By David Finger
In the final “free” televised fight before the PPV broadcast kicked off for the David Benavidez versus David Morrell PPV fight in Las Vegas, undefeated Mitko Cuello, 125.6, of Santa Fe, Argentina closed out the show in explosive fashion in a fight that had all the makings of a split decision. Cuello dropped his opponent, Christian Olivo, 125.6, of San Diego twice with body shots in the second half of the tenth and final round. The first shot, a solid left hook to the body, clearly took the legs out from Olivo, but as he rose he looked ready to continue. However Cuello walked in and landed another left hook to the body that send Olivo to the canvas grimacing in pain. Referee Chris Flores waved off the fight at 2:01 of the round giving the undefeated Cuello, whose record now stands at 15-0, 12 KOs, a clear path to a WBA world title fight.
For Olivo, the loss was particularly painful as there was a good chance he was ahead on two of the judges scorecards. Olivo seemed to take control of the fight in round two when he scored a knockdown over the Argentine with a picture perfect right cross. Olivo continued to control the action in round three and although Cuello seemed to bounce back in round four, Olivo fired back in the fifth.
The fight was back and forth for the next few rounds, but by round seven Olivo seemed to have found his second win and seemed tantilizingly close to running away with it. But Cuello himself found his second win and came out strong in round nine. Still, if Cuello’s corner was telling him he needed a knockout to win, well, they may not have been wrong. Cuello seemed to recognize the need to find lightning in a bottle and found a home for the left hook to the body, ending Olivo’s hope for an upset.
Olivo sees his record fall to 22-2-1, 9 KOs.
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Undefeated Cuban middleweight prospect Yoenli Feliciano Hernandez, 158.4, made a huge statement in his televised fight against Angel Ruiz, 159.6. Ruiz, originally from Sinaloa but fighting out of Los Angeles, California, was a respectable contender who had scored upsets in the past over high profile undefeated prospects (he scored an upset over a then undefeated prospect named Bobirzhan Mominov from Kazakhstan back in 2021) and also former world champions (he scored a knockout victory over former WBA world champion Luis Collazo in 2023). But Ruiz was moving up in weight to fight the Cuban and it was clear from round one that the size and speed of Hernandez was going to be too much for Ruiz. Hernandez remained in complete control and periodically pinned Ruiz on the ropes as he picked him apart with picture perfect combinations. After five rounds, with Ruiz hopelessly behind on the scorecards and with Hernandez landing at will, referee Allen Huggins waved off the bout at 1:06 of the round. With the win Hernandez improves to 7-0, 7 KOs while Ruiz falls to 18-4-1, 13 KOs.
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In the first PBC televised fight of the afternoon, lightweight prospect Curmel “Big D” Moton put forth a very Mayweather-esque performance as he dominated the game Frank Zaldivar of Miami, Florida. Moton was always a step and a half ahead of Zaldivar and had him swinging for air throughout the first two rounds. By round three he was able to up the pressure and began to tee off on his overmatched foe. Although Zaldivar had avoided hitting the canvas the beating was starting to get ugly and Referee Harvey Dock jumped in to and wave off the contest at 1:51 of round three. With the win Moton improves to 7-0, 6 KOs while Zaldivar falls to 5-2, 3 KOs.
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Fights at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada kicked off early this afternoon as Gabriela Téllez of San Antonio, Texas wins. Six round majority decision over fellow Texan Abril Anguiano. Téllez improves to 4-0, 1 KO while Anguiano falls to 4-1, 2 KOs.
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In the second fight of the afternoon former WBA world champion Jose Benavidez Jr. dominated Youngstown, Ohio’s Danny Rosenberger in a middleweight fight scheduled for eight rounds. Benavidez won by way of stoppage after rattling the Youngstown native. Although Benavidez was in control the stoppage nonetheless appeared quick. Benavidez improves to 29-3-1, 20 KOs while Rosenberger falls to 20-10-4, 10 KOs.
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Undefeated John Easter was taken the distance for the first time in his career as he won a shutout unanimous decision over Portland, Oregon’s Joseph Aguilar. Aguilar, who has yet to have been stopped in his professional career, falls to 6-3-1, 3 KOs. Easter improves to 8-0, 7 KOs. There were no knockdowns.
It seems there have problems with the website over the past few days. Hopefully to be resolved soon.
If I was the referee, I would let fight continue.
Good fight
That was a great fight, although the ref should have let Olivo get one more chance given he was way ahead. Would love to see a rematch.
PBC needs to find a different round by round scorer. Larry Hazzard’s scorecard was absolutely insane, he gave multiple undeserved rounds to Cuello where he was getting his head jacked up like a pez dispenser.