Last nite’s Showtime offering scored with a double dip pairing of unheralded
no name gladiators that came to do battle - featherweights Mario Santiago and
Cornelius Lock opened the fistic festivities in a barn burner that set the
tempo for the evening.
Lock, something of a part time practitioner at age 29, once took a two-year
hiatus when being unhappy over his first loss entered this one with a 15-2-1,
9 resumé - his ring partner Santiago a late starter to the pro game and now
at age 27, arrived with unblemished rap sheet of 12-0 with seven by knockout.
Both men worked from the port side - both showed quick hands in opening stanza
that went to the more seasoned Lock who displayed a cobra-like stinger of a
right jab. The action was fast with both having moments as they pretty much
mirrored the other in style.
Round two sees hot exchanges with Lock looking the more poised as he backed
the jab with counter right hooks and occasional left hands - Santiago showed
spirit when stung early in stanza and closed with a flurry of his own.
Candle three sees Santiago cut above and alongside the right eye -
unconfirmed, but guess is culprit a inadvertent meeting of the minds - was at
this point, Lock may have misread the road map - no longer in the sniping
mode, but opting for a fix bayonets in the trenches type scenario.
Sure enough, stanza four hints of Santiago pressure taking effect on Lock -
and then number five of the scheduled 8-rounder - Lock, no longer sharp and
accurate as he was earlier - nearing midway mark a Santiago right hook rocks
Lock and a follow up power left hand closes the show with referee Marcos
Rosales making the correct call.
Post Scripts~ Not often that a pairing of southpaws make for entertainment -
is usually messy with wild flailing and clinching etc - but this was a
classic, technical contest with a blend of boxing and punching.
Cornelius Lock: Word is the 2-year hiatus slowed a once
promising career - considering the near empty fuel tank at halfway mark of the
8-rounder hints of cheating in the conditioning department as well. Gifted in
skills … smells knockout come stanza three with Santiago cut and hurt. Should
have stayed the course with counter game.
Mario Santiago-(13-0,8): Not as smooth as Lock, but
basically a boxer-puncher, and at age 27 still young enough to snatch one of
them "Triple A" trophies out there. Good exposure last noche - and worthy of
another peek.
………………………………..........................................................................
The jr. lightweight main event proved to be a mismatch with veteran Agnaldo
Nunes (age 29) besting young 21 year-old Adalberto Borquez who repeatedly
walked into the southpaw’s more polished offerings.
The word in this one was the Borquez gaudy rap sheet of eleven stoppages in 13
pro fights translates to puncher’s chance - fact is, the kid’s positive side
can be summed up in two words - stamina and heart - but to be fair he’s also a
baby at 21, that, in this one was prematurely tossed to the proverbial wolves.
The baby attack machine showed good chin, and more importantly true grit when
late in one-sided affair was visibly damaged by power punch to solar plexus -
and somehow battled to the wire.
Closing comments ~ Nunes: At age 29 and unranked among the groupies with the
glittered straps it is unlikely a title fight is in his future - but clearly
deserves another Showtime spot against ranked opponent.
Borquez: Unsettling moment was in hearing
corner "advice" - when all was realistically down the commode - " fight back …
do not let him put you down." Clearly grounds for the kid to include walking
papers along with the stipend to his brain (idiot) trust.
Gel -
10-21-05
