By Nick Bellafatto Ringside
In the main event of the evening on a special edition of ShoBox “The Next Generation” from the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California, Cory “The Next Generation” Spinks (39-7, 11 KO’s) of St. Louis, Missouri wouldn’t fare well at all. Falling short in his attempt to regain the IBF 154 pound title from the man who took it from him back in August of 2010, Cornelius “K9″ Bundrage (32-4, 19 KO’s) of Detroit, Michigan would finish matters in the seventh round courtesy of his money right hand.
As a matter of fact, he would knock Spinks down with that same right hand on three separate occasions in the seventh and final round, of which the challenger would subsequently rise to his feet each time, only to see referee Ray Corona call a halt to the bout to prevent Cory from receiving further punishment. The official time was 2:32.
“K9” would set the tone from the get go, landing a thudding overhand right to drop the St. Louis native in the very first round, so that Cory would from that point forward look to either outbox his opponent from a distance, or tie up on the inside to prevent the stronger champion from working, a strategy which made for an ugly fight in many an instance.
And even though Spinks would have his moments where he looked to outwork his adversary to perhaps get the nod on the judges scorecards in a couple of the rounds, it was evident that his punches had not the force to deter Bundrage who would look to bide his time in an effort to eventually land the big shots.
That power would no doubt find the mark, as Cory in not reacting defensively would eat a right hand full force to initially put him down in the seventh, after which the challenger could neither find a place to hide, nor was he able to hang on to thwart the inevitable.
Good win for a good man in Cornelius Bundrage who’s been on the shelf collecting dust for the most part while under contract with Don King. Fighting a total of four times in nearly three years, Cornelius, a free agent of sorts now that he is no longer affiliated with Don King Productions, is along with famed trainer Emmanuel Steward looking to get busy and land some big paydays. That big payday could very well come in the form of Bundrage facing Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on September 15th should Golden Boy be interested in putting that fight together.
Golden Boy Promotions is no doubt excited at the prospect of putting on big fights in the junior middleweight division considering that they bought the rights to the Spinks-Bundrage fight in the first place. And in light of the fact the GBP may not be willing to put Mexican box office smash “Canelo” Alvarez in just yet with the likes of an Erislandy Lara or Austin Trout, the dog from Detroit could very well figure in the mix.
No doubt interested, Team Bundrage is quite pleased with what Oscar & Company are already doing as there seems to be a junior middleweight tournament of sorts already in progress. On board to further capture the attention of the boxing public, the reigning and defending IBF 154 pound champion Cornelius “K9” Bundrage is open to the prospect of facing the division’s best to ensure that there be some intriguing fights in the not too distant future.
Co-main event
In the co-main event of the evening in a scheduled ten round featherweight attraction, super hot undefeated prospect Gary Russell Jr. (20-0, 12 KO’s) of Capitol Heights, Maryland would share the spotlight. Coming off a first round stoppage of seasoned veteran Heriberto Ruiz on the Adrien Broner undercard last November, Russell didn’t disappoint in being relegated to once again fighting as an undercard attraction.
Dropping a totally tentative Christopher Perez (23-3, 14 KO’s) of Culiacan, Mexico with a blinding combo in the second round, Russell Jr. would dish out more of the same in the third frame, putting Perez on the canvas thrice courtesy of an assortment of practically unseen shots. At this juncture the bout would become a forgone conclusion as to what was in store so that referee Pat Russell would intervene on Perez’ behalf, calling a halt to the action at the 1:41 mark of the third round.
Impressive outing once more for a promising athlete who is not only well on his way to becoming a featured fighter of stellar proportions, but Gary Russell Jr. is sure to at some point find a place within the pound-for-pound rankings amongst the best fighters on the planet should he continue his winning ways.
It’s definitely difficult to see anybody stopping this youngster on the way up, but it’s atop the 126 pound division that sits a comparatively quick fisted fighter in Cuban dynamo Yuriorkis Gamboa, who just as fast if not faster, would make for an explosive match up if ever their paths were to cross. Just thinking about a contest between these two extraordinary talents conjures up thoughts of having to watch instant replay just to see what these blazingly fast and furious fighters might throw.
Aside from a dream match with Gamboa, there are several other pugilists who look to be worthy opponents for the up and coming Gary Russell Jr., who at this juncture appears ready to contend at the highest level. As to names of future potential dance partners, they include Orlando Salido, Chris John, Mikey Garcia, Jhonny Gonzalez, and Billy Dib, just to name a few. Time will tell as this young D.C. native seems to possess all the ingredients that will assist him in rising to the top. It’s watching him get there that will be a treat.
Undercard results
As much as it’s difficult to fathom the feature attraction being referred to as ShoBox “The Next Generation” considering that both Spinks and Bundrage have been around the sport for many moons, it’s perhaps just as difficult to refer to an Erislandy Lara fight as being an undercard bout. This is no doubt due to the obscurity in which the Cuban prizefighter has dwelled, outside of course of his highly publicized and highly controversial fight with Paul Williams.
To this end, television exposure would once again accompany the much avoided Cuban southpaw junior middleweight and former amateur world champion. For Erislandy Lara (17-1-1, 11 KO’s) of Guantanamo, Cuba would be on display this past Saturday night to garner what should have been very close to, if not a shutout on the scorecards against what appeared to be a solid opponent in former world title challenger Freddy Hernandez (30-3, 20 KO’s) of Mexico City, Mexico.
Two of the final scorecards would indicate the action accordingly over the course of ten rounds at 98-91 and 99-90 respectively handed in by judges Fritz Werner and Tom Taylor in favor of Lara , while a third scorecard tallied at 95-94 for the Cuban by judge David Denkin was totally out of touch with reality considering that Hernandez wasn’t able to hit his opponent with a handful of rice as they say.
It would be all Lara in the opening round who landed a variety of shots to include straight lefts, right hooks, and counter shots while the Mexican fighter was basically looking to get into the bout in a feel em out round. The next several rounds would see Lara either elusive or hands held high and tight to literally pick off most if not all of Hernandez’ blows, all the while with the Cuban landing at will anytime he pleased.
Outside of landing an occasional left hook to the body, Freddy Hernandez during the course of action couldn’t hit Lara with any meaningful shots whatsoever, this despite his Cuban opponent standing directly in front of him at times. Lara un-phased and unmarked would time his opponent, and/or beat him to the punch after which he would escape even the slightest of blows in a display of total dominance.
This pattern would continue throughout the fight, and outside of two incidents involving head clashes where Hernandez suffered cuts to become irritated, wherein which he would momentarily put up a bit of a fight in the sixth round, the bout would once again come under the control of Lara. With Erislandy deducted a point to open the seventh frame for doing his best imitation of Joel Casamayor, Freddy would become further enraged. This would be to no avail though as the Mexican fighter was made to look less than the former world title challenger he came in as.
With blood streaming down the face of Hernandez as a result of the butts, as well as perhaps some landed blows, the ninth round would see more dominance exhibited by the Cuban, only Erislandy would dig a little deeper by this time to land even more punctuating shots that would have the Mexican fighter reeling. The tenth and final round would see the methodical Lara further pummel his adversary, finding all the holes in the Mexican’ Swiss cheese defense as he had done throughout, as Freddy Hernandez had no clue how to handle the slippery southpaw who on a different level landed what he wanted, when he wanted.
In victory, Lara is thought by some to be on the short list to fight “Canelo” Alvarez. But with many respected pundits picking Lara to win a potential fight between the two, the Alvarez camp is hesitant to put him in with Erislandy at this juncture. Like everyone else on this fight card, nobody knows exactly how their future will play out, but plodding along, they are all hoping for bigger and better things to come their way.
To kick off the action at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino this Saturday, the little men were called upon to let loose in a four round flyweight division bout. The two contestants were local fighter Javier Barragan (3-0, 3 KO’s) of Indio, California and Christian Lorenzo (1-1) of Los Angeles, California.
After a slow start by Barragan, the second round was all his as he would get his rhythm and timing down to feed Lorenzo a steady diet of hooks and uppercuts fighting with his back mainly to the ropes.
The third round was more of the same as Lorenzo looked to be done by the time the bell had rung to open the round. Unresponsive to a variety of blows to both body and head, referee Wayne Hedgepeth would step in to save Christian Lorenzo at the 0:49 mark of the third.
In the second bout of the evening, an eight-round attraction featuring welterweights, Albert Cruz Jr. (9-4, 8 KO’s) of Canovanas, Puerto Rico having no jab whatsoever while being outgunned on the inside, would prove to be mere canon fodder for his harder hitting opponent Antonio Orozco (15-0, 11 KO’s) of San Diego California.
Breaking down the Puerto Rican from the first bell, the end result would be a mismatch by attrition as Cruz would do his best imitation of a moving punching bag for as long as he could. Due to an accumulation of punishment dished out by the Mexican fighter, referee Pat Russell on the advice of the ringside physician would call a halt to the action after the third frame.
