Leo Santa Cruz retained his IBF World Bantamweight title on Dec. 15 at the Sports Arena in Los Angeles with a hard-fought 12-round unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Alberto Guevara. The win saw Santa Cruz’s record rise to 23-0-1 with 13 Kos while Guevara dropped to 16-1 with 6 Kos. It was the fifth fight of the year for the 24-year-old Santa Cruz and third title defense in the past three months. The 22-year-old challenger made a name for himself in the fight and will likely get another title shot sometime in the future.
Guevara started off the bout by winning some of the earlier rounds, but since he had moved up in weight and had never gone 12 rounds before he started to tire as the fight went on. He lost by scores of 119-109, 118-110, and 116-112, with the latter score being the most realistic. The bout was shown live on the CBS network, which was its first live boxing event since 1997. The free exposure should help both boxers’ careers since it was an action-packed and exciting contest.
Santa Cruz had fought just 35 days earlier and it took him awhile to figure Guevara out and get going. It definitely wasn’t ring rust that caused the slow start. Instead, it was the movement and boxing skills of the challenger. If Guevara possessed more power than he does, the fight could have conceivably had an entirely different outcome. However, Santa Cruz of Mexico was able to stand up to his shots and then started to land many of his own while wearing Guevara down.
It was a good decision by CBS to showcase Santa Cruz since he’s a well known action fighter who likes to keep busy for all three minutes of every round. The network knew it would be an all-action bout and it was right. Even though the fight didn’t feature a knockout or even a knockdown, it provided excellent entertainment for boxing fans. After the bout, Santa Cruz said he was sorry that he let his fans down because he didn’t knock Guevara out.
He didn’t have anything to be sorry about though as he showed he could make adjustments in the ring
when confronted with a difficult opponent. He was obviously having trouble with Guevara’s movement and slick boxing style, but eventually figured him out and started to impose his will on the challenger. It was also ironic that Santa Cruz apologized for his efforts in a bout in which he threw 989 punches in.
He promised that he’d do better in his next fight and if that’s the case then potential opponents for his title better beware. He said he’ll take a few days vacation time and then head back to the gym to prepare for his next title defense. Guevara should also be proud of his performance. If he can duplicate it in upcoming bouts he should find himself one of the top ranked boxers in the bantamweight division.
Ian Palmer
Visit Bet365 for the latest odds on boxing and the rest of the world’s top sporting events.
No comments:
Post a Comment