Otha Jones Earns Hard Fought Decision
On the undercard of Usyk v Witherspoon, the highly touted super featherweight Otha “OJ3” Jones III (4-0, 1 KO) earned a hard-fought majority decision win over Eric “The Baby-Faced Assassin” Manriquez (7-9-1, 3 KO’s). Jones, who hails from Toledo, OH, was the clear favorite to win the four-round prizefight. Yet, while Manriquez was brought in to further the hot young prospects maturation process he was nobody’s push-over.
THE BREAKDOWN
The native Texan, and notably smaller fighter, refused to be bullied. A bevy of suffocating body shots in round three caused Manriquez to literally throw up in the ring. Even so, he was game to rumble. Jones could have made things easier for himself by working behind his jab more. Instead, OJ3 attempted to bulldoze Manriquez with a volley of power shots which targeted both the head and body. Jones’ frequent all-out assaults demonstrates his diverse array of punches, and a good awareness of when and where to throw.
Despite landing well, it was not exactly a walk in the park for Otha Jones III. After absorbing Jones’ power shots, Manriquez consistently did a good job of responding with his own thudding punches. Throughout the bout, the Baby-Faced Assassin would plant crisp, solid shots on OJ3’s chin.
To the Toledo fighter’s credit, he ate the punches well. However, the need to tighten up his head movement was made plainly evident. It would be a mistake for the young boxer to become accustomed to taking needless shots, especially to the head.
Overall, the 19-year-old amassed four more quality rounds in his development as a professional fighter. OJ3 even navigated a bit of adversity when a collision of heads briefly blurred the vision in his left eye. For a good chunk of the round, the he badly squinted and had obvious difficulty looking through the eye.
When it was all said and done, Otha Jones III had earned the win and maintained his spotless record. If given his way, he will be back in the ring before the conclusion of the year.
By: Bakari Simpson
