Four Fighters Lose Their Undefeated Records, Bringing ShoBox Total To 180
Catch The Replay Monday, סעפּטעמבער 24 בייַ 10 פּ.ם. עט / פּט אויף שאָוטיים עקסטרעם®
דריקט דאָ פֿאַר פאָטאָס; Credit Dave Mandel/SHOWTIME
SHAWNEE, אָקלאַ. (סעפּטעמבער 22, 2018) – O’Shaquie Foster upset previously undefeated Jon Fernandez in a battle of שאָבאָקס: די ניו גענעראַטיאָן וועטעראַנס, scoring an impressive unanimous decision victory over the highly regarded prospect Friday on SHOWTIME from Firelake Arena. ווידעא כיילייץ: https://s.sho.com/2OI0NUp
Fernandez (16-1, 14 קאָס), a protégé of former unified world champion Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez, געווארן די 180טה fighter in the history of the שאָבאָקס series to lose his undefeated record after three other previously undefeated fighters dropped decisions on Friday.
The 25-year-old Foster (14-2, 8 קאָס), a resident of Houston, executed his team’s game plan to perfection, utilizing superb movement and connecting opportunistically with counter shots. Foster was far sharper on both offense and defense, קאַנעקטינג אויף 36 percent of his total punches compared to just 16 percent for Fernandez.
Fernandez was frustrated by Foster, a crafty and experienced fighter who was one win away from representing the United States in the 2012 אָלימפּיקס. In his previous six bouts, Fernandez averaged 8.4 jab connects per round but was limited to just 13 jabs in tonight’s entire 10-round fight.
“This was the best fight of my career,” said Foster, who was appearing on the שאָבאָקס series for the fourth time. “I knew I had it in me, I just never put it together. I have a new team, I have a new trainer, a new strength and conditioning coach. This was what I dreamed of and we put in the work to make it happen.
“I knew he was a puncher and he’d come forward the whole fight. I knew I had to work off my jab and use my lateral movement. He had a little power, but he never got me clean. We’re going to sit down and look at the drawing board. I can tell you this, we’re not the B-side anymore.”
Fernandez improved throughout the second half of the fight, landing a big right hand in the sixth round that briefly wobbled Foster. אָבער, the Spaniard was unable to extend his impressive KO streak of 14 consecutive fights.
“His style was frustrating, but we were expecting it,” said the 23-year-old Fernandez, who was widely regarded as one of the top prospects in boxing. “We thought his conditioning would go down and he’d slow down in the later rounds. He didn’t (slow down) and that surprised me.
“I feel like we can still get better and better. We just had a bad game plan for this fight.”
Irvin Gonzalez Jr. (11-0, 9 קאָס) out-boxed Carlos Ramos (9-1, 6 קאָס) from start to finish to score a unanimous decision victory in the co-featured bout of tonight’s שאָבאָקס: די ניו גענעראַטיאָן טעלאַקאַסט. The judges scored the fight 79-73, 78-74, 80-72. גאָנזאַלעז, who was the more active and aggressive fighter, kept his unbeaten record intact despite facing a frustrating and defensively shrewd opponent in Ramos.
“It took me a few rounds to figure him out, but once I did he didn’t have anything on me,"האט גאָנזאַלעז. “He only had the left hand and that was about it. He really didn’t throw any punches.
“This was a big learning experience for me. This was my second eight-rounder and it opened my eyes a little bit. I know I’m conditioned well but I have to go back to work.”
The 22-year-old Gonzalez, a fourth-generation boxer in his family and native of Worcester, מאַסע., outhustled the skillful southpaw Ramos, who was not nearly active enough throughout the eight rounds. The longer, leaner Gonzalez, who averaged 58 punches per round to Ramos’ 28, relied on his length advantage and fought at range.
The tentative and defensive Ramos, אויף די אנדערע האַנט, landed only 27 punches in the remaining seven rounds after landing 11 אין די עפן קייַלעכיק. גאָנזאַלעז, for his part, exceed 50 punches in all but the third round.
In the second bout of the quadrupleheader, Philadelphia’s Steven Ortiz (9-0, 3 קאָס) edged Brooklyn’s Wesley Ferrer (12-1-1, 7 קאָס) in an evenly-matched and difficult-to-score matchup of undefeated prospects. The two fighters were separated by no more than five total punches in each round of the majority decision, איז געווען סקאָרד 78-74, 77-75, 76-76.
Both fighters fought at a deliberate pace, but neither was able to find their rhythm and consistently land combinations. Ortiz started stronger, but Ferrer grew into the fight and was the busier fighter in the middle rounds. The final two rounds were the deciding factor in the fight. The two judges who had Ortiz winning on their scorecards favored Ortiz in rounds seven and eight.
“I think it was a pretty close fight,” said a disappointed Ferrer. “I thought I was winning the first few rounds, but I know I got out-worked in the last two rounds. אין די סוף פון די טאָג, the judges saw something else and he got the win. If I won the last few rounds I would have won the fight.”
אָרטיז, who held a narrow 127-115 advantage in total punches landed and a 99-93 advantage in power punches landed, felt he did enough to win but was not completely satisfied with his performance.
“I was coming off a long layoff and wasn’t as sharp as I should have been,” said the 25-year-old Ortiz. “I landed the sharper jabs and landed the harder shots. I think my ring experience and ring generalship was the difference in the fight.
“I want to come back a lot sharper and a lot smarter. אין די סוף פון די טאָג, it was a learning experience. I got the win against a tough guy.”
In the telecast opener, Denver’s Misael Lopez (9-0, 4 קאָס) got the better of Staten Island’s James Wilkins (5-1, 5 קאָס) in a battle of young, previously undefeated super featherweight prospects, tallying a unanimous decision victory (79-72, 77-74, 76-75).
The action-packed fight saw both fighters come out swinging, setting the tempo for the rest of the eight-round bout which saw a total of 1,320 punches thrown. Wilkins brought the pressure to Lopez throughout, but Lopez’s volume of punches, movement and combinations enabled him to control most of the rounds. Lopez’s conditioning proved key. In the final four rounds, Lopez led 139-68 in total connects and landed 213 power punches to just 115 for Wilkins throughout the duration of the eight rounds.
Wilkins, who was featured on the SHOWTIME documentary CRADLE OF CHAMPIONS that premiered immediately preceding tonight’s שאָבאָקס טעלאַקאַסט, was deducted a point for a low blow in the fifth round after several warnings. In the seventh round, Wilkins appeared to score a knockdown when he connected with a strong right hand that knocked Lopez off-balance, but referee Mike England ruled that Lopez’s right hand did not touch the mat.
“I think the difference was I was able to make him miss, land the cleaner shots and used my boxing to dictate the pace,” said the 22-year-old Lopez. “I’m looking to keep going and stay on the big stage. Hopefully people and promoters will notice that I’m the real deal.”
In his national television debut, the ever-confident Wilkins felt wronged by the judges’ scorecards and the referee’s apparent missed knockdown in the seventh.
“I think I did enough to pull it off,” said Wilkins. “I could see a split decision, מעגלעך, but I dropped him and that wins the fight. That was a 10-8 קייַלעכיק. I want to go back to the gym, work hard and get right back. You haven’t seen the last of me.”
Tonight’s quadrupleheader was presented by DiBella Entertainment in association with MaravillaBox Promotions, Holden Productions and The Real Deal Boxing, and sponsored by Gagliardi Insurance.
The full telecast will replay on Monday, סעפּטעמבער 24 בייַ 10 פּ.ם. ET/PT on SHOWTIME EXTREME and will be available on SHOWTIME ANYTIME® and SHOWTIME on DEMAND®.
Barry Tompkins called the action from ringside with boxing analyst and historian Steve Farhood, who was celebrating 40 years in boxing this week, and former world champion Raul Marquez serving as expert analysts. The executive producer was Gordon Hall with Chuck McKean producing and Rick Phillips directing.
אין אנדערע, טעלאַווייזד ונדערקאַרד אַקציע, heavyweight Prospect George Arias of Bronx, נ.י.. ימפּרוווד צו 12-0, 7 KOs with a second-round knockout (2:18) of Byron Polley, (30-24-1, 13 קאָס), פון סט. יוסף, דו. Polley was down once in the first and again in the second round which resulted in the stoppage.
Junior Middleweight Dennis Knifechief, of Shawnee, אָקלאַ. moved to 12-8-1, 7 KOs with a fourth round TKO (1:51) of the valiant Chris Barnes, (4-8-1, 3 קאָס) פון טולסאַ. Barnes fought on after being dropped in the first and second rounds and twice more in the fourth.
Top Middleweight Prospect Ardreal Holmes of Flint, מיטש., looked dominant and improved to 7-0, 4 KOs with a four-round decision of Houston’s Rick Graham (6-21-3, 2 קאָס). The fight was scored 40-35 צוויי מאָל און 38-37.
A scheduled six-round cruiserweight battle between Bo Gibbs Jr, (20-1-0, 8 קאָס), of Carney, אָקלאַ., and David Lujan, (4-9-0, 1 קאָ), of Wichita, טעקסאַס, resulted in a no-contest due to an accidental clash of heads in the first round.
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