Rumble at the Reef
XII
The Silver Reef Casino
Resort and Spa
July 12,
2008
A Ringside Tickets
Promotion
Ferndale,
Washington
Tyrone Harris has been looking for an opponent since November of last year. Mike Lucero has fought three times since November, and he would probably fight more often if the opportunity arose. Why the disparity? Harris is finding it tough to find people willing to step in the ring with him. He is quick; he slips a lot of punches; he carries power; and he is left handed, which makes him even more dangerous. Harris steps in to the ring with a lot of boxing skill. Lucero steps in to the ring with less skill, though he seems to be getting better with age, but carrying a huge heart. And those attributes are what made the main event interesting. Lucero was not going to go away; Harris would have to show that the long lay off had not diminished his skills.
Neither man was able to dominate opening rounds of the six round super lightweight bout. Both were content to throw a jab and move around the ring trying to out position the other. Towards the end of the first round Harris did land a combination to Lucero's body that showed Harris still had the weapons. Lucero's compact body probably helped him withstand the assault. Harris showed signs of warming up int he second round as he began to unleash his left a bit more, though it did not yet carry the sting necessary to slow Lucero, who stayed in front of Harris looking to slip a punch inside, or land an uppercut to the chin.
In the third and fourth rounds Harris found his rhythm. He began to use both hands, pumping the jab, then following it with the left to the body. Rather than stepping away form Lucero, Harris began to walk him down, sticking the right in his face. Lucero's corner urged him to keep moving away from Harris's power hand, and at times he did, but Lucero's style is more suited to standing in front of his opponent and working to get inside.
The fifth round was a good one for Lucero. In that round he probably outworked the slick southpaw, but it was Harris that landed at least one big punch. Midway through the round Harris landed a left, that made Lucero back off a bit to clear his head. Lucero's right eye began to swell a bit. he gathered himself and closed the round standing in front and throwing.
In workman like fashion, Harris closed out the fight. He moved on the balls of his feet. He threw the right straight and accurately. He fired left hooks at Lucero's body, and occasionally tried to land one to his head as well.
At the end of six, the judges scores were 60-54, 59-55 and 58-56, all in favor of Tyrone Harris.
Lucero looks to throw a right up the middle
When Louis Sargeant and Luis Lopez last fought it was to determine who would wear the Washington State Super Middleweight Title belt. Sargeant walked away with the win in that fight. To prepare for a rematch, Lopez had fought a couple of juniors: Hector Camacho and Peter Manfredo, losing to both, while knocking out Lyle Johnson in between. Sargeant fought but once, defeating Darrel Woods in round four of an eight round bout.
This fight started, and actually progressed through the early rounds, much more like a heavyweight fight. Both men were content to throw one punch and see how the other would react. Sargeant made the earliest adjustment, deciding to counter punch off Lopez's assault. It was that kind of tactic that made the fight difficult to score for some sitting ringside. There were moments when Lopez was more aggressive, but it was Sargeant that was landing the more effective, and at least a few times, the heavier punches.
In the third round Sargeant discovered that he could catch Lopez with and overhand right. He started to throw that punch more often. A couple of times Lopez was caught off balance, and though he did not drop to the canvas, staggering back in to the ropes made it appear that he had been tagged.
Lopez was much more effective in the fifth and final round because he stepped up the level of aggression and threw more punches. Sargeant still scored a few times with the right, though he landed nothing that staggered his opponent.
At the end of five all three judges scored the bout 49-46 and Louis Sargeant would retain possession of the title holder's belt.
Ronald Hurley made the trip to Washington looking to change his luck a bit. Technically sound, though still looking to find the power punch, he had been in some tough fights in California and Nevada. Two fights in to his professional career, Jason Saunders was riding a wave of confidence. The fight looked to be one that would be decided according to which one would outwork, though not necessarily punish, the other. Saunders took the edge in that department in the first round as he was able to land the combination and slip most of the counterpunches Hurley threw.
Everything changed in the second round though. Hurley threw a right hand that caught Saunders as he was backing out, and Saunders dropped to the canvas. Saunders spent the rest of that round trying to regain momentum. It appeared he did just that in the third as pursued Hurley and fired the jab at his head. There was little need for Saunders to be desperate if he could outbox Hurley, which meant not just landing punches, but avoiding being caught.
Hurley was not about to comply. He too knew that in order to win, he would have to keep Saunders at bay and use his right hand effectively. While he was not as effective at keeping Saunders away, he did score with his right hand.
At the end of four rounds two judges scored the fight 39-36, the third had it 40-35, all in favor of Ronald Hurley.
At the end of four rounds in the women's featherweight bout, the question of the winner was not really in doubt, but one had to wonder how Wendy Roy had fought five times and not won. Granted, on this night she was not as skilled, or as quick as Sarah Pucek, but she is able to box a bit. Sarah Pucek on the other hand, while still a bit raw, boxes well.
Pucek's quickness and technical skill were easily the difference in the four round fight. She is perpetually in motion, and while moving she is throwing jabs and moving to set up her right. She maintains a solid sense of balance, and that helped her slip the shots Roy threw at her.
In the second round Pucek landed a right that bloodied Roy's nose, but did not diminish her spirit or willingness to fight. In fact, in that round Roy stepped up a bit, jabbing to work her way inside in order to try to land to Pucek's body. Roy's most effective punch in the closing rounds was an overhand right, a punch she threw often in the fourth round when she knew she needed big result to win.
After four rounds two judges scored the fight 39-37, the third had it 40-36 in favor of Sarah Pucek who remains unbeaten.
Had Darren Darby been a little more diligent about working Dario Castillo's body in the middle rounds, outcome of the four round super lightweight bout may have leaned in his favor.
Darby did a nice job taking the fight inside in the opening round when he landed his right to Castillo's midsection. Castillo proved resilient and by the end of the round he was landing as well, though most of his shots found the target on Darby's head.
Darby and Castillo traded moments of dominance int he second and third rounds. Darby was effective when he dropped the assault to Castillo's body. Castillo gained momentum when he backed Darby in to the ropes or stepped inside to fight close.
Darby began the fourth round following his jab with a stiff right, and just as Castillo was getting used to seeing that Darby caught him with a hard left that looked like it could turn the fight in his favor. However, Castillo quickly turned Darby, pinning him on the ropes and unloading a barrage of shots. Darby ducked and bobbed for about thirty seconds before he slipped away. On the way out Darby threw a right that landed flush on Castillo's chin, knocking out the mouthpiece.
The judges' scores did not necessarily reflect the close nature of the fight. Two of them scored the fight 40-36, the other 39-37 all in favor of Dario Castillo.
Fight fans just never know which version of James Brock is going to show up. But then, no one had seen Josue Cielos in the ring since early in 2005, so there was no way to be certain what we would witness on that side of the ring either.
The first two and a half minutes of the opening round were uneventful. The two men poked jabs at each other, but did little else. then with about thirty seconds remaining Brock threw a right hand that dropped Cielos. Instead of a round difficult to score, Brock had a 10-8 lead. Brock would throw the right again in the second round and drop Cielos, but because of the manner in which Cielos went down, buckling at the knees like a deflating Macy's Day Parade balloon then coming up again as if being re inflated, the referee did not count the knockdown. Not to worry, Brock dropped Cielos again in the third, and then pinned him ion the ropes and pelted him. The fight probably could have been stopped there, but Cielos survived to hear the bell. Brock spent the fourth round swinging wildly, looking to go four for four in knockdowns, but Cielos was wise enough to stay out of reach.
At fight's end all the judges agreed, 40-34 in favor of James Brock.
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