Pacheco and Rodriguez Win by Stoppage as Cruz Wins WBA Title
In his latest tour of duty, super middleweight boxer Diego Pacheco (20-0, 17 KO’s) scored an enjoyable ninth round knockout of Marcelo “El Terrible” Coceres (32-6-1, 18 KO’s). To open the match, Pacheco largely controlled the action with his length, movement and jab.
In the fifth round, Coceres came on strong and hammered Pacheco with a series of destructive left hooks throughout the period. To his credit, Pacheco ate the blows well. El Terrible would rule the roost for the next couple of rounds with his intense pressure and heavy left hook. In the eighth period however, Pacheco dug deep, sat down on his punches and fought fire with fire.
He was rewarded by buzzing Coceres several times. Coceres would cross over into the ninth round only to be roughed up further and knocked to his knees by a picture-perfect right uppercut. Despite being in a position to rise, El Terrible remained on his haunches while referee Ray Corona administered the full ten count.
Ranked #3 (WBO), #5 (IBF), #6 (WBC) and #8 (WBA), Pacheco insisted he is ready for the highest level of competition right now in his post-fight interview.
ERIKA CRUZ DETHRONES MAYERLIN RIVAS IN COMPETITIVE BOUT
In the third defense of WBA super bantamweight title, Mayerlin “La Monita” Rivas (17-5-3, 11 KO’s) was defeated by Erika “Dinamita” Cruz (17-2, 3 KO’s) by way of majority decision. With the win, Cruz has become a two-division champion having once owned the WBA featherweight title.
Rivas heavily relied on movement, using the whole ring and sharp counter-punching. This was the exclusive look that she gave and succeeded with for nearly the entirety of the fight. Her opponent, Cruz, put her head down and applied headlong, high-volume pressure for ten straight rounds.
It appeared as if Rivas commanded the first half of the fight with a bevy of head-snapping counter uppercuts and straight rights. As the duel wore on however, Rivas fell into more and more of the close range skirmishes that Cruz was looking for. By the closing rounds, there was a clear shift in control and the match ended with Rivas along the ropes getting wailed on.
When the cards were read, Cruz was awarded a rather lopsided majority decision win to the tune of 95-95, 97-93 and 98-92. In her post-fight interview, Cruz expressed interest in staging a unification match.
JONATHAN RODRIGUEZ WIPES OUT KHALID YAFAI
In his fifth fight of the year, bantamweight fighter Jonathan “Torres” Rodriguez (17-1-1, 7 KO’s) scored a major upset of former super flyweight champion Khalid Yafai (27-2, 15 KO’s). The beginning of the end started quickly when Rodriguez nailed Yafai with a thumping overhand right on the chin. The shot jellied his knees and put him on the canvas.
Yafai would find his feet but never re-established his equilibrium. This led to the former Olympian being charged with two more knockdowns. To his credit, the second and third knockdowns were more a case of being pushed off balance rather than from punches landing. Even still, Yafai was in bad shape, so it was not a bad stoppage when referee Thomas Taylor called a halt to the action in the first.
During his post-fight interview, Khalid Yafai formally announced his retirement.
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