Juan Diaz's nickname "The Baby Bull" was never
more true than in his WBA Lightweight title defense
against grizzled veteran Billy Irwin. Diaz looked like
a bull as he burrowed into Irwin on the ropes and
pounded away at Irwin for 8 1/2 rounds until referee
Earl Morgan finally halted the beating.. Diaz's 2nd title defense was the main event in
ESPN2's Friday night Main Events special.
The night before the fight, Diaz had left his WBA
Championship belt in the car he would be taking to the
Reliant Arena in Houston, Texas. Diaz awoke to find two
shattered windows in the car and the belt stolen. Was
this a bad omen for his title fight on Friday night?
NO!! Before the fight, Irwin had said that this would
be his final fight, win or lose. The tough
veteran came into the fight with a 40-5 record, and
had lost in his one prior title shot to Paul Spadafora
in 2000. He had never been KO'd before this fight. He
was tough, and took a beating, but never gave Diaz
much of a fight on Friday night.
Once again fighting in his hometown of
Houston, Texas Diaz didn't disappoint the home crowd.
The young phenom looked impressive, going right at Irwin from the opening bell,
showcasing his great left hook often.
The
first round would be a carbon copy of pretty much
every round, as Diaz got Irwin on the ropes and
pounded away, with Irwin throwing the occasional shot.
Diaz just kept throwing hook after hook, and mixed up
body and head shots well. In the second round, Diaz
dropped Irwin with a left hook. Diaz furthered the
onslaught in round three, as he staggered Irwin on
three separate occasions, Irwin again showed courage
as he absorbed a lot of punishment. Irwin was a sitting
duck all night, as he laid against the ropes and
showed little head movement.
Diaz continued this onslaught until finally in the
ninth round, referee Earl Morgan mercifully halted the
fight. Irwin had significant swelling over his right
eye. Morgan stopped the fight as Diaz was wailing away
at Irwin, who was not responding with any punches.
Irwin did not seem at all upset or disappointed in the
stoppage, and could have probably happened earlier.
Diaz defends his title by TKO at 1:27 of round nine.
After the fight Irwin complained that he didn't feel
strong at all as he suffered from the flu all week.
The other televised fight on ESPN2's Main Events
special was a intriguing heavyweight fight between
undefeated 2000 U.S. Olympian Calvin Brock, and
Clifford "The Black Rhino" Etienne. Brock came into
the fight undefeated with 23-0 record with 19KOs, but
his knock had been that he had not fought anybody.
Etienne a tough veteran, who has been in the ring with
some good heavyweights, and beaten some of them, was
the step up that Brock was looking for. Etienne was
hoping this fight would help erase the memory of his
1st round knockout loss to Mike Tyson, and springboard
him back into the heavyweight picture. It was Brock
who didn't disappoint.
The first round was pretty close, your typical
feeling out round. The fireworks began in round two,
Brock landed back to back overhand rights that dropped
Etienne, but Etienne came back strong to cap the
round. Etienne landed a string of chopping right hands
and left hooks to close the round with a flurry. Brock
came back strong in round three, as he took back
control of the fight, if there was any doubt. A short
left hook followed up by a straight right dropped
Etienne again. Etienne beat the count, but Brock
landed a hard right hand behind the ear, which dropped
Etienne again, and prompted referee Lawrence Cole to
stop the fight to the dismay of Etienne, who had
easily beaten the count.
Brock won by third round TKO at 1:25 of round
three. A impressive win for Brock, who stepped up in competition, and did so very successfully. Brock's
confidence was soaring after the fight, as he
challenged any heavyweight out there. A nice win for
Brock, and again Etienne's chin showed just how
suspect it is.
