No Crying In Argentina

By Roy Marquez
Photos: Marlene Marquez

In an early candidate for fight of the year, Marcos Maidana defeated Victor Ortiz by TKO to win the WBA interim super lightweight title. On the canvas three times in the first two rounds of the fight, Maidana bloodied and bruised Ortiz and ultimately forced referee Raul Caiz Sr. to call a halt to the action at 46 seconds of the 6th round. “I didn’t listen to my corner”, said Ortiz following the fight. “I just didn’t execute. I just stood in there and brawled with him.”

Maidana (26-1) started quickly in the first, coming after Ortiz (24-2-1) to open the action. The two were trading shots along the ropes when Maidana went down late in the round. When the Argentine got to his feet he met Ortiz at center ring and this time Ortiz landed on his back. Ortiz beat the count and when the action resumed the fighters went after one another until the bell sounded. Judges Marty Denkin and David Mendoza awarded the round to Maidana. Judge Cesar Ramos favored Ortiz.

Maidana stalked Ortiz for the first minute of round two but Ortiz turned into the stalker when a right hook floored Maidana mid way through the round. Ortiz jumped on Maidana looking to end the fight. A few moments later Ortiz scored another knockdown with a straight right. Maidana survived the round but looked unstable as he walked to his corner. All three judges scored round two 10-7 for Ortiz.

The pace slowed in round three with both fighters unable to sustain the frenzied pace of the previous six minutes. Ortiz was the aggressor however and won the round on all three of the judges’ scorecards. After three rounds of action Ortiz was leading on the cards, 29-26, 29-26 & 30-25.

Round four was closely contested and could have been scored for either fighter. Two of the judges awarded the round to Maidana; the third gave it to Ortiz. The fifth, on the other hand, clearly belonged to Maidana. Maidana asserted his strength by pushing Ortiz to the ropes where he landed hooks to the face and body. Maidana sliced Ortiz’ right eye with a left hook and then finished off the round with a head snapping right hook at the bell. After five rounds all three judges had the fight scored identically 48-45 for Ortiz.

Ortiz looked to tap gloves with Maidana to open the sixth and instead walked into a stiff punch. Maidana pursued Ortiz to the ropes and let his hands fly. Ortiz wilted under the barrage and went down for the 2nd time in the fight. Referee Raul Caiz Sr. signaled for the doctor to inspect the cut and a growing welt under Ortiz’ left eye. On the advice from a ring side physician the fight was stopped.

Following the fight both men said they would welcome a rematch. I would be very glad to have a rematch with him because now I know how to fight him, said Maidana through an interpreter.
 
COMPUBOX Punch Stats:
Maidana – 293 thrown, 66 landed.
Ortiz – 177 thrown, 74 landed.
 

A fight broke out in the eighth round of a middleweight match between Scotland’s Craig McEwan and Youngstown, Ohio’s Darnell Boone. Too bad it didn’t happen sooner. McEwan (16-0) won the bout by split decision but did not impress his adopted hometown crowd. McEwan trains at the Wildcard Gym in Hollywood, Ca. McEwan pressed the action but was unable to inflict any damage to Boone (16-11-2). For his part, Boone looked disinterested for seven rounds. Boone retaliated when tagged but otherwise appeared content to play the role of opponent.

Mike Perez (3-0-1) survived a challenge from Thomas Herrera (2-2-1) to capture a rugged four round lightweight contest. The fight was a war of wills and contrasting styles. Perez displayed fast, accurate punching and good movement. Herrera countered with raw aggression and blunt power. The judges sided with skill in scoring the bout for Perez 40-36, 40-36 & 39-37.

Cincinnati lightweight Adrien Broner scored an impressive knockout of William Kickett at 2:58 of the sixth to run his record to 10 wins without a defeat. Broner dropped the Australian Kickett (15-2) with a check hook in the fourth before stopping him with a hook in the sixth. Kickett was fighting in the United States for the first time and was accompanied by featherweight champion Chris John.

Junior middleweight journeymen Sergio De La Torre (11-11-3) and Jaime Orrantia (11-23-5) opened the evening with a four round majority draw. Neither fighter was able to establish dominance in a bout that was decided by the scorecards.