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02/16/2008 Archived Entry: "Alvarado Proves You Can’t Knock Them All Out"
Alvarado Proves You Can’t Knock Them All Out
Rodriguez Upended by Wilson in Cosmic Subterfuge
Photos and report by Juan C. Ayllon at ringside
Mike Alvarado (right) unloads on Jesus Rodriguez with bad intentions
CICERO, Ill.—On Chicago boxing promoter Dominic Pesoli’s 10th Anniversary show, co-promoter Bob Arum’s hard-punching and undefeated super lightweight prospect Mike Alvarado did all he could to dispatch his rugged adversary. But it wasn’t to be.
It wasn’t that he didn’t dominate, throw big, speedy punches, or rock his opponent, Jesus Rodriguez. It’s just that his opponent was dirt-tough! How tough, you may ask? He had a five o’clock shadow on his shaven head, “JESUS” emblazoned across his waistband, a red-eyed pit bull dog on the right leg of his black and red boxing trunks, Susana tattooed on his left pectoral muscle, and a tight-lipped “so whatcha got next” expression on his face just about every time Alvarado landed one of his bombs. And while not a devastating puncher, he fired back freely with his share of sharp punches, most notably the right.
And so, try as he might, it was all Alvarado could do to notch a solid win over Rodriguez over 10 rounds.
In the second, Rodriguez walked and pushed Alvarado backwards repeatedly, drawing a warning from referee Gerald Scott. As this wasn’t rugby, Alvarado edged the rounds in effective punching, throughout.
After receiving a low blow in the fifth, Alvarado jarred Rodriguez several times in a late round surge that had the crowd cheering with anticipation, only to have the bell cut the surge short.
In the sixth, Rodriguez landed a couple hard rights in the thick of a battle that—again—Alvarado dominated with hard rights to the head and combinations up and down.
And then the boo-birds came out of the closet in the eighth round. With Rodriguez going nowhere, Alvarado picked his spots more, boxed, and paced himself. At times this round, the fight resembled more of a fast paced sparring session, and that just wouldn’t do! Booing and whistling broke out for lack of definitive action. The fact was that Rodriguez was tough and not cooperating with Alvarado’s agenda; he hung in up close, grabbing and walking Alvarado back and handling the hard shots that landed.
Alvarado (left) continues applying pressure to Rodriguez
Apparently bothered more so than Rodriguez, Alvarado did what he could to change matters. Picking up his pace in the ninth, Alvarado snapped Rodriguez’s head with several smashing rights. Cheering, the crowd looked on as the two traded. Then, as his energy wore thin and he backed off, whistling rose again. Whistles turned to cheers, however, as they closed out the round in bristling trading.
Pouring it on in the tenth, Alvarado demonstrated his superiority in exchanges: two hooks slammed to his sides and one of his knocked Rodriguez backward several steps. More blows and—surprise! Rodriguez gets knocked back yet again! Rinse and repeat.
To his credit, Rodriguez hung tight and threw back his share of hooks and crosses, and although he began wilting down the stretch, he managed to finish somewhere in the thick of things.
Judges scored the bout 97-93, 98-92, and 100-90 all for Thornton, Colorado-based Mike Alvarado (142 lbs. at Thursday’s weigh-in), who advanced to 20-0 with 13 knockouts. Meanwhile, Jesus Rodriguez (139 lbs.), who hails from Salinas, California, slipped to 17-3 and five knockouts.
Some say karma is king. I don’t buy it, but in setting the bar of expectations up so high and thus upstaging—even sabotaging—the main event, some might say the cosmic backlash was almost predictable.
Francisco Rodriguez (above right) pours it on
In the electrifying co-main event, Chicago’s favorite bantamweight prospect, Francisco Rodriguez gave Andre Wilson a terrific battering, hurting him early and often before being short-circuited by a well-placed counter that ended his romp abruptly.
A touted member of Pesoli's stable, Rodriguez pounced in the first round, hurting Wilson early with a left hook to the side followed by a hook to the head. Edging in aggression, he found himself pinned on the ropes in spots and was caught with a couple straight lefts to the head.
Rodriguez was administering a body and head beating with fierce hooks and crosses. However, he was also getting caught over the top occasionally, especially as he tired from a sustained attack along the ropes and carried his hands a little low. Resuming hostilities, as the two slugged it out in a frenzied finish, Wilson dropped Rodriguez hard with a right to the head.
Down goes Rodriguez!
From his knees, Rodriguez watched referee Celestino Ruiz count. Somewhere between a slowing eight and nine count, he rose. However, Ruiz saw something and waved it off against Rodriguez’s protests. Wilson had won by technical knockout at 2:59 into the second round.
Referee Ruiz raises Wilson's hand in victory
Of the finisher, a weary but happy Wilson said afterwards, “I saw the jab coming slow and I timed it just right.”
“He wasn’t responding, so for the safety of the fighter, I stopped it,” said referee Ruiz.
Francisco Rodriguez and family after the fight
A disappointed Rodriguez lamented. “He was a rookie. This was only his second fight [that he refereed],” Rodriguez said of Ruiz. “I won the first and second rounds…[and] there was only a second left in the round.”
With the win, Wilson (117.5 lbs. at weigh-in)—who hails from St. Joseph, Missouri—advanced to 10-1-1 with 7 knockouts, while Rodriguez (117.5 lbs.) dropped to 11-2 and 8 knockouts.
Fonfara (right) and Gonzalez trade in an entertaining cross-town fight
Popular locals Andrzej Fonfara and Jorge “Spanky” Gonzalez took a page out of Windy City sparring and served one up Chicago-style, as Fonfara edged out Gonzalez in a scintillating six round battle.
Starting out fast, he rained down blows on the shorter Gonzalez. Gonzalez stood his ground. And was staggered. Moments later, Gonzalez returned the favor. The two fought in frenzied spurts stunning each other.
Fonfara winces as a crashing right turns his head sideways
The donnybrook spilled into the second, where Gonzalez appeared to control, only to get stunned by a short Fonfara left. And vice versa. Surging at the end, Fonfara’s surge was truncated with a blistering counter-volley by Gonzalez.
Fonfara (right) knocks Gonzalez into the ropes with a hard left
The two continued fighting in tight bursts. Pressing the action, Fonfara would jab and bang away methodically, often giving away his height advantage, only to get countered with showy bursts from Gonzalez, who livened the crowd with his fiery displays. Unfortunately for Jorge, he just wasn’t quite busy enough.
Gonzalez and Fonfara pose for the camera afterwards
Judges scored the bout 57-57, 59-55, and 58-56 for a majority decision win for Fonfara. Hailing from Warsaw, Poland by way of Chicago, he weighed 160 lbs. at Thursday night’s weigh-in and saw his ledger rise to 9-1 with 3 knockouts. Meanwhile, fellow Windy City resident Gonzalez (159 lbs.) slipped to 5-2.
“F—‘ed up,” said Jorge of his thought on the score. “I thought I did enough to win it. But, I’m not the judge. I’m not scoring the fights.”
Contreras chats with a ring card girl at ringside
‘Solo Boxeo’ ring announcer Lupe Contreras said to Gonzalez afterwards, “Want my honest opinion? Drop down to a lower weight and you’ll be knocking them out instead of just hanging in there with those guys!”
Former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe signs autographs for fans in the audience
With each round, the ring rust appeared to shake loose little by little for returning Chicago middleweight contender Freddy Cuevas (160 lbs., 25-9, 17 KO’s) as he took on game Luis Hodges (162.5 lbs., 5-5, 3 KO’s). In the first, Hodges knocked Cuevas back several steps with a hard right. Gathering himself up, Cuevas boxed carefully, jabbing, circling and catching Hodges with single hooks to the side and several rights to the head.
In the second, he began mixing his punches more.
Cuevas continued upping his work rate in the third, landing triple hooks to the side, jabbing and crossing—easily out-landing his opponent.. However, Hodges was taking it and landing some hard rights to the head and several hard blows to the body.
Sucking it up in the fourth, Cuevas continue to assert his superior technique and began breaking down Hodges over the last minute of the round. He continued pressing in the fifth, snapping Hodges’ head back with a pair of uppercuts, only to be repelled by a counter right.
Midway through the sixth round, a chant of “Freddy (clap, clap, clap), Freddy!” erupted. Sucking wind through his mouth, Cuevas did his best to please, pursuing Hodges around the ring and battering him with select shots in corners and on the ropes.
Judges scored the bout 59-55, 59-55 and 58-56 for Cuevas.
While sometimes sparring partner and WBC Lightweight champion David Diaz shouted “Double up the jab…shorten up your punches,” switch-hitting Chicago welterweight Rey Popoca (143 lbs., 4-0-1, 4 KO’s) swung hard and often wide and was caught with quicker blows by his opponent, Guadalupe Diaz (4-1-1, 1 KO) in the first round of their bout.
Heeding David Diaz’s advice in the second, Popoca landed some crisp jabs and straight lefts, snapping Diaz’s head back with a hard straight left and a series of uppercuts up the middle.
The two continued trading in close. Following some heated infighting, suddenly Diaz bore a deep gash on his left brow. The doctor examined it and determined he could go on. Resuming action, Popoca staggered Diaz with what appeared to be a hard left to the head.
Once again following the advice of David Diaz, Popoca boxed from the right-handed stance and was rallying in the fifth when referee called a halt in the action. The ring doctor evaluated Diaz’s cut and waved it off. Referee Celestino Ruiz halted the bout, making Popoca the winner by TKO at 2:03 into the fifth round.
Tijuana, Mexico Featherweight Alejandro Lopez (126 lbs., 8-0, 2 KO’s) did a nice job of boxing Terrance Roy (129 lbs., 9-24, X KO’s), winning a decision over five rounds.
Lopez dominated the first two rounds behind crisp jabs and crosses to the head and thumping left hooks to the body, teeing off more in the second. Roy kept him honest with the occasional right counter.
The two tangled up and fell along the ropes in the fourth, with Roy almost falling out on top of me on the apron ring. He turned and winked. Lopez continued to batter, but Roy appeared less fazed and taunted Lopez with gestures, winging in big rights over the top occasionally.
Lopez buckled Roy’s legs momentarily in the fifth with a right uppercut that penetrated his guard and pumped the jab into his face like a piston in overdrive. Building to a crescendo, he rained down rights and lefts on Roy’s head and side. Tonight, however, Roy wasn’t going anywhere. Backing off the pace a little, Lopez avoided a wild roundhouse right and cruised to a respectable win.
Judges scored the bout 60-54 all for Lopez.
And with that, Dominic Pesoli's 10th Anniversary proved that, like Mike Alvarado's bout, even though every bout didn't end with a knockout, the evening was a smashing success.
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