By: Jeff Townsend, Boxing writer
Bayareasportsdrive.com
7-16-09
Ricardo Cortes (23-3-1, 16 KOs)
of San Jose, California needed a win in a comeback fight against James
Buggs (8-10-3) of Oakland, California and that is exactly what happened
at the HP Pavilion on Thursday night. All that was needed was three
rounds in this middleweight match-up before Cortes was back to his
winning ways.
If any venue could be
considered a home court for a fighter, then the HP Pavilion in San Jose,
California clearly fits that definition. Cortes has fought here 14
times since he began his professional boxing career back in 2000.
Cortes was escorted to the ring by two local fighters, MMA fighter Josh
‘The Punk’ Thomson and Carina Moreno, while the crowd gave him a loud
ovation. Fighting in an action-oriented style, Cortes has given the
local fight fans many exciting nights of ring action.
Even though Cortes was facing a
fighter with a less than stellar record (more losses than wins and no
KOs), this was an important fight for him. Cortes had lost his last two
fights in dramatic fashion, being knocked out in both fights. Cortes
was knocked out in the second round against James Kirkland in September
of last year, which occurred right after being knocked out in the first
round by Alfredo Angulo in February of 2008. Ten months had gone past
since the Kirkland fight and this was to serve as Cortes’ comeback.
Cortes
came out in an aggressive manner in the first round, looking intent on
showing that he still had the talent to be a force in boxing. Cortes
landed a hard right hand to Buggs’ chin midway through the first round,
causing Buggs to slightly stumble into the ropes. Since Buggs would
have gone down to the canvas if it wasn’t for the ropes, the referee
stepped in and gave him a standing 8 count.
Cortes seemed to have a
strategy of constantly applying pressure to his opponent any way that he
could. In the second round, Cortes focused more on a body attack,
landing some hard shots to the 38-year-old body of his opponent. The
body shots were clearly affecting the older fighter. Later in the
round, Buggs landed a low blow which caused Cortes to dance around a bit
in order to shake off any lingering pain.
Buggs landed another low blow
in the beginning of the third round but it was more of a glancing blow.
The action resumed and it was not long before Cortes landed a hard right
hand to the head of Buggs. Right after the punch landed, Buggs put his
glove to his eye and was clearly hurt. Turning his back slightly to
Cortes, Buggs gave Cortes an opportunity to take him out. Cortes
followed up with a barrage of punches which forced the referee to stop
the fight in the later part of the third round.
Undercard
Results
All of the undercard fights were
scheduled for four rounds and were very evenly matched which provided
for a lot of exciting fights.
In what could have been
considered the co-main event, junior middleweight Tony Hirsch (9-2-1, 5
KOs) of Oakland, CA defeated Francisco Garcia (5-3, 4 KOs) of Los
Angeles, CA via first round TKO. Hirsch landed some hard right hands
that put Garcia on the ropes and in a defensive mode. Garcia had taken
some hard shots but the fight was stopped earlier than it should have
been.
Super middleweight Fernando
Barajas (5-2, 1 KO) of San Leandro, CA picked up the first knockout of
his career by stopping Pedro Rios (0-1) of Berkeley, CA via 3rd
round TKO.
Claudia Gutierrez (1-1) of
Chico, CA was awarded a unanimous decision in a four rounder contested
at 115 pounds against Michelle Nelson (1-2) of Saskatchewan, Canada.
Junior featherweight Juan Topoz
(2-1) of Santa Rosa, CA defeated Jonathan Alcantara (0-1-1) of Novato,
CA via split decision.
Junior middleweight Clint
Coronel (1-0-1, 1 KO) of San Jose, CA won his first professional fight
via a 3rd round TKO against Tony Juarez (0-3) of Yuba City,
CA.
Welterweights Maurice
Slade (0-2-1) of San Jose, CA and John Dunham (0-4-1) of Stockton, CA
fought to a technical draw. The fight was stopped in the 2nd
round due to a cut caused by an accidental headbutt.
Attendance was
2,841 for the latest installment of the American Metal & Iron’s Fight
Night at the Tank in San Jose, California.
Email Jeff with questions or comments at
jtownsend@bayareasportsdrive.com
