Former WBC super welterweight champion Jermell Charlo (32-1, 16 KOs) scored a devastating third round KO over Jorge Cota (28-4, 25 KOs) on Sunday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. In round three, Charlo dropped Cota, who beat the count but was then almost immediately laid out. Time was 2:14. This was Charlo’s first fight since suffering his first career loss to Tony Harrison last December. Charlo was originally scheduled to battle Harrison in a rematch until an injury forced Harrison out of the bout and Cota stepped in.
In a WBC super bantamweight elimination bout between former world champions, Guillermo Rigondeaux (19-1, 13 KOs) scored an exciting eighth round TKO over Julio Ceja (32-3, 28 KOs). It was a very rugged fight with Rigo and Ceja both more than willing to brawl. Both were deducted points for low blows in round eight by referee Russell Mora. Rigo then dropped Ceja with a huge left hand. Ceja beat the count, but Mora waved it off. Time was 2:59.
Unbeaten super welterweight prospect Joey Spencer (8-0, 6 KOs) had all he could handle with very tough Akeem Black (5-3, 2 KOs) in a six round unanimous decision. Scores were 59-55 3x.
Unbeaten lightweight Chris Colbert (12-0, 4 KOs) hammered out an eight round unanimous decision over Alberto Mercado (16-3-1, 3 KOs). Scores were 80-72 3x.
Unbeaten welterweight KO artist Jesús Ramos (10-0, 9 KOs) went the distance for the first time against a very determined Kevin Shacks (3-4-3, 3 KOs). Scores were 40-36 3x.
total ripoff. Rig is a cheater who was on the verge of getting stopped or at least beaten handily. The Mexican was fighting beautifully. He did not hit his head. He never lost consciousness. He got up presented his gloves and did what he was supposed to. The ref who had let Rig fou;l the Mex four times with warning, but no point ded…until Mex started hitting equally low…I say the fix was c;learly in. ALL real fans agree. Lennox and Goosen should whimper away. This is a travesty.
Too many premature stoppages with so little time left in the rounds.
I agree completely.
Tough when a fighters safety is at risk, but close to end of the round he got up quick, had been more than holding his own! Poor judgement by the referee! If this guy had been reffing Wilder Fury…….
Rigondeaux was trading punches with Ceja but he just wasn’t active enough. Ceja was outworking him and landed a lot of clean shots. Rigo was willing to fight in the trenches but took a lot of punches in this fight. A sign of an aging fighter is the inability to pull the trigger. He often just stood there and absorbed punch after punch without throwing back. He never seemed to hurt Ceja until his opponent slowed down and he landed a clean left hand to the jaw. I thought he could have fought on but the ref stopped the fight. Probably a premature stoppage, but I’m not the one looking in the fighter’s eyes.
As for Joey Spencer, he didn’t look ready for Black, much less a title shot. At this point, he just doesn’t look like contender material to me. He threw a lot of punches in the first round then quit punching and let the opponent take the play away from him. He was gassed by the end of the 3rd and seemed to be on unsteady legs the rest of the fight. He sure took a lot of clean shots in the fight. Back to the drawing board for him.
I had a feeling Cota wasn’t going to last long in the fight once it started. He was awkward and Charlo was being extremely careful with his defense. However, once Charlo loosened up, he was able to tag Cota in one of the exchanges and knocked him down. The fight could have been stopped right then, but he got up to take an even better right hand to end the fight. A good fight for Charlo, but doesn’t really tell us how he’ll do against Harrison. Harrison has a great left jab and when he lets his hands go is extremely effective. I thought he wasn’t busy enough in the first fight and Charlo should have won the decision. We’ll see what happens in the rematch.
Rigo is done. Loma finished him.
age,rigo is over 40 years old.i used to wach him in cuba,the best we ever had.
100% Rigo’s career has been woefully mismanaged due to him not being American and lacking marketability outside the ring. If he was given more opportunities when he was in his fighting prime (early 30s) and actually fought guys his size (i.e., not Loma) he would be an undefeated legend. P4P the most skillful professional boxer I have ever seen. As it stands, his time has finally run out. He is still very good but age has diminished his reflexes and taken his legs. He will get RJJ’d if he continues to march with the killers.
The Tour de France is over! Rigondeaux decided to hang the bicycle and fight in a more marketable way. Time’s running out for him and at 38 he needs to fight more often and get some big money fights at soon is possible, and what better way than this risky approach that makes him looks vulnerable and less complicated? There are at least 4 money fights for him at 122, being my favorite an eventual encounter with Daniel Roman and I won’t mind Emanuel Navarrete too.
More likely pretty shot than trying to be more marketable. Nobody would get hit that much on purpose.
Agreed.
Unimpressed by both wins. Rigo showed his legs were gone by having to fight in a phone booth against an opponent that he would have stood in the pocket and made miss with quick and deft footwork. He doesn’t have those legs anymore so he’s a sitting duck for big punchers. As for Charlo, he did what he was supposed to do against a guy who got knocked out by a guy he ko’d in the first round. Big deal!
Fun card top to bottom!
Quick notes: despite wide score, Spencer was life and death against Black. His defense sucks! He’s a long way from contention, so he and his team better go back to the drawing board and figure out the defensive side of the game.
Rigo vs Ceja was a very fun fight. Stoppage was a little quick, but my takeaway is that Rigo’s legs are shot. He should retire before he faces a big puncher.
Jermell took care of the late sub in spectacular fashion. No surprise, but it was still a good watch.