By Ian S Palmer
There’s a good 10-round junior lightweight bout on tap in Florida this Saturday, Sept. 11th on the undercard of the Evander Holyfield vs Vitor Belfort event on Triller pay-per-view. Jono Carroll of Dublin, Ireland will be taking on Andy Vences of Watsonville, California in what should be an action-packed bout. Carroll last fought in March when he stopped Romic Airapetean after four rounds while Vences last saw action in July of last year when he dropped a 10-round split decision to Luis Alberto Lopez Vargas.
Carroll is a 29-year-old southpaw who climbs through the ropes with a mark of 19-2-1 with just 5 Kos. He turned pro back in 2012 and has boxed 147 rounds since. He won the Lightweight Title in the British Prizefighter tournament in 2014 by beating Michael Devine. He’s beaten the likes of Declan Geraghty, Gary Buckland, Stephen Foster and Barrington Brown and beat John Quigley by a 12-round split decision in 2017 to win the vacant IBF European Super Featherweight Title.
He then beat Humberto de Santiago by third-round TKO to capture the vacant IBF Inter-Continental Super Featherweight Crown and defended it against Geraghty by ninth-round stoppage. His biggest battle was against Tevin Farmer in 2019 when Farmer still held the IBF Super Featherweight Title. Carroll put up a good fight but dropped a unanimous decision.
Carroll bounced back with a 10-round unanimous decision over Eleazar Valenzuela and stopped Scott Quigg in the 11th round in his next outing in 2020. His second defeat then came at the hands of Maxi Hughes via a close 10-round unanimous decision in August of last year. His lone draw was a 12-round affair with Guillaume Frenois in 2018.
Carroll doesn’t have much in the way of power with a current knockout ratio of just 22.7 per cent. He has a solid chin though and a fine work ethic. He stands 5-feet-7-inches tall with an unlisted reach and enjoyed a pretty good amateur career before turning pro.
Vences is now 30 years old and carries around a record of 23-2-1 with 12 Kos. He has average power with a current knockout ratio of 46.2 per cent and has boxed 138 rounds since making his pro debut in 2012. Before that he also had a good amateur career but was beaten by Toka Khan Clary, Gary Allan Russell and Amir Inam. At just over 5-feet-8-inches tall and with a 72-inch reach, Vences is 1.5-inches taller than Carroll.
Vences has lost two of his last three fights as his first defeat came at the hands of Albert Bell by 10-round unanimous decision in June, 2019 when he lost the WBC Continental Americas super Featherweight Title. He had won the vacant belt in 2016 against Casey Ramos. He also fought for the the vacant WBO International Super Featherweight Crown in 2018 against Erik De Leon but that bout ended in a 10-round draw.
Prediction…
It’s hard to give Carroll a puncher’s chance here because he lacks power but he has stopped two of his last three opponents. He’s going to have to outwork and outbox Vences and that won’t be an easy task as both boxers always lay everything on the line. This should be a rather close and entertaining fight and is a bit of a tossup but I give Carroll the slight edge.
