Antonio Escalante did the expected with a unanimous decision win over veteran Jose Angel Beranza in the feature bout of the Telefutura “Solo-Boxeo“ FNF show from the  Castle at Park Plaza at Beantown, USA.

Escalante the quicker of the two, took control from the opening bell, and once realizing the game but out-skilled Beranza was no power punching threat, it was clean and green to the wire. 

Scoring told the proverbial rest of the story to the tune of Escalante 100-92, 98-92, 96-94 - my unofficial agreed with 98-92 in points and 8-2 under the round by round method.

Post Scripts: Escalante (16-2, 10 KOs) ~ age 22 - arrived numero seven under the WBO S/bantamweight rankings. Nice confidence booster - but convincing win or not, against made to order no-threat veteran Baranza, is still in need of serious fine tuning.      
                      Beranza (30-12, 25 KOs) ~ age 31- gave an honest effort - but in this, his 44th kept appointment, was never in the hunt. Lack of quickness one thing, but the MIA 25 KO’s in 30 wins reflected in the résumé pretty much sums his future.
                      Referee Charlie Dwyer worked a perfect game.
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Televised opener between jr. welters Jeffrey Resto and Humberto Tapia went the full scheduled eight candles with most stanzas a coin flip for the scoring judges at ringside - and was no surprise it ended via split-decision.

First it’s Tapia having the edge in rounds one and two as Resto appeared to be testing the waters - the entire second round was competed in neutral corner with Resto trapped and Tapia firing away with both hands.

Stanza three, four, five go to Resto in blistering rounds of hot exchanges - although feelings are Resto making things difficult by not using the height and reach edges - guess is the shortage of Tapia power threat encourages the game plan.

Then, following the three round Resto run, it’s Tapia time as he grabs numbers six and seven with Humberto the busier - finally numero eight and Resto with a big round as he works from the outside while landing right hand bombs - and it would turn out to be the most critical of the fight.

Scoring went Resto 77-75, 77-75 - Tapia 77-76 - my unofficial had it all square at 76-76 in points and 4-4 under round by round method.

Both club fight warriors earned a curtain call for a job that would have done justice to the yesterday small club scene with eight rounders topping the card prior to the televised era that followed.

Post Scripts: Resto (21-2, 13 KOs) ~ age 30 - good size but hasn’t learned to use it - can be countered after getting his punches off at close quarters. Too evil a weight class if defense not improved.
                    Tapia (11-6-1, 6 KOs) ~  a baby at age 22 - durable chin and matching heart is the entire game. Shortage of punching power coupled with style showed last night is not a nice omen. A step up in talent pool could be a last step.
                      Referee : Last name Oquendo - let’s leave it at that - least said the better.

GEL  -        

Questions? Comments? Write George Elsasser

2-8-2008