"Latin Fury 9" Undercard Results

By Tim Donaldson
Photos: Chris Farina – Top Rank

The fight card for Latin Fury 9 was packed, featuring a total of ten fights for the evening. Six of these fights were not carried on the pay-per-view telecast, at least not live, and for the most part, it seems like there was good reason to not carry them. Five of the six fights were extremely one-sided, and although that might seem bad, some of these fighters do show promise.

A good example would be the fight between Matt Korobov and Benjamin Diaz. I was surprised to see that Korobov took a fight so quickly after his last fight, June 13 on the Cotto undercard, but if that was short notice, he didn’t seem to be affected by it. Korobov knocked down Diaz twice in the first round. The first was so quick I wasn’t sure if Diaz had slipped or was hit. But Korobov wasted no time in finishing off Diaz, catching him in the corner and dropping him again with a left hook to the body. The fight was over after only one minute and twenty-two seconds. And it goes without saying that Korobov’s career is on the fast track to the big fights.

Super lightweight Jeremy Bryan also showed promise in his fight against Josh Beeman. Bryan dominated every round of the fight although Beeman had a few shining moments in the third and fourth round. Bryan easily won the unanimous decision. It would be nice to see him against a tougher opponent next time to see what he is really capable of.

Super lightweight Michael Torres outclassed Humberto Tapia in their fight. Torres looked faster and connected more. He also proved to be a more skilled boxer, moving away from Tapia’s punches. Torres only looked in trouble once in the fourth round when he let Tapia catch him on the ropes. All three judges scored the fight 60-54 for Torres.

Possibly the most mismatched fight of the evening was between Cruiserweights Carlos Negron and Kenneth George. It was like a rematch between David and Goliath, Negron playing the part of Goliath, and this time Goliath won. Negron is six feet six inches with a reach of eighty-three inches, and George is six feet one inch with a reach of seventy-five inches. Now that might not seem to be a huge difference, but in this case, it made all the difference. And with the difference in fighting styles, Negron really did look as though he towered over George. Negron simply chased George around the ring. He knocked out George after only one minute and eighteen seconds.

Probably the most evenly matched fight of the evening was between lightweights Angel Rodriguez and Hector Marengo. There fighting styles, however, could not have been more different. Rodriguez wanted to stand in one spot and fight, while Marengo moved around the ring. Rodriguez spent most of the fight following Marengo around the ring. The frustration could be seen on Rodriguez’s face and at times, he made fun of Marengo’s movement. As long as Marengo was moving, he looked like the better fighter, but when Rodriguez could corner Marengo on the ropes, he was able to do what he did best, hit. The fight ended with one judge scoring the fight for Rodriguez, one scoring for Marengo, and one scoring evenly for both.

The fight between featherweights Gilbert Sanchez-Leon and Mario Santiago started out looking like it might be evenly matched, but by the second round Santiago was the more aggressive fighter, dominating most of the rounds. By the second round, those in attendance seemed to be mostly behind Santiago. Although Santiago looked better for most of the fight, both seemed to lose energy by the fifth round. But both seemed to have saved all their energy for the eighth and final round. Both fighters had one point taken away by the referee. Santiago lost a point for hitting Sanchez-Leon low in the fifth round, and Sanchez-Leon lost a point for hitting Santiago in the back of the head. Santiago won by unanimous decision.

I know we will see Korobov on television again. In fact, I know that they ran at least highlights, maybe the whole minute and twenty-two seconds of the fight several times during the pay-per-view telecast. As for the others, maybe we will see some of them on television sometime in the future, and some of them, I imagine, will never be televised.