Report/Photos by Boxing Bob Newman at ringside

One of Puerto Rico’s favorite boxing sons- Miguel Cotto, put on a stellar fight card in the midst of the 35th WBO convention, at Coliseo Roberto Clemente this evening. Topping the bill were semi-main event Nestor Bravo vs Adrian Yung in a vacant NABO Jr. Welter title battle and Bryan Chevalier vs Cesar Juarez duking it out for the vacant WBO Inter-continental strap in the main event.

If the semi-main event was a Mexican/Puerto Rican war, then the main event was Mexican/Puerto Rican Armageddon! Bryan Chevalier of Bayamon, PR and Cesar Juarez of Mexico City, MX put on a battle for the ages. Seconds into the bout, Juarez was dropped by a snappy left hook, but was unhurt and up instantly. From that point on, it was trench warfare as Juarez dragged the lanky Chevalier into a phone booth and wailed away, grunting like a caveman with every blow. More of the same in the second from bell-to-bell. In the third, both seemed a tad winded and the pattern was Chevalier jabbing and moving with Juarez looking to close the gap. In the fourth, it was back to the previous tactics as Chevalier tried to jab and move, but in no time at all, Juarez barreled him into the ropes and it was bombs away again. Chevalier got hurt and tried to get on his bicycle, but a follow-up barrage sent him down! In the fifth and sixth, it seemed the entire Roberto Clemente Coliseum was on its feet, losing their collective minds as blows landed and missed by both men at a frenzied pace. Both were cut and battered and it seemed one blow could end it for either man. Each man was warned for flagrant low blows as well. By the seventh, Chevalier was determined to fight at a distance, but with long, hard shots. The strategy worked as he caught Juarez with several telling blows, buckling the Mexican’s legs, but Juarez waved him forward, in a true display of Mexican machismo. What Juarez didn’t do was defend himself. In a scene reminiscent of Pryor-Arguello #1, Juarez’ head snapped back as he lie on the ropes, a follow-up was launched and referee Johnny Guzman had seen enough, saving Juarez at 1:55 of the seventh. Chevalier picks up the WBO Inter-Continental belt for his troubles and moves to 18-1-1, 14 KOs, while Juarez slides to 27-13, 20 KOs.

Arecibo, PR’s Nestor Bravo and Los Mochis, MX’s Adrian “El Chinito” Yung contested the vacant NABO Jr. Welterweight title scheduled for 10 rounds. It was a classic Mexican/Puerto Rican battle to the end. Bravo picked his shots carefully on the lanky Yung. In the third, after receiving time to recover from a hard low blow, a beautifully timed left hook sent Yung crashing to the canvas and cut his right eye for good measure. As hard as he went down, Yung was up before the ref even started counting! In the fifth, Yung was deducted a point for repeated rabbit punches. Bleeding and battered, Yung’s corner waved the towel in defeat at 1:18 of the seventh round. The win garnered Bravo the NABO belt and raised his record to 21-0, 15 KOs. The tough-as-nails Yung slides to 28-8-3, 22 KOs.

Opening the televised segment of the show were over-the-limit welters Brian Ceballo (Rio Piedras, PR, by way of Brooklyn) and Nicklaus Flaz (Vega Alta, PR), who squared off in a scheduled 8 rounder. Ceballo appeared off-put by the craftiness of Flaz. Anytime Flaz landed, the crowd went wild in approval. Ceballo began to opt for countering in the third as his lead offense was tentative and ineffective, often leading to him clinching. This only grew the confidence of Flaz, round by round. In the fifth, Flaz backed Ceballos into a neutral corner, flurrying on the defensive Ceballo and bringing the crowd to cheers once again. Near the end of the sixth, Flaz mocked and mugged as he caused Ceballo to whiff air, missing several punches on the bobbing and weaving Flaz. In round seven, Flaz countered beautifully off the ropes, snapping Ceballo’s head back. Ceballo landed a bomb of a right hand to start off the eighth and final round, to seemingly little effect on Flaz. Flaz rallied in the middle of the round with flurries, but they seemed to lack and zip. Ceballo landed a couple more very hard rights and Flaz appeared depleted from the power of the shots. The final bell tolled and the scores were as follows: 76-76, 77-75 and 78-74, a majority decision for Nicklaus Flaz. He rises to 10-2, 7 KOs, while Ceballo loses his first and falls to 13-1, 6 KOs. It was a big win for Flaz over the highly touted Ceballo.

Undefeated novice lightweights Addiel Perez (Fajardo, PR) and Waldemar Carril (Moca, PR) went at it in a scheduled four round lightweight scrap. In the opening seconds, an awkward right from Carril seemed to hook Perez around the neck and pull him to the canvas but it was ruled a knockdown by referee Johnny Guzman. In the second, it was Perez who took control, rocking Carril to the ropes with combo head shots. Carril ate more shots in the third, causing his prominent nose to redden quite a bit. Going into the final round, it looked as if Perez had erased his two point deficit from the first round knockdown and brought things even. The action remained fairly even in the fourth until Arril wobbled Perez, in the final 5 seconds with a left-right to the head, the bell preventing any further follow-up. The scores were 38-37 x 2 and 40-35, all for Carril, who moves to 2-0, 1 KO. Perez drops his first at 3-1, 2 KOs.

Opening the show were debuting welterweight compatriots Bryan Perez of Fajardo, PR and Carlos Irizarry of Trujillo Alto, PR. Both southpaws had their moments, but Perez seemed to have more, hurting Irizarry near the end of round one, marking his face up with spearing right jabs. Both fighters jawed at each other throughout. Midway through the third, one of Irizarry’s cornermen nearly threw in the towel but the chief second stopped him. It didn’t matter. At the end of the round, Irizarry’s corner asked the ref to stop it. Winner in his pro debut by TKO at the end of three- Bryan Perez.

Super Featherweights Jose Aguirre (Arecibo, PR) and Ezequiel Tevez (Buenos Aires, Argentina) went at it in a scheduled 8 rounder. The much bigger Aguirre put a nasty red mouse under the right eye of Tevez, with stiff jabs, by the end of round one. In round two, Aguirre easily imposed his weight and will on Tevez, bludgeoning him along the ropes, Tevez wincing with the blows. A hard right to the head dropped Tevez to a knee in round three. Moments later, a second right did the trick for good. The time was 1:36 of round three. Aguirre moves to 17-0, 11 KOs, while Tevez drops to 14-9, 4 KOs.

Super lightweights William Ortiz (Bayamon, PR) and Brian Rodriguez (Mayagüez, PR) met in their pro debuts, scheduled for four rounds. It didn’t go that long as Ortiz was too fast, accurate and powerful from his southpaw stance, battering Rodriguez to the canvas in the opening frame. Rodriguez rested on one knee for the full count, matters ending at 2:05 of the first.

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