Raymond Ford Stops Felix Caraballo to Remain Undefeated
As he was expected to do, talented featherweight prospect “Savage” Raymond Ford (9-0-1, 5 KO’s) remained undefeated in his latest prizefight. The New Jersey native accomplished this by stopping Felix “La Sombra” Caraballo (13-3-2, 9 KO’s) in the sixth round of their dust-up.
This latest setback marks Caraballo’s third consecutive loss. He has not enjoyed a win since January of 2020. As for Ford, he will no doubt continue sharpen his teeth and honing his skill in the division. Given how fresh he is in his professional career, Savage is not likely to take a major step up in competition for his next out. Yet, it’ll be interesting to see what the #14 (WBA) ranked pugilist does next.
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ONE-SIDED AFFAIR
Right from the start it was evident that Caraballo was out of his depth with his younger foe. This reality manifested in Ford’s much faster hands, pinpoint punches and consistent combination punching. Both fighters did well to put in significant work to the body.
In the early goings, La Sombra caught Savage with a decent number of hooks, although Ford ate them well and was never in any real trouble. Aside from this, Caraballo did his best when Ford was on the ropes. Yet it should be noted that the Savage only volunteered to go to the ropes and was never pressured to them.
With the coming of the fifth period there was a notable shift in dynamics. While he was not overly hurt, Caraballo clearly was operating in a lower, slower gear. As Caraballo’s performance slowly degraded, the Savage upped his game. With his foe a bit more stationary, Ford found tremendous success with his uppercuts and fluid combinations. He also made masterful use of his feints to create openings.
The writing was on the wall when the seventh round began with the doctor inspecting La Sombra. After a lacking opening flurry, Caraballo did nothing but eat heavy head shots for the remainder of the period.
Unsurprisingly, the fight was stopped in the very next round by referee Ricky Gonzalez. The end came with about a minute to go when Caraballo was getting nailed with a storm of accurate, thumping head shots. It was a good and appropriate stoppage for the up and coming 22-year-old fighter.
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By: Bakari Simpson
