Ricardo Cortes, Carina Moreno Both Score KO Wins
By:
Jeff Townsend 11-11-07
Boxing writer, Bayareasportsdrive.com
Email Jeff with questions or comments at
jtownsend@bayareasportsdrive.com
Cortes Knocks Down Onyango 3 Times & Gets the KO Win in the 2nd Round
San
Jose’s Ricardo Cortes looked very impressive in knocking down his opponent three
times within two rounds to take home his 15th career knockout win.
Cortes was implementing a lot of changes to his boxing career and they all
seemed to pay off. This was his first fight under a new trainer (Joel Diaz), a
new promoter (Goossen-Tutor) and a new weight division (junior middleweight).
Once it seemed like Onyango had spent more time on the canvas than standing and fighting, the referee was forced to call an end to the main event of the evening near the end of the second round. Ricardo Cortes improved to 22-1-1 (15 KOs) while Joshua Onyango, originally from Kenya, fell to 13-14 (11 KOs) in a scheduled ten round middleweight bout at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.
Cortes started the fight working behind his stiff jab which made it difficult for Onyango to be effective. At the very end of the first round, Cortes landed a hard left hook-right hand combination that put Onyango on the canvas. Onyango was clearly hurt and stayed away from Cortes for the final 10 seconds of the round.
Cortes started the second round right where he had left off in the first by landing a hard body shot that momentarily hurt Onyango. Cortes realized that his opponent was hurt and continued with an aggressive style. It was not long before Cortes threw a clubbing right hand that put Onyango down for a second time in the fight. Onyango rose from the canvas to easily beat the count but it was clear that he was overmatched and would have a difficult time beating Cortes on this night.
Cortes
jumped on Onyango, throwing a number of wide punches before connecting with a
left hook-right hand combination that knocked down Onyango for a third time in
the fight. Onyango slowly rose on clearly unsteady legs to make the count but
the referee mercifully stopped the fight at 2:31 of the second round.
Cortes came into this fight at 156 pounds, weighing the lightest he has ever weighed for a professional fight. He started his career at super middleweight (168), fighting the great majority of his fights at this weight level. For his last two fights, Cortes has weighed in exactly at the middleweight limit of 160. Before this fight with Onyanyo, Cortes stated that he was officially moving down to junior middleweight (154). The weight loss was evident, as Cortes looked to be in great shape while his power is clearly still there via the knockout he scored against Onyango.
Even though Onyango came into this fight with 13 losses, he is usually a durable journeyman that has gone the distance with several top-level fighters such as Paul Williams, Yuri Foreman and Terrance Cauthen. Cortes’ dismantling of Onyango shows that he appears to be a real contender in whatever weight division he fights at.
Moreno Dismantles Kelly in Two Rounds
WBC
Female Minimumweight champion Carina Moreno (photo-left-right-red-white trunks)
(15-1, 5 KOs) of Watsonville, California showcased her impressed boxing skills
with a stoppage win against Emily Kelly (2-3-1, 1 KO) of Houston, Texas in a
scheduled six round non-title bout in the co-main event.
At the opening bell, it looked like Moreno might have a difficult fight in front of her since Kelly had a several inch height advantage on her. However, Moreno began the fight in her trademark high-energy style, throwing a lot of punches and moving around the ring effectively.
Moreno always seemed to be throwing punches, coming after her opponent with precise punches in a stalking manner. Moreno really stepped it up in the second round by landing an effective combination early in the round. She followed that up with some solid head shots that clearly hurt Kelly. By the end of the round, Kelly was clinching and seemed to be breathing hard through her mouth.
After the second round ended, the ringside doctor came over to Kelly’s corner and decided that she had had enough. The fight was stopped right then, with Kelly still sitting on her stool. Through it all, Kelly had no answer for Moreno’s non-stop pressure and landed very few good punches in the two round fight. Moreno added another win to her record, giving her five stoppages in 15 wins.
It was clear that Kelly was overmatched from watching this fight and her boxing career illustrates this point even more. Kelly is 37 years old and only turned pro a year and a half ago. Boxing is a tough sport that rewards speed and quickness which would make it extremely difficult for anyone to begin such a career at 36 years of age.
As they say, ‘Good things come in small packages’. This statement definitely applies to Moreno who is 5’2” and usually comes in at 108 pounds and has weighed as little as 103 for a fight. Moreno’s biggest challenge going forward will be to find quality opponents in her weight class. However, she may be forced to fight above her best weight in order to get a big money fight.
Moreno is a real talent whose future appears very promising. Her only loss was a technical decision that went against her when her opponent was badly cut via an accidental headbutt and the fight was stopped. She is scheduled to defend her WBC Minimumweight title on December 6 at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California against an unnamed opponent.
Undercard Results
Tomas Barragan (8-2-1, 1 KO) won a unanimous decision over Cuauhtemoc Mendoza (3-4-1, 1 KO) in a bloody four round junior lightweight fight that Barragan clearly deserved to win. Barragan knocked down Mendoza with a hard straight left hand in just the first minute of the fight. Mendoza regrouped until he was hit with another hard left hand in the second round that caused him to stumble back.
A cut opened up over Mendoza’s left eye sometime in the second round and it really started to bleed in the third. It seemed likely that the fight would be stopped in the third round due to the blood flow but the action continued. With the bleeding contained by the fourth round, Mendoza finally became effective and landed some good body shots. All three judges scored the fight 39-36 for Barragan.
Attendance was 3,548 for the last event for 2007 of the American Metal and Iron Fight Night at the Tank fight series at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.
Email Jeff with questions or comments at jtownsend@bayareasportsdrive.com
American Metal & Iron Fight Night at the Tank Photo Gallery 11/10/07