Carlos Gongora wins sleep-inducing prizefight over Chris Pearson by eighth round submission!
After a dreadfully dull “fight”, IBO Super Middleweight champion Carlos Gongora (20-0, 15 KO’s) picked up his twentieth professional win. This transpired when his opponent Christopher Pearson (17-3, 12 KO’s) decided he did not want to compete anymore and just flat-out quit. Along with the IBO strap, the Ecuadorian fighter went into the bout ranked #11 (IBF) and #13 (WBC).
Gongora came into the bout looking to continue riding the success of his twelfth-round knockout over the previously undefeated Ali Akhmedov. It was that stoppage win that earned him the then vacant IBO strap. Sadly, there will be zero buzz for him to enjoy after this bout that was far more punishment to watch than it was entertaining.
PLEASE, MAKE IT STOP!!
The fight began in slow and rather odd fashion. For the opening two periods, Gongora casually walked Pearson down behind a steady jab and sporadic shots to the body. For his part, Pearson did remarkably little outside of shell-up and move backwards. Not much changed in the third, although in the final thirty seconds, Pearson did let his hands go in a brisk combination. Unfortunately, nothing landed with any consequence.
During the fourth period the two southpaw fighters smiled and talked trash just as much as they threw punches. For the first time, Pearson did start holding his ground a bit more and occasionally began coming forward. Outside of those extremely cosmetic changes, there was not much to report in the round.
As difficult as it was to believe, Pearson managed to drop his activity another few notches in the sixth. Sensing his lethargy, Gongora easily pushed Pearson around and roughed him up along the ropes throughout the period. Pearson literally was more physical with the ref than the champ. After not liking something the ref said, the Ohio fighter was warned for shoving his hands away.
Mercifully, for the tortured audience at home, Pearson abruptly quit in the eighth round. After getting popped with a left hook in his swelling right eye, Pearson voluntarily went down to one knee. He was clearly in discomfort but easily beat the count. However, in completely shameful fashion, he willing took another knee and just waited to be counted out. At the count of ten, he immediately jumped back to his feet and congratulated Gongora. It should be noted that Pearson could still see out of the eye.
NO GLORY
Boxing is a hard sport to compete in and I don’t say this lightly, but this is a fight where withholding Christopher Pearson’s check should seriously be considered. This was a horrifically boring and overly tepid fight. Despite walking away with the win, and to no fault of his own, there was zero glory in this victory for the super middleweight champion. Let’s just pray that his next adversary actually attempts to win.
By: Bakari Simpson
