By Sonee Thompson
Another exciting edition of Golden Boy Promotions Boxing Series went down in Sunrise, Florida last night. Pauli Malignaggi was there to cover the action for Fox Sports 1 and other celebrities sprinkled the crowd. All were there to see the undefeated Jermell Charlo ranked as the No.14 light middleweight in the world, with a record of 22-0-0 (11 knockouts) dismantle Jose Angel Rodriguez 17-3-1 (2 knockouts). Jermell Charlo said his trainer Ronnie Shields had “high expectations” for him that evening. Pressure… But not for the undefeated youngster with the equally promising twin.
In the opening rounds Charlo and Rodriguez felt each other out, Charlo being guided by the steady and intense barking of elite coach Shields saying “Be first! Be first!”. Charlo set the pace and Rodriguez followed. Charlo showed his agile footwork by rattling off combinations mostly upstairs, then pivoting out of the target zone. Rodriguez tried countering with a right hook but it seemed that Charlo always saw it coming.
Things started to heat up around round five when the assault on Rodriguez intensified – his eyes and face swelling. Round 8 is when Charlo initiated the shutdown campaign but Rodriguez and his titanium chin had other ideas. You could see the determination and frustration on Charlo’s face combo after combo almost in disbelief that this man was not on the canvas and refused to go down. Rodriguez continued to try to wrestle his way inside but Charlo was just as stubborn and though Rodriguez clocked him with a lead left in the beginning of the ninth that just seemed to further fuel Charlo’s ire.
Round 10 everything came to a boil about 30 seconds into the round as Charlo sought to end it and Rodriguez was intent to stand. Charlo let loose his hands with an avalanche of power punches that would send the normal competitor to the ER – then a one-two uppercut combo forced an 8 count by ref Sam Burgos. Charlo had jumped on the ropes thinking the fight was done and jumped down just in time to rejoin the action. Charlo came back like a freight train as Rodriguez slumped over and took it and Burgos was sleepwalking. The fight was over at 1:00 not 1:41. Late stoppage in my opinion. It was hard to watch the last 30 seconds of brutality Charlo was forced to exert to end the fight with a TKO – and STILL undefeated junior middleweight and slugger on the rise, Jermell Charlo.
Now let’s talk about Errol Spence Jr. and his very bright future. He took on worthy opponent, Ghana native Emmanuel Lartey. Not to be confused with Quartey (Ike). In the opening round Spence clobbered Lartey with an overhand left that caused Lartey to grab Spence’s leg to stay up. Spence’s body shots were punishing and delivered with a “walkdown” mentality. Step around and punch. Step around and punch. Though Lartey had some bright and gutsy moments and decent defense, the consistency and accuracy of Spence was hard to mitigate.
In the latter rounds Spence continued to execute the jab followed by a solid left cross taking Lartey to the ropes continually. Lartey actually tried to recreate the same punches on Spence but they had no substance and bounced off Spence without damage.
In the seventh Spence went off on a sixty second clip of power shots and combos until Lartey landed his own right cross on the chin of Spence that momentarily stunned him. Lartey also showed some fire in the last round with desperate haymakers and looping punches but the damage had been done with all three judges scoring 79-73 in favor of Spence. This kid has quite a future ahead if he stays healthy.
Former amateur world champion and three-time Olympian Rau’shee Warren (8-0, 3 KOs) of Cincinnati claimed a round 4 UD Colombian Jhon Molina (30-25-3, 19 KOs) in the super-bantamweight class. Warren walked in with current WBA welterweight champion and fellow Cincinnati native Adrien Broner. Warren toppled Molina with a left hand in the first round, and a set of stinging jabs that kept Molina ducking and firing back. A contact lens went flying from Warren’s right eye early on but it was recovered and the action continued. Warren’s attack on Molina intensified with heavy handed head and body shots. The bout ended with 40-35 scores from all three ringside judges.
Unbeaten welterweight Willie Jones (2-0, 2 KOs) remained unbeaten and showed his boxing prowess with an “on the money” left uppercut to the body of opponent Jose Angel Segura (2-5-2, 1 KO). Jones went back to the well again with the landed the same punch and the latter took Segura to one knee and then keel over in excruciating pain. Referee Frank Santore Jr. halted the action at an official time of just 56 seconds into the first round.
Twenty-year old welterweight Martin Lagunas (1-0, 1 KO) who you have seen in the background of my Keith Thurman videos made short work of opponent Larry Yanez (3-7-2) during Lagunas’ pro debut from the BB&T Center in Sunrise during tonight’s Golden Boy Promotions card. Lagunas let the hands go issuing repetitive right hands and left hooks to the head during the scheduled four-round contest. Though Yanez was taller, he couldn’t contain the power and aggression of Lagunas. The climax was when a barrage of punches sent Yanez face-first through the ring ropes. Referee Sam Burgos waved it off at 1:56 of the second round.
Noteworthy on the night: Pauli and Adrien co existed in the same room without confrontation.
Antonio Tarver says he is on track to become the Heavyweight champ of the world and that “He is serious”. Let’s just start with November 26, 2013 and Mike Sheppard.
