Cuevas and Hernandez Win By Stoppage; Villar v Zapata A Draw
After something of a feel-out first round, welterweight boxer Derrieck Cuevas (26-1-1, 15 KO’s) floored hometown fighter Alberto “Metralleta” Mosquera (28-6-2, 16 KO’s) in the round second with sneaky left hook to the teeth.
The Panamanian fighter would make it to his feet but he swayed around like a vertigo victim on the deck of a rocky boat. Moments later, Metralleta was more pulled to the canvas but it stood as the second knock down of the round nonetheless.
Despite throwing a bevy of hard punches to finish the show, Mosquera survived the round. During the third period however, Metralleta not only stabilized his feet, he closed the distance, got on the inside and began sinking in his own offense. Unfortunately for him however, Mosquera found himself hampered with a rather nasty gash on his right eyelid in the third as well.
Ultimately this would be his undoing, as the referee was visibly bothered by the cut. He would go onto stop the match on two occasions in the fourth so that the doctor could inspect the wound. Here, two times proved to be the charm as the doctor would put a halt to the bout on the second occasion. This was unfortunate because Mosquera was clearly functioning as the ring general at the time of the stoppage.
UWEL HERNANDEZ BEATS JUAN JUAREZ EARLY
For his second fight of the year, super middleweight boxer Uwel Hernandez (26-1-1, 15 KO’s) extended his current knockout streak to three. The Cuban accomplished by making short work of Rodolfo “Poroto” Juarez (21-9, 15 KO’s), who he stopped in the second round. This was not exactly a huge surprise as Juarez has lost three of his last four bouts by stoppage and seven of his nine defeats have been by knockout.
On this occasion, Hernandez came out and immediately took the offensive initiative by targeting Poroto’s body near exclusively. It didn’t take long for the tactic to hit paydirt. In the second round, Hernandez slammed a thudding left hook into Juarez’s ribs that sank him like a torpedo. The Argentine fighter didn’t beat count.
AZAEL VILLAR VS GERARDO ZAPATA YIELDS NO WINNERS
In this battle of light flyweight fighters, Azael “Candelilla” Villar (19-2-4; 15 KO’s) versus Gerardo Zapata (14-1-1, 5 KO’s), each man was striving to get back into the win column as both were coming off loses. Throughout the first half of the duel, the match proved to be something of a judge’s nightmare as both men threw and landed constant punches. Yet, neither was able to consistently maintain control or seriously hurt the other.
With the arrival of the sixth however, the prizefight shifted into another gear. Villar was able to maintain his frenetic pace while Zapata found himself slowing and covering up with greater frequency. This was the dominant flavor of the scrap for a couple periods. Around the eighth round however, Zapata slowly snapped out of his funk and began landing the clearly harder shots. From that point to the end, it became a matter of who you liked, the guy bringing the volume or power?
Ultimately, the judges couldn’t decide as one went with Zapata, another Villar and the last had it even, resulting in a three-way draw.
