Juarez Dispatches Ramirez in Opening Stanza
by George Elsasser
Last noche’s ESPN2 main event saw Houston, Texas undefeated prospect Rocky
Juarez dispatching veteran Juan Carlos Ramirez in the opening stanza with a
dazzling performance that had contender scribbled all over it.
Juarez set up the first of three knockdowns with the jab and body punches before
countering a Ramirez jab with a perfectly executed straight right hand to the
jaw. Ramirez beats the count, but Juarez is quickly on top of him with a flurry
of power punches …then a second right hand on the button late in the stanza
drops the veteran once again.
The game Ramirez would get to his feet before the ten count, but is then on the
receiving end of a Juarez left hook that sets up still another barrage that
drops him for the third and last time, as referee Tony Crebs wisely calls a halt
to the affair.
The win shows Juarez remaining unblemished at 23 wins and a now 16 stoppages,
while the game Ramirez drops to 34-8, 14 KOs.
Post Scripts: Juarez ~ No sooner the eye catching performance ends, the Atlas,
Tessitore ringside duo has the 24 year old prospect prematurely knocking on the
door of featherweight champ Juan Manuel Marquez. Not quite the best news says
this neutral corner voice. The kid couldn’t have looked better last evening, the
new sneak right hand caught the eye, but how big a bomb it is remains on hold.
The recipient, Ramirez, is clearly not what he once was at prime time. Still,
the addition to the already established left-hook and body punching, is another
plus in a fast developing quality entity. My shout is the better choice would be
the Injin Chi, Scott Harrison, Gary St. Clair, Frank Archuletas to work on a
completely finished product. There’s plenty road ahead before a Marquez
showdown.
Semi-final bantamweight action that was advertised as an IBF eliminator, saw
Jorge Lacierva 26-5-5, 18 KOs facing seasoned veteran Cruz Carbajal 24-12-1, 20
by knockout.
Opening two rounds was all Lacierva who rocked Carbajal with a big right hand in
stanza one, and then had things his way during round two as he repeatedly scored
from both orthodox and port sides with superior speed.
Stanza three opens with Lacierva abandoning the outside advantage and willingly
going into the trenches with his plodding opponent - and from that point on, a
walk in the park converted to a brawl that better suited Carbajal.
Carbajal becomes busier in candle four and five, and somewhere along the line a
nasty cut opens to the right eyelid of Lacierva who then retires on his stool
following round six.
Closing Comments: Carbajal ~ At this point, what we saw is what we’ll get from a
31 year old veteran with no less than 12 debits on the résumé … walks into the
other guy’s power come what may. But much too slow of hand a feet to be anything
more than ESPN level.
Lacierva ~ Still young at 26 but the early
three rounds of nice moves and quickness quickly faded once adversity arrived.
Another entertaining fighter at the club fight level - however, neither fighter
qualifies for the pre-fite ESPN "eliminator" label with winner getting Rafael
Marquez.
