-Photo Credit: Tom Casino/Showtime-

    In a rubbermatch that was marred by another weigh in scandal, Joel Casamayor captured the vacant WBC lightweight title with a split decision victory over Diego Corrales. The fight took place in front of a packed house from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The big question going into this bout was how Corrales would look physically after what he revealed he had gone through all week. Corrales said that he had gone three days without eating, and at times on Friday felt like he would pass out. Nevertheless, Chico went on with the fight, at times looking lethargic, but for the most part looking fairly normal.    

   The opening round was slow, with both fighters coming out tentative. Casamayor was able to land a couple of left hands to the body one at a time. Corrales did stagger Casamayor backwards with a right cross late in the round. A tough round to call with little happening. Surprisingly, round two was also slow, and some boos were being heard from the crowd at the Mandalay Bay. Little happened in the round, just a lot of posturing. Casamayor was able to land a straight left midway into the round which might have won him the round.
 
    Round three was a good round for Casamayor, who started to pick up the pace, putting some punches together and landing a couple of good combos. Casamayor looked quicker and was able to land some good straight lefts upstairs.

    Casamayor came out strong to start round 4. Joel was able top get inside and land a couple of good straight lefts. But, this time Corrales came back,  this time with an answer for Casamayor when he came inside, the answer was his right cross. Corrales started to land it at the end of exchanges, punctuating the exchange. A close round, but it appeared Chico had the bigger shots.

    Two things were becoming constant in round five, Corrales was finding a home for his right hand, and Casamayor was finding a home for his straight left. Casamayor appeared to be a bit more effective in the round until the end of the round, when referee Kenny Bayless called a knockdown to Casamayor on what appeared to have been a push or a slip. This infuriated Casamayor as the round ended.

    Casamayor came out angry to start round six and became even angrier after a headbutt at the beginning of the round. The headbutt opened a small cut on Corrales' right eye. Casamayor erupted with explosive combinations that Corrales had little answer for. Casamayor looked quicker and more energetic in this round.

     Round seven was a tight round with both fighters having brief moments. Casamayor came out early and looked solid. Joel was able to get inside and get out before Chico could answer. Corrales came back later in the round,  stalking a little bit and landing some good right hands. A tight round, probably in Casamayor's favor.

    Round eight was another good for Casamayor, who was able to stagger Corrales twice with short left hands while in close. Again, Corrales had trouble countering the quicker Casamayor. Corrales became more aggressive in round nine and began to stalk Casamayor more. Early in the round, Corrales shot a strong right cross as Casamayor was backing up.  Casamayor got back to what he was doing best: sticking and moving. Joel landed a solid left hook followed up by a right hand. He also landed a solid 1-2 to the body, and got out before Chico could land. Another fairly close round, but Casamayor's speed seemed too much for Corrales.

    Corrales came back strong in round ten, throwing and landing his left hand more often. He began the round strong, landing a crunching overhand right. Later on as Casamayor was moving around, Chico figured he could catch him with his left hand and he did just that. Casamayor did close strong with a couple of hard lefts, and he played to the crowd to end the round.

    Corrales looked a little lethargic in round eleven and Casamayor took advantage,  pounding away at his slower opponent. Midway into the round Casamayor landed his best punch of the fight, a straight left hand to the chin which snapped Corrales' head back. A good round all around for Casamayor.

    The final round was close with neither fighter doing much. Corrales landed a few decent shots, and Casamayor got a few potshots in late. The fight went to the scorecards, with Casamayor winning by split decision by the scores of 113-114,115-112, and  116-111. BRC scored the fight 114-113 for Casamayor. At press row the scores varied, with some like myself having the fight very close, and others having Casamayor winning big.

   After the fight both fighters seemed the best of friends as they praised each other over and over. Casamayor, who was full of jubilation didn't say too much, because his team wanted him to go to the hospital. But, he did say before leaving that Corrales is a gentleman, and a great champion. Corrales then came in looking dejected after a truly taxing week. He stepped to the podium and said, "Well, it's been a chaotic week to say the least." He went on further about the weigh-in fiasco saying, "If people can forgive Castillo for cheating the scale the second time, then hopefully they can forgive me." He added, "Yes, it's a disgrace and a black eye to Boxing, something that I never wanted to give boxing, and I'm willing to accept whatever punishment." When asked about his future Corrales said, " I'm going to go home and take some time and just think." When asked whether the weight loss efforts affected his performance, Chico responded, "I felt fine all night, I did what I planned to do, and had no doubts that I could go 12 rounds."    

   In the semi-main event, IBF flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan easily defended his title with a six round technical decision victory over challenger Glenn Donaire. The bout was halted midway into the sixth round after a clash of heads. The opening round was your usual feel out round. Donaire was looking to counter, and as usual Darchinyan was stalking. Darchinyan landed a few solid lefts late in the round, and Donaire was able to counter twice with right hands. Darchinyan closed the round strong landing a solid straight left hand to the cheek.

    The second round was all Darchinyan, with the exception of a few solid counters by Donaire early. Darchinayn hammered away up and downstairs with left hands. Late in the round, Darchinyan landed a flush left uppercut, which backed Donaire up. Darchinyan closed strong landing a hard left cross, which had Donaire shaking his head. Darchinyan was again in control in round three, as Donaire seemed content to just play defense. Darchinyan hacked away at Donaire with hard overhand chopping left hands. Darchinyan seemed confident that Donaire couldn't hurt him as he constantly walked right into Donaire.

    Darchinyan's assault started to get to Donaire in round four. Darchinyan continued to walk into Donaire and pound away. Late in the round, Darchinyan finally dropped Donaire with a short right hand. Donaire beat the count and the round ended. Donaire at this point was doing little offensively with the exception of an occasional counter right hand. More importantly, he was doing nothing to disrupt the always charging Darchinyan. Round five was more of the same as Darchinyan continued to chop away with little resistance from Donaire.

    Round six was more of the same until midway into the round, when both fighters'  heads clashed. Referee Tony Weeks then brought Donaire over to see the ringside doctor and the fight was called off. Donaire suffered an injury to his jaw, which forced the stoppage. At 1:27 of round six the fight went to the cards where there were no doubts, Darchinyan won on all cards by the scores of 60-53. Darchinyan defends his IBF crown for the fifth time and improves to 27-0,  while Donaire falls to 16-3-1. After the fight, Darchinyan was upset that he wasn't credited with a KO, feeling that the headbutt never occurred, and that the cut came from a elbow.      

   There were three other bouts on the Corrales-Casamayor undercard. In a Ten round featherweight bout, Eduardo Escobedo cruised to a shutout unanimous decision victory over Manuel Perez. Perez, the younger fighter with less experience, showed a lot of heart but could do little against Escobedo, who seemed to really turn it on late. Escobedo improves to 17-2, while Perez of Denver, falls to 6-2.   

   In a 12 round super flyweight bout, Nonito Donaire, brother of Glenn, pounded out a dominating unanimous decision victory over journeyman Oscar Andrade. Donaire was quicker and slicker as he punished the game Andrade for 12 rounds. Andrade had his moments as he took advantage of some wild moments by Donaire, and was constantly active. Donaire would end up winning by scores of 118-109,116-111 and 116-111 .With the win, Donaire wins the NABF super flyweight title, and improves to 16-1, while Andrade falls to 34-25-1.  

   In the opening bout of the evening, former IBF super bantamweight champion Jorge Lacierva knocked out Leivi Brea with one hard shot in the fifth round at 1:18 of a scheduled 10 round super Bantamweight bout. Lacierva got off to a slow start but turned it on high in the fifth round. Lacierva, hoping to get back in the title picture,  improves to 30-6-6 with the win. Brea of the Dominican Republic falls to 15-4-2.
 

10-07-2006