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01/26/2008 Archived Entry: "Cazares Edges Guardia in Cicero!"
Cazares Edges Guardia in Cicero!
Report and photos by Juan C. Ayllon at ringside
Cazares (right) and Guardia mix it up
CICERO, Ill., January 25, 2008—Before TV cameras and a raucous, largely Mexican crowd at Cicero Stadium, Hugo Cazares of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico edged Cartagena, Columbia’s Kermin Guardia in a spirited battle over 10 rounds.
The faster of the two, Guardia darted side to side, turning Cazares in the first round, not letting him get set to throw really damaging punches. Playing a picador in blue trunks to Cazares’s red trunks wearing bull, he’d sting him with a few blows and get out of the way. Always moving forward, Cazares walked into a jarring straight left that knocked him back a couple steps as he pursued Guardia in a frustrating game of cat and mouse.
By round three, Cazares found his timing, tagging Guardia with the first of a series of potent overhand lefts in a rallying effort. He continued finding the overhand left in the fourth, as Guardia mixed in his own quick bursts of blows in fairly even trading. .
Cazares really asserted himself in the fifth, punctuated with a series of jarring straight lefts and a potent right hook to the head. It wasn’t a rout, however, as Guardia landed several thudding straight lefts of his own to Cazarez’ face.
WBC Lightweight Champ David Diaz (center) at ringside
World Boxing Council Lightweight Champion David Diaz could be heard at ringside shouting instructions in Spanish to Cazares, joining the roar of voices cheering, exhorting, and willing their pride of Mexico in red trunks to prevail over this fleeting antagonist.
The two fell into a pattern, with Cazares looking to land the big bomb while Guardia jumped in with two and three sharp blows. A lot of back and forth punching with great flourish ensued.
As it became apparent that—barring a lucky punch—no one was getting knocked out or even seriously pummeled, cheering subsided to a small din and gave way to funny, sarcastic shouted out in Spanish by a few brave souls in the crowd. This prompted laughter from Diaz and others.
Cazares appeared to take the ninth round off, doing just enough for Guaria to edge the action. However, in the tenth and final round, Cazares turned it up several notches and won over the crowd—and arguably the round—as he mixed his punches well in heated two-fisted skirmishes.
Referee Gerald Scott said, “No one was getting knocked out, but Guardia landed some really solid shots in there.”
Be that as it may, Judges scored the bout 97-93 twice and 98-92 for a unanimous decision win for Cazares (113 lbs. at Thursday’s weigh-in), who advanced to 26-4-1 with 19 knockouts. Guaria (112 lbs.) slipped to 37-8 with 21 knockouts.
Velasquez (left) pummels Inzunza along the ropes
Juan C. Velasquez (126 lbs., 5-0) vs. Noe Inzunza (128.5 lbs., 7-12-1) proved to be a thriller while it lasted. In the first, Inzunza dropped Velasquez with a left hook to the side in a round that Velasquez was otherwise dominating with speed and fast combinations. Velasquez complained of a head butt to no avail. Unhurt, he rose to finish the round strongly, while Inzunza sought to replicate his knockdown with other left hooks to the side.
Velasquez continued to dominate with a flourish of lefts and rights. However, Inzunza’s seeming imperviousness to these punches gave the impression that Velasquez was a flashy boxer but simply didn’t have a punch.
Not so.
It started with sharp, single rights to the head and crisp one-twos, but quickly rose to a crescendo of lefts and rights to the head in the fourth. Trapping Inzunza on the ropes, he battered his head to and fro for a good ten seconds. Escaping, Inzunza stumbled to an adjacent corner, where he collapsed. Taking the count on his hands and knees, he rose at the count of “ten,” and was promptly waved off by referee Gerald Scott.
Velasquez had won by knockout in the fourth round.
A victorious Juan C. Velasquez poses for the camera
Carlos Velasquez (right) stalks Perez above, while Perez finds himself on his haunches in a corner and referee O'Brien shoos Velasquez to a neutral corner below
Velasquez’s brother, Carlos (129 lbs., 5-0-0), stopped his opponent, Ever Perez (135 lbs., 9-10-1) in the first round. After staggering Perez, he caught him with a single looping left hook to the head and dropped him. Rising at about the five count, Perez lurch, then stumbled and fell to the canvas on the ropes and was waved off by referee John O’Brien at 1:58 of the first round.
Jacobs (left) stalks Lopez on the ropes
Daniel Jacobs (163 lbs., 1-0) knocked out Hector Lopez (160 lbs., 1-2) with a left hook to the body at 1:05 of the first round.
In the foreground, a pained Baldo takes a count from referee Pete Podgorski, while Popoca stands in a neutral corner
A victorious Popoca shares his victory with WBC Lightweight Champ David Diaz (left), who sparred with him in training
Local upcoming favorite Ivan Popoca (144 lbs., 3-0-1) overwhelmed and stopped overmatched Richard Baldo (145 lbs., 1-0), terminating matters with a right uppercut at 1:21 into the second round. Pete Podgorski served as referee.
Buggs (left) holds on for dear life, tying up with Andaluz
A victorious Andaluz poses for the camera
In his pro debut, Gadiel Andaluz, Jr. (130 lbs.) battered and stopped Marsay Buggs (131 lbs., 0-3) dropping him in a heap at 2:13 of the third round. Pete Podgorski served as referee.
Barbaro (left) advances against wily Navarette in a gritty war
One of Chicago’s favorite never-say-die sons, whom Chicagoans love to cheer on in the face of adversity, Barbaro Zepeda (129 lbs., 8-17-2), lost a unanimous decision to Jose Navarette (128 1/2 lbs., 10-13-2), whose smoother boxing and inside uppercuts proved decisive and turned the trick in the midst of some gritty infighting throughout.
Navarette (left) points to Barbaro for his valiant effort
Judges scored the bout 60-52 thrice for Navarette.
Faragon (left) and Ponce mix it up
In an entertaining opening battle of back and forth slugging, Michael Faragon (136 lbs., 1-0) edged Eriberto Ponce (135 lbs., 1-2-0) with scores of 38-38, 40-36 and 39-37 for a majority decision victory.
Faragon follows through on a right hand
Popular Chicago boxing prospect Francisco Rodriguez, seen here with his wife, gave Barbaro instructions in his corner in between rounds to help him overcome his adversity
Female boxer Rita Figueroa and her manager and former fighter, Rocky Martinez, pose at ringside
Exciting jr. middleweight boxer, Angel "El Torro" Hernandez (left), his manager (right) and a friend visit at ringside
These fights were co-promoted by Dominic Pesoli's 8 Count Productions and Oscar de la Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions.
