In a clash for the vacant WBA welterweight title, unbeaten Gabriel “Captain” Maestre (4-0, 3 KOs) took a close twelve round unanimous decision over 6’4 late sub Mykal Fox (22-3, 5 KOs) on Saturday night at The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Maestre was able to recover from an early knockdown in round two that Fox scored with a blistering counter left hand that Maestre never saw coming.
“When I was knocked down, I didn’t see the punch coming,” said Maestre. “He didn’t really hurt me though so it was no problem to get up and keep going.”
The unbeaten Maestre was able to work his way back into the fight through the middle rounds with consistent activity as he chased the elusive Fox around the ring. The aggression led to a 119 to 108 advantage for Maestre in power punches landed, despite Fox holding an overall edge in punches landed with 157 to 131.
“The strategy was just to keep fighting him for 12 rounds,” said Maestre. “I just wanted to stay close to him and make sure I kept throwing punches. Fox definitely surprised me. He was a very good boxer. I think the key was that I was throwing multiple punches and combinations. That was the strategy from start to finish.”
Fox appeared to turn the tide in the later rounds, pot-shotting Maestre effectively as he continued to circle the ring while holding smartly to slow any offensive momentum his opponent gained.
After 12 rounds the judges all saw the fight in favor of Maestre by scores of 114-113, 115-112 and 117-110. Fox was in disbelief at the judges’ scores post-fight, while Maestre declared he was willing to give Fox a rematch.
“I was stunned by the decision,” said Fox. “There’s no way he won more rounds than me. I knocked him down. I hurt him. I don’t know what else I was supposed to do. I don’t know what the judges were looking at. Look at his face and tell me he won that fight.”
“Fox fought very well and he deserves a rematch,” said Maestre. “It was a very close fight. If my team says that’s what they want, I’ll be ready to fight him again.”
A fight between unbeaten WBA #1 welterweight Eimantas Stanionis (13-0, 9 KOs) and veteran Luís Collazo (39-8, 20 KOs) ended in a no-decision. Collazo couldn’t continue after an accidental headbutt in round four.
Welterweight Luke SantaMaría (12-2-1, 7 KOs) scored a ten round unanimous decision over former world champion Devon Alexander (27-7-1, 14 KOs). Scores were 97-93, 98-92, 98-92.
The Marstre/Fox decision was genuinely outrageous and truly disgusting.
Most bad decisions you can argue for or against but there is absolutely question about this one.
The WBA and Minnesota boxing commission should take a very close look at all three judges and believe a criminal investigation is warranted.
Unfortunately..it was nothing but a Political move ..to see that the undefeated former amatuer came thru with the title win..since he vacated the opportunity to win a medal at the Olympics.
That decision was outlandish. Bad decisions happen, they just do, but that was absolutely awful.
And was there no one, I mean no one at all, who could tell Mike Stafford to pull his pants up? Did we all have to kind of hate FOX every time they went to Alexander’s corner between rounds because we had to see his trainer’s ass.
Alexander needs to call it a day btw, that fight was terrible. He didn’t do anything of note.
I’m just surprised that a decision like that happened under the WBA’s watch, you know, with them being the gold standard for ethics and all. I think the scorecards were filled out last week.
Well that’s an excellent point USF. Their attention to detail is unmatched in this sport.
The Alexander decision was bad but the Fox decision one of the worst in the history of boxing.
The Alexander decision was bad? How so?
Alexander may have won 3 or 4 rounds. Also, I know I’m alone in this assessment, but Fox’s punches had not steam on them. Maestre walked straight into one lucky shot. Maestre landed more power shots than Fox, and pressed the action. This time I agree with the judges.
You may be the only one that does
Alexander grunted more.
I guess the WBA was protecting their own because Maestre clearly lost that fight. However, I like Maestre’s style, but he should work on his jabs to set up his power punches. Moreover, I have questions about Maestre’s chin, but I am sure those questions will get answered in due time.
As for Alexander, I was never a fan of his offensive boxing style. I believe Alexander should think about retiring because I did not like how he was taking punches when SantaMaria opened a little offense.
Controversial,the decison.. ? We need a stronger term. Fox, if you ever fight Maestre again, bring a shotgun…to be on the safe side.
I meant decision, of course. Unless one chooses the word holdup…
They Were WRONG For THIS!!!
WE ALL KNOW WHO WON THIS FIGHT…FOX…FOX…FOX!!! Cheat And Lie If YOU Want To. YOU Just Look BAD, A Pack Of LIARS AND CHEATS. Starting With Signing Off With Those Boxing Gloves Ties And Tape -Eh.
SMDH!!! How Will YOU Sleep Tonight -Eh. YOU All Know That Other Dude LOSS Horribly. I Cannot Even Say It’s Name. Just A Bunch Of BS.
Collazo has a chin made of steel!
Collazo was teaching the young lion a thing or two, unfortunately he was getting hit way too often way too hard. Would have been interesting to see the fight in later rounds.
I don’t agree, Collazo was on his way to a serious drubbing and eventually getting knocked out. He knew this, that’s why as the brits say, he bottled it.
Maybe or maybe not.
No question Collazo was getting beat up but he was giving some as well.
The later rounds would have been a learning experience for Staniolonis, hitting a guy who can take his punches while throwing some of his own every once and a while.
DSmith, you’re absolutely correct. If Collazo had been dominating his opponent, there’s no doubt he would have continued. Nevertheless, a spirited 3 and half rounds.
Hey lou if you cant stand up i got to stop the fight.
Lou: no i cant stand up
Ref stops fight
Lou stands up.
It was an accidental head clash, significant but not devastating. Lou saw a way out and took it. Another round and he would have gotten ktfo.
Que verguenza how can he put that belt around his weist..what a shame he know he lost..Maestre..shame on you
Stanionis vs SantaMaria. Set it up!
Derrell Coley losing a split-decision to Oba Carr in August of 1995 was the worst decision I had ever seen to a boxer from the Washington, DC area. Until tonight! Those judges should have their licenses revoked! No way Fox lost that bout!
I watched that fight 25 odd years ago. I dont remember it being regarded as a robbery. But ive never rewatched it either. I dont recall it being controversial at the time though. Coley and Carr 2 of the best to never win a tittle now you got a guy like Maestre who was just handed a tittle in his 4th pro fight.
Even Maestre was surprised he won! Another decision that can only be described as Criminal! Disgusted yet again!
This is MN. What do you expect.
FOX Won his fight tonight. The Judges should be banned from ever judging again Pathetic!!
Someone needs to call the police because Mykal Fox was seriously robbed. WOW. I knew that MN had a high crime rate, but this is ridiculous. I think all 3 judges should be arrested, and charged with serious crimes. 20 years in prison for each of the 3 judges. 20 years in the MN state prison. I think The MN State Attorney General (Keith Ellison) needs to do his duty for once in his life, and charge all 3 judges with serious felonies. Then again, since Keith is a paid-off felon himself, he will probably have a very expensive steak dinner with the 3 judges instead. Doing the wrong this is Ellison’s modus operandi.
My heart goes out to the Fox family. Mykal won that fight and we all know it. Even the paid-off judges, and the criminals who financed this crime.
Speaketh …. Mort.
As far as Maestre Fox goes… I was disappointed in Maestre. Wild , winging punches, amateurish. Still he pressed the action and landed at times. Fox was slick but ran too much. He should’ve pressed his advantage. But to be honest he would’ve had to knock out Maestre just to get a draw! Those judges obviously paying favors to the w.b.a. what a joke.
OK. The tape on the gloves was an oversight. It happens. Either the ref or the commissioner is supposed to initial the tape but sometimes they don’t. This time Fox corner saw too much tape on the glove and called it out thus making the lack of initials look more nefarious. Thats an oversight. The gloves and tape are supposed to be inspected with one of the seconds from the opponents corner observing. A little extra tape *may be a slight advantage but its not like his gloves were loaded. What did they find when they retaped them? Nothing. Just a little extra tape. The tape issue was way overblown … the SCORING AND JUDGING issue needs to be looked at PBC is as bad as any sanctioning body. Their house fighters ALWAYS get the decision.
Took a close decision,no he didn’t! That hurts
This was a set up, but one should not be surprise. The WBA is a corrupt Latino organization, and Fox was fighting a Latino. Boxing is getting more and more dirty daily.
ok 2 things absurdly wrong with this…..first the WBA is crowning their 5th apparent World Champion in this weight division? ad secondly how the fuck did Maestre even get into a position to fight for a Word title? honestly Boxing has fazed from dying to now being revived into a WWE type Circus……
Along with heavyweight, they now have 2 divisions where they have five world champions and they have like 4-5 where they have four champions. I even found a women’s gold champion that they have yesterday. And I read an interview just yesterday where their president said that they were going to reduce the number of champions by, possibly, eliminating regular and interim champions…. but in the past 4 days, they’ve crowned two new interim champions on vacant belts.
The Eimantas Stanionis & Luís Collazo fight was interesting up until Collazo took a glance head but to the side of his face in the forth round, then Collazo’s drama acting career kicked in so he wouldn’t lose in his alleged last fight in the ring. The nature of the glancing head butt would not have done the damage that Collazo let on it did.
I’ve always been a fan of Collazo, but damn that was an acting job! He basically said; I’m 40 and I have NO CHANCE of winning so Goodnight folks! Exit stage left……..
could not believe the decision, Fox clearly won
If I see the WBA is involved I won’t watch the fight. They’re a joke
I know people throw this distinction out all the time, but that was the worst decision I’ve ever seen. Maestre did NOTHING. He pressed, but completely ineffectively. Just on ring generalship and defense, he was outclassed. His #4 ranking after just 3 fights tells you what you need to know about his relationship with the WBA
I think the judges got it right. Fox ran majority of the fight. That knockdown didn’t do much to slow down Maestre attack. From what I see in this fight, I can’t see Fox doing anything better. I see Maestre winning a rematch via 6 round TKO.
What’s going on with PBC? Brian Castano now Mykal Fox? How many outright robberies are going to be forced? Get the decisions right or be part of the blame for the sports decline.
Castano wasn’t robbed. That was a close fight. Draw was reasonable. You could argue a Castano victory but it wasn’t a robbery by any stretch.
That was a robbery I saw the whole fight fox won easily even though the other boxer tried to cheat in the beginning of the fight with the gloves boxing is full of shit there’s no way that guy won the fight
Shameful decision.The PBC (Professional Burglary Commission) robbed Mykal Fox. All three judges wore SKI MASKS
This is WHY I hate the sport that I Love!!
Bori Mex
That’s the comment of the day(hate the sport I luv)lol.
The confusion is fed by commentators that praise footwork, running all night, holding, and basically avoiding a fight at all cost while the other guy has to be aggressive and chase a guy all night. They deserve the lost.
What about Collazo fight?
Corupt judges as in Fox loss hurt boxing and the fighters. This has been going on forever.
Robbery without a gun !!!
Robo..steal..fox won that fight easy,easy..call the Police please.
I haven’t watched a fight in 10 years before this one last night. Fox won the fight easily. If this is the state of boxing no need to watch anymore. I feel sorry for whoever bet on Fox. Fox was denied how many millions? Institutional cheating is never a good look.
Maestre is no champion. I never would want to win like that. He knew he lost, but the WBA took care of it for him. Show some pride and character. I guess we all know why he never won at the olympics.
I think Mayfield has the right idea. Who cares about belts when they are clearly fixed. Set your own fights, and keep the money. All you need is skill and the ability to self promote.
No question, the worst decision ever! Fox won, period!!!!
The sanctioning bodies may be making more money than all the fighters they sanction put together. All these belts and most of them don’t mean two shits to nobody but possibly the one whose waist it’s around. Being a boxing champ don’t mean beans in sports nowdays, much less to the sporting public. Boxing is all but finished. Doesn’t mean crap to the average sports fan any more. Since 1949 I’ve been following boxing and once it was the greatest sport on earth. Still a great sport and good talent, just that the folks that run it have about put the ten count on the sport. So sad.
Somebody call the cops. There’s been a robbery.
Another example of politics determines the “winner”! Or, I can’t believe my eyes! Shameful decision!
That was worst judging I’ve ever seen fox got robbed.
That’s bullshit he didn’t win that , and you know it he knows it ✔️
According to the WBA website…
Maestre encountered an extremely difficult opponent in Fox, who took advantage of his height to keep the Venezuelan at a distance. In the second round, he counterattacked with a straight left that sent Maestre to the canvas.
Maestre got up and began to incessantly attack Fox. The fight was developed with the Venezuelan going to the front and Fox walking the ring. Maestre tried to deploy his attack from mid distance and was able to land some good punches, but when he entered close distance, Fox chose to clinch.
Yes Mike fox lost that fight because he does not know how to finish his man he should have went all out after he knock the dude down but he allowed his opponent to recover bad choice another reason he lost is because he did not use his jab to his advantage you win some and you loose some and he allowed his opponent to apply pressure and aggression that took him out of his fight plan
There’s no way he won. Fox was cheated. Bunch of bull, bunch of bull PERIOD !!!!!
agreed the minnesota boxing commision should look into the fox maestri decision fox never had a chance he was the better fighter