Norbelto Jimenez Overcomes an Aggressive Keyvin Lara by Unanimous Decision
Norbelto “Meneito” Jimenez (31-9-6, 16KOs) earned a tough victory in a dog fight against Keyvin Lara (31-5-1, 11KOs), in his country of Republica Dominicana.
Jimenez has failed at two attempts at capturing a championship against former champions Kohei Kono and Khalid Yafai. In his last outing, against four-division champion Donnie Nietes, Meneito was under the impression it was a twelve-round fight. He was unaware it was changed to a ten-rounder which is why he did not step on the gas earlier.
RELATED: Donnie Nietes vs Norbelto Jimenez Ends In A Draw
Lara was no pushover, being a former title challenger that gave then WBA flyweight champion Ioka all he could handle before being stopped in round eleven. The Nicaraguan’s aggressive in-your-face fighting style made for a fun and entertaining bout.
ROCK ‘EM SOCK ‘EM ROBOTS
Jimenez couldn’t take advantage of the height or reach advantage as the smaller Lara quickly got up in his chest and made it a dog fight. The Nicaraguan came ready to fight as he was throwing punches as if he was a video game character with unlimited energy.
Jimenez tried to weather the storm while being relegated to throwing counter-punches off the ropes in-between the wild punches of Lara. Moreover, he was investing in the body early by throwing hard left and right hooks like a maniac trying to slow down the over-aggressive Lara. Despite the fight being filled with fouls, low blows, and hitting after the break, both fighters were smiling at each other, clearly comfortable with making it a war as they continued to fight in a phonebooth.
A TALE OF TWO HALVES
In the second half of the fight, the pace slowed down, and that is when Meneito started taking over. Fighting in front of the home crowd, Jimenez’s counter-punching was the difference-maker in the fight.
Lara’s energy level was finally slowing down as he was throwing more and more wild shots and keeping his head on the centerline. This made it a perfect target for the counter left hooks. He was wobbled a few times from hard left hook counters.
Jimenez fought inspired down the stretch, dancing before landing more sweat-flying counter right hooks and left uppercuts. He was in total control of the fight as he played it up to the crowd.
In the final round, Lara mounted a small offense and landed a good right-hand. Jimenez would respond with a barrage of punches to the body and another left hook that rocked his opponent.
All three judges scored it in favor of Jimenez as the crowd cheered. Jimenez’s number two ranking by the WBO means that he could get the winner between WBO champion Kazuto Ioka and former foe Donnie Nietes, who are in talks for a rematch.
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By: Garrisson Bland
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