pesoli, hoisted him into the air.
Judges scored the bout 114-113, 115-112, and 115-113 unanimously for David Diaz. The crowd roared with gusto. With this win, David Diaz, who weighed in at 133 1/2 lbs. on Friday, saw his ledger rise to 33-1-1 and 17 knockouts, while Erik Morales (135 lbs.) slipped to 48-6 and 34 knockouts and announced his retirement at the post-fights press conference.
Benjy Esteves Jr. served as referee.
* * *
Chavez Smokes Brown, Solis Flattens Mayol
By Ben Torres
Chavez vs. Brown
Julio Chavez, Jr. (right) attacks Louis Brown
Coming out to the roar and approval of the crowd at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IL, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. ( 32-0-1-25 KO’s) faced what would be his toughest opponent to date in Louis Brown (15-3-10KO’s) from Indianapolis, Indiana. Brown (148lbs) had gone down in tough competitive fights against undefeated junior welterweight Dmitriy Salita in 2005 and former lightweight champ Cesar Bazan in 2004. Brown gave as well as he got in those losses and was expected to provide Chavez with a stern test.
However Culiacan, Mexico’s favorite heir proceeded to produce a performance that was straight out of his legendary father’s book as he proceeded to administer a systematic beat down of the very game Brown.
Rd. 1
Chavez established his jab and distance early. Brown put pressure on Chavez during the round and caught some hard over hand rights in the process.
Rd. 2
Brown comes out aggressively double jabbing and catching Chavez with some good straight punches. Chavez responded with some vicious body hooks. Chavez left was working overtime.Uppercut stands Brown straight and Chavez finishes the round off with two lefts to the body but the game Brown continued to fight back.
Rd. 3
Chavez continues where he left off and drills Brown with lefts to the body and devastating uppercuts to Brown’s chin. Brown is still pressuring Chavez but eats uppercuts as he tries to get inside.
Rd. 4
Chavez continues to work the body and Brown takes a knee after a hook to the ribs. Brown gamely gets back up but continues to get pounded by Chavez on the ropes. Brown tries to fight off the ropes but he seems spent from the body shots.
Rd. 5
Chavez (right) punishes Brown moments before referee Gerald Scott halts the bout
Chavez comes out gunning for Brown’s body but Brown fights back catching Chavez with straight right hands that Chavez walks right through. Chavez bates Brown in by lowering his guard, Brown unfortunately takes the bait and Chavez is all over him pinning him against the ropes and pounding Brown’s arms, chest and head until referee stops the bout at 2:42 of round five.
Chavez (152 lbs), who hurt his right hand, dominated the fight and appeared to be a middleweight fighting a junior welterweight. There is talk now that Chavez will fight "Contender" star Alfonso Gomez in early 2008. Chavez was supposed to face Arturo Gatti in November, but Gomez knocked Gatti out on July 14.
"I am looking for a much bigger fight now," Chavez said. "I want to close out the year fighting Gomez."
Chavez was coming off a June 9 third-round KO of Grover Wiley, the man who sent Chavez Sr. into retirement.
Solis vs. Mayol
Mayol (left) pursues Solis
Finding himself down, Mayol struggles to rise
And a jubilant Solis celebrates!
In what was a battle of feints and barely landed jabs lulling the 9,000 plus fans at Allstate Arena to sleep for almost 6 full rounds, Rodel Mayol ( 23-2-18KO’s) woke everyone up when he suddenly dropped IBF Mini Flyweight Champion Ulises Solis ( 25-1-18KO’s). Rodel, who hails from Manduae City, Phillipines almost had Solis teetering on the brink of a TKO stoppage. For some reason referee John O’Brien acted like he was the one who had been hit by Mayol ruled the obvious knock down a slip.
[Editor's note: referee John O'Brien emailed the following response to Ben Torres' observations: "The call was not a 'slip' but rather that while the blow was serious, and Solis was hurt, it was the ensuing forearm push to the back of his head with Mayol's left forearm and the push to the top of his left shoulder, with Mayol's right hand that caused him to go down, not the force of the initial blow. As I assume you understand, this is not a knockdown. The slow motion replay shows this so clearly that I'm surprised that you were not thorough enough to review it. It was a split second call, and while I wouldn't expect you to pick it up at ringside, you do have the benefit of tape review."
Our appologies! In all fairness, though, our view of the overhead monitors was obstructed by our position in relation to overhanging lights.]
However the tough champion from Guadalajara, Mexico used exceptional defense to survive the round catching many of the punches of his gloves as the round closed.
Mayol continued to build off of his success in the seventh, but Solis slowly began to move forward in the round catching the Phillipino with some good straight right hands. This would prove to key in round eight as the two traded shots in the center of the ring when suddenly the champion caught the very game challenger with a perfect straight left/right combination putting Mayol out in spectacular fashion. Going down face first as if he had been shot, Rodel slowly rose from the canvas beating the count but still very wobbly, when O’Brien wisely waived the fight off at 1:38 of round eight.
Afterwards a very marked up Solis stated, "I knew he had a reputation of being a big, dangerous puncher. I got hurt earlier. He caught me with a good right hand. He's a very dangerous fighter, so I was just going to keep fighting and I got him with a right."
An extremely disappointed and swollen faced Mayol felt as though he was robbed of a knockdown in the 6th round and further stated, "I thought I was winning the fight. I am very disappointed that the knockdown was not scored in my favor earlier in the fight." He also stated that wanted an immediate rematch although officially Solis was ahead on all three judges’ cards at the time of the stoppage.Both of Mayol’s defeat have come in tough championship bouts, in May 2006, after leading early he was dropped in the 12th round and lost a close hard fought decision to WBC minimum weight champion Eagle Kyowa in Tokyo, Japan.
Solis who won the championship from Will Grigsby in January 2006, successfully defended his 108-pound title for the fifth time tonight.
Undercard Bouts
Lopez (lef) presses Dianzo
In a bout for the WBO Latino title, unbeaten super bantamweight prospect Juan Manuel Lopez (18-0, 16 KOs) looked unimpressive in scoring a tenth round TKO over Hugo Dianzo (31-12-1, 15 KOs). Lopez appeared as though he could not break through Dianzo’s guard and land anything cleanly. Hugo however landed some good body shots and right hands on the prospect seeming to confuse and frustrate Lopez. The only danger in the fight came from a nasty gash on the side of the veteran Dianzo’s head. Blood was pouring from the gash and was covering the left side of Hugo’s head, neck, and shoulders. The gash looked bad from ringside, but as this writer moved closer to Dianzo after the fight, the gash was even worse. Referee Gino Rodriguez halted the fight at 1:12 of round ten. Lopez’s team should look to match him wisely as the youngster had no real answer for the veteran Dianzo, who was slower than Lopez but was still catching him cleanly.
Unbeaten Bernabe Concepcion (16-0-1, 10 KOs) looked impressive against Gabriel Elizondo (22-3, 10 KOs) for the NABF super bantamweight championship. Elizondo was down in rounds three and four when the fight was waived off at 2:11 of the fourth.
Super featherweight Mercito Gesta (11-0-1, 3 KOs) won a tough six-round majority decision over Carlos Madrid (8-4-2, 2 KOs) by scores of 57-57, 58-56, 58-56.
Abell (right) flattens Sheppard
Heavyweight Joey Abell (15-1, 15 KOs) needed just one right hand that looked like it barely landed to this writer to stop Mike Sheppard (9-7-1, 5 KOs) at 2:11 in round one.
* * *
George Stops Mobley, Walker Halts Craig, and Polyakov Decisions Orta
By Juan C. Ayllon
Donovan George (right) pursues Shay Mobley
In a give and take cross-town rivals bout with slick boxing and fast punching on both sides, Top Rank’s popular super middleweight Donovan George asserted himself in the third round, stunning, then punishing Shay Mobley with an avalanche of blows on the ropes that nearly had him out. Turning away, George was called back into action by referee Gerald Scott, where he finished what he began by raining down numerous blows until the referee stepped in. Time of the stoppage was 2:33 into the third round.
Donovan “Da Bomb” George advanced to 15-0-1 with 13 knockouts, while “Marvelous” Shay Mobley slipped to 16-9-1 with 7 knockouts.
Mike Michael with Donovan George
Mike Michael, Advisor to Cestus Management said afterwards, “I expected a performance like that. He’s trained very hard. He’s improved a hell of a lot in the year and a half to two years since he joined Cestus. He’s a more confident fighter, he’s improved, he has a purpose for fighting. And me and his father, Pete George, Pete’s doing a magnificent job of training him.
”Like in our previous interviews, we said Shay would provide resistance, but that resistance was crushed and destroyed. And Donovan just anhiliated him—just an overall superior fighter.
“We’re now on the cusp of taking a step up to the next level which will bring us a reguional belt in one of the organizations. We’re just overjoyed that we made such a fantastic impression on such an enormous stage of the Diaz-Morales fight. And Donovan just showed what a popular fighter he is and is exactly what Chicago needs at this time that we speak. It’s just going to get bigger and bigger.
“I want to personally thank the Chicago fight fans because I consider them the best fight fans in the world. It’s always a pleasure and an honor when I come to Chicago and see the support they give to my fighter and Cestus Management. As always, I want to thank our promoter, Bob Arum and Top Rank for putting on a magnificent event that we were able to be a part of.”
Donovan George said afterwards, "It went perfectly as planned. We thought we were going to come out and box for the first couple of rounds. We did. I knew I had to win the first couple rounds; it's only an eight round fight, so we don't got a lot of time. I established my jab, went to the body, was thinking out there, instead of going out and just brawling and let the talking get to me. My dad said, 'probably the third, fourth, fifth round, we're going to take it to him and turn it into a war like you want.' And, we just caught him.
"The third round, he tried to stay in the middle of the ring and trade with me and, unfortunately for Shay Mobley, he didn't have the artillery. He went into a gun fight with a knife. You can't do it. And that's it: I knocked him out--stopped him, did my back flip, the crowd went crazy, and I look forward to fighting another day."
Michael Walker (left) punishes Dante Craig along the ropes
It didn’t take too long for Chicago super middleweight Michael “The Midnight Stalker” Walker to get untracked, as in the second round, he battered the body and rocked the former Olympian Dante Craig repeatedly. First, he dumped Craig onto the ropes—the damage seemingly done by a left hook to the jaw—which appeared to keep him from going down, and then he rocked him on the opposite ropes. Pouncing, he battered furiously with both fists until referee Gerald Scott intervened, waving off the bout at 2:47 into the second round.
Michael Walker (center) visits with friends afterwards
Afterwards, Walker said, “I always have to come hard, as people are always trying to knock me off. I was upset because my mother couldn’t make it to my fight. So, I wanted to end it early. If she came, I’d have put on a show and turned it out.”
Walker advanced to 16-0-1 with 10 knockouts, while Craig slid to 17-7-1 with 13 knockouts.
Orta (left) lands a right jab to Polyakov's midsection
Middleweights Jesse Orta (161 lbs., 7-9-1, 4 KO’s) and Victor Polyakov (158 lbs., 4-0, 4 KO’s) put on an entertaining scrap, as Polyakov was extended the distance for the first time in winning a unanimous decision.
A pair of potent right uppercuts set up a defining rallying round for Polyakov in the fifth round. Orta rallied back with both fists, but had a lot of shots picked off on elbows and gloves, while Polyakov continued scoring with telling rights.
Prior to that, it appeared that Orta was edging slightly on superior work rate, while Polyakov landed less frequently, but the harder and more telling of the two.
In the sixth and final round, Polyakov appeared to stun with several jarring rights. Judgges scored the bout 59-55, 60-54 and 58-56 for a unanimous decision victory for Polyakov. Pete Podgorsky served as referee.
And thus, with “War for Four!” Bob Arum and his promotional firm, Top Rank—collaborating with Dominic Pesoli’s 8 Count Productions—pulled off one of the most exciting fights to appear in Chicago in years. After all, 9,735 screaming fans can’t be wrong. Here’s to many more in the Windy City.
Referee Pete Podgorski drops by press row
Indiana referee Kurt Spivey was counted among the 9,735 fans in attendance
Boxer and Dr. Vitaliy Kopytko, who now serves as an athletic trainer and coach in North Carolina
Rick Ramos and a young boxer--who according to Ramos is a great amateur prospect
* * *
Morales (center) and Diaz at the press conference following the event
David Diaz and Dominic Pesoli (right)
Erik Morales and Bob Arum
World Boxing Council President Jose Sulaiman
Juan C. Ayllon would like to personally thank Steve Flynn, who proved invaluable in helping out with some difficult logistical issues. Thank you very much!
