McJoe Arroyo vinder IBF Junior Bantamvægt VM & Amir Imam Indbringer skudt på 140-pund Titel On SHOWTIME Championship Boxing®
Watch The Replay Mandag På 10 p.m. OG/PT på SHOWTIME EXTREME
STEP, TEXAS (Juli 18, 2015) - Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. oparbejdet en enstemmig beslutning (97-92, 98-91, 96-93) løbet Marcos Reyes i den vigtigste begivenhed i SHOWTIME Championship Boxing på lørdag foran 9,245 på Don Haskins Center i El Paso, Texas.
Reyes was the more active fighter – he doubled Chavez’s output – but simply couldn’t hurt his larger opponent. Following a loss at light heavyweight last April, Chavez besluttet at forsøge at føre valgkamp på super mellemvægt.
Chavez (49-2-1, 32 KOS), der kæmpede for første gang med træner Robert Garcia, syntes at være i stand til at lande sin magt skud efter behag, however he would pick his spots and had long bouts of inactivity. Although he was working with a new trainer, Chavez fortsatte med at planere frem og kæmpede en meget lignende kamp som han gjorde imod Andrezj Fonfara i april, denne gang mod en mindre modstander.
“I won. This is big for me and Robert,” Chavez said. “I can do it better, but I won and that is the important thing. I’m going to fight at 168 pounds. Little by little, I’m going to get down in weight. We know we’re doing much better work in the gym.
“In the third round I hurt my left hand. I think it’s broken, Jeg ved ikke,. I’ll see the doctor. With all respect to Reyes, hvis jeg ikke havde ondt min hånd ville jeg have slået ham ud.
“I connected on the best punches to the chin and the body. Jeg såre ham, but I couldn’t finish him because I hurt my hand. He threw a lot of punches but missed a lot. Han sårede mig aldrig. I felt I hurt him every time I landed.”
Efter kampen, Reyes (33-3, 24 KOS) prædikede sin sag for SHOWTIME reporter Jim Gray og påpegede vægten ulighed.
“I feel I won the fight. I showed him how I box,” Reyes said. “I made the weight at 168 and he didn’t make weight. He’s like a light heavyweight fighting a middleweight.
"Jeg var imod alle odds - dommeren, vægten, alt. I think I won the fight. It’s OK – I did my best.”
I co-feature, McJoe Arroyo vandt en teknisk afgørelse i løbet af Arthur Villanueva at vinde den ledige IBF Junior Bantamvægt VM efter kampen blev stoppet ved 2:10 i 10th round due to a deep gash over Villanueva’s right eye. The fight went to the judges’ scorecards and Villanueva was ahead 97-92, 98-91 efter dommerne scorede 10th.
Den puertoricanske Arroyo (17-0, 8 KOS) blev den tredje fighter fra øen for at vinde en 115-pund titel.
The lefty-righty matchup was at times highly technical and foul-filled. Referee Rafael Ramos deducted a point against Villanueva (27-1, 14 KOS) for leading with his head in the sixth. In a different clash in the sixth, a deep gash opened up over the right eye of Villanueva that ultimately led to the stoppage. Ramos ruled that the clash that opened the cut was unintentional.
Dr. Brian August inspected the cut midway through the seventh round and again after the eighth. Ramos again signaled for August to inspect the cut in the 10th and ruled that it was too deep to continue. In an interview with Jim Gray, August erklærede, at han stoppede kampen i den bedste interesse for den fighter, men at Villanueva hævdede han havde ingen syn problemer.
"Da han var på vej ind, he was entering low. He was clashing heads a lot,” Arroyo said. “Before the fight, Jeg vidste, at han var en hård kriger. All Philippine fighters come to fight. I knew I had to be ready for 12 runder, boxing or brawling. It was a competitive fight but we just worked harder every round.”
Adspurgt af Gray, om det var svært at finde sin rytme, Arroyo svarede, “That’s a normal thing when a southpaw fights a right hander. We were both trying to be slick and smart. That happens when two boxers with the same style fight.”
Villanueva uenig med stop og opfordrede til en øjeblikkelig omkamp.
"Det var en hård kamp, og meget hård for mig, efter at headbutt,” Villanueva said. “I thought I won the fight. I didn’t want them to stop the fight because it was just getting into the flow. I’m disappointed with the stoppage. Jeg ved, jeg kan slå ham, og jeg vil have en øjeblikkelig omkamp. "
Ved indledningen anfald af aftenen, ubesejrede 140-pund contender slået ud Fernando Angulo med en tordnende ret til at tjene en obligatorisk skud på vinderen af den planlagte fald opgør mellem Viktor Postol og Lucas Matthysse om den ledige WBC Super Letvægts VM.
Det viste sig at være en vanskelig kamp for Imam (18-0, 15 KOS), men han var altid i kontrol og ekstremt præcis, landing 54 procent af hans magt slag i forhold til netop 17 for Angulo (28-10, 16 KOS). Imam ended the bout in brilliant fashion with a powerful right to Angulo’s ear, tvinger sin modstander til at falde ansigt frem til lærredet og dommeren til øjeblikkeligt at stoppe konkurrencen på :56.
“I take my hat off. He’s a good opponent,” Imam said. “I just hit him with a big shot on his ear and he was done.
“These guys get the belts and just hold it. I’m going to get the belt and hold it with pride.”
Sagde Imam promotor og Hall of Famer Don King, "Det var en fremragende præstation - lige hvad jeg havde forventet og mere. You should never underestimate but pontificate when it comes to the ‘Young Master.’ We will take the belts and anyone that comes in front of us.”