The MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas Nevada was the site for tonight's HBO PPV fight card. The night opened with WBO minimum weight champion Ivan "Iron Boy" Calderon putting his title on the line against Roberto Leyva.  Calderon who stand's at a five foot even used his speed throughout the bout to keep the much slower Levya away. To Levya's credit he did his best to get inside but Calderon's speed was too much to overcome. Calderon slipped many of Levya's punches and used his legs to get away from his opponent's attack. Calderon, who only has 4 knockouts in 19 bouts, did not have the power to hurt Levya. However, Levya who owns 20 knockouts in 23 bouts was never able to set up and land the power punches he wanted to. In the end Calderon gave Levya a boxing lesson cruising to a unanimous decision with all three judges scoring the bout 116-112. Ivan "Iron Boy" Calderon improves his record to 20-0 (4 KO's) while Roberto Levya drops to 23-4 (20 KO's).

 

 

 

 

The second bout of the night featured the son of legendary Mexican fighter Julio Cesar Chavez against late replacement Jason Smith. Chavez worked well behind his jab while landing brutal shots to Smith's body. Chavez continued to work the jab and body attack throughout the four round bout wobbling Smith on two occasions, once at the end of the first round with a big left hook and again at the end of the second round with a straight left hand to Smith's face. The straight left hand turned Smith's nose into a bloody mess for the final two rounds. Despite the massive amount of blood from Smith's nose and being completely outclassed he decided to continue to fight, offering the best he could. When the final bell rang it was obvious that Chavez Jr. was simply the more talented man in the ring. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. pitched a shutout on all three judges’ cards with the scores of 40-36. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.'s record now stands at 10-0 (5 KO's) while Jason Smith falls to 4-4 (2 KO's).

 

 

The co-main event featured IBF Bantamweight champion Rafael Marquez against Heriberto "El Cuate" Ruiz. The opening round was a feeling out round for both fighters as they threw mainly jabs trying to set something up.  The second round was almost a repeat of the first as both fighters fought at a slow pace still trying to figure one another out. The third round would start like the previous two until Rafael Marquez unleashed a short right uppercut that connected to  Ruiz’s head sending him crashing to the canvas face first. Referee Tony Weeks waved the fight off immediately.  The time of the knockout came at 2:11 of the third round. Rafael Marquez keeps his IBF title and improves his record to 31-3 (28 KO's) while Heriberto Ruiz drops to 31-3-2 (14 KO's).

 

 

 

The main event featured super featherweight champions Erik Morales who holds the WBC title against IBF champion Carlos Hernandez. Morales who holds a nearly seven inch reach advantage over Hernandez chose to fight Hernandez's fight on the inside for most of the fight. It became clear early that Morales was the superior of the two fighters, landing the sharper punches. Hernandez who fights in one gear and that’s forward constantly came right at Morales eating leather from Morales punches to land his own.

 

When Morales fought from the outside he completely dominated Hernandez keeping him at the end of his jab. When the fight was fought at close quarters Hernandez would unleash barrages of punches that simply did not have the steam behind them to hurt Morales. Even when the fight was being fought in close quarters Morales would still get the better of Hernandez landing the harder blows.

 

To Hernandez's credit he consistently came forward no matter what Morales dished out.  Morales would suffer small cuts over both eyes due to head butts, but he was never bothered by them throughout the fight.

 

Morales and Hernandez both came out swinging in the final round. Erik who was clearly ahead on the cards chose to fight rather than cruise through the round. When the final bell rang it was obvious that Morales was the winner and all three judges agreed, scoring the bout 119-109 twice and surprisingly 115-113 all in favor of Erik Morales. Morales now holds the WBC and IBF Super Featherweight titles and improves his record to 47-1 (34 KO's) while Carlos Hernandez drops to 40-4-1 (24 KO's)