Report/Photos by Boxing Bob Newman at ringside
In the semi main event at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, welterweights Shakhram Giyasov and Harold Calderon tangled in a WBA eliminator match. The crowd rooted for Calderon, chanting “Harold,” throughout. Giyasov employed a measuring tactic, keeping his left hand out, but never receiving a warning from referee Rafael Ramos. Calderon, for his part, chose to box smartly from a southpaw stance fainting moving and using his own jab followed by a left cross. Whenever Giyasov felt he landed a good punch, he would do a bicycle jump and try to follow up. By round 4, Giyasov was getting cocky, coming forward with hands down by his sides, taunting Calderon to take a shot. Calderon wouldn’t take the bait, seldom if ever leading. To say this was a tactical battle, is an understatement! Following the thrilling Guzman-Ali battle really made this bout unappetizing to be sure. The boo birds finally made their feelings known in round 8. Perhaps those boos lit a fire under Calderon as he came out aggressively for the first thirty seconds of round 9, actually engaging and throwing punches to lead instead of countering.
A small cut opened on the left eye of Calderon at the start of round 10. The fight ended as it started, with Giyasov stalking, Calderon looking to counter, ending in a whimper. The scores were 120-108, 118-110 and 116-112 all for Giyasov, who moves to 15-0, 9 KOs, while Calderon loses his first at 27-1, 18 KOs. Continue reading “Giyasov beats Calderon in WBA eliminator”