Joshua Greer Jr defeats Antonio Nieves; continues to roll at bantamweight!
After ten full, fairly brisk rounds of action, entertaining bantamweight Joshua “Don’t Blink” Greer Jr (22-1-1, 12 KO’s) claimed a unanimous decision victory over Antonio “Carito” Nieves (19-3-2, 11 KO’s). The two featured as the co-main event for Stevenson versus Gonzalez on ESPN+. Hanging in the balance of the bout were the WBC continental America’s and WBO NABO bantamweight titles.
THE BREAKDOWN
The energetic prizefight got off to a swift pace from the very beginning of round one. Greer set the pace with his nimble footwork and consistent jab. In response, Nieves established his own formidable jab and counter straight right-hand. The first four rounds of the dust-up played out rather evenly.
With the coming of the fifth round, there was a very clear dip in Nieves’ energy level. In no way did he lose his will to win, or suffer in terms of diminished accuracy. However, his punch output most definitely declined noticeably. Carito followed a slow fifth round up with an even quieter sixth round. As Nieves’ vigor continued to drop, Greer’s effective body punching increased.
Don’t Blink probably enjoyed his best round in the seventh period, as Nieves’ stagnating energy continues to plague him. Likewise, Greer continue to target his body with increasing success and increasingly hard blows to the torso. The body assault continued into the eighth round.
In the eighth round, Joshua Greer landed what appeared to be an unintentional low blow, which greatly affected Nieves. After displaying an extreme facial grimace, referee Chris Byrd provided him a quick breather. Like most fighters though, Nieves did not take the full five minutes available and got back to the action rather swiftly. When the knuckle-chucking resumed, so too did Don’t Blink’s command of the bout.
Nothing much improved for Carito in the ninth. For the briefest of moments, it looked like someone had wished on a magical star for Nieves. At the beginning of the round, a clubbing punch landed on the back of Greer’s head somewhat, dragging him to the canvas.
Even though he was also a bit off balance at the time, the punch was officially ruled a knock down. Yet, when Don’t Blink got back to his feet, he remained in firm control of the prizefight.
When all the dust had settled after the final bell, Greer remained undefeated and walked away with the two titles.
By: Bakari Simpson
