by Joe Kulyeshie
July 12, 2006 – Wednesday Night Fights is coming to us live from the Roosevelt Theater in Hollywood, Ca for a special edition. It’s a Pre-ESPY party! Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas are ringside and lots of celebrities and sports personalities are in the house.
Let’s get the party started!
Sugar Ray Leonard stops by promoting The Contender Season 2. This year they’re featuring welterweights and will be more boxing specific.
Fight 1
Welterweights – Michael Santos (12-3, 7 KO) vs. Edvan Barros (8-2, 7 KO) – 8 rounds
Set-up: Michael Santos spars with Carlos Baldomir and is the son of a professional boxer from Mexico. Edvan Barros hails from Brazil and is extremely accomplished in a form or martial arts dancing. Barros started his boxing career late and has faced the lesser competition. Both guys have been inactive for awhile and are supposed to be offensive fighters. Will the ring rust show on either guy, or will we get some fireworks as both men press the action?
Round 1
Barros’ full name is Edvan dos Santos Barros and he has “SANTOS” written on the back of his trunks. It takes a good portion of the round to keep straight Santos from Barros. Santos stays in the center and comes towards Barros. Barros keeps to the outside trying to land as Santos is coming in and out. Mostly a feeling out round where no major punches are landed. Took half the round to figure out who was who. I’ll call the round even (10-10).
Round 2
Barros starts the round by working the body. Both men start trading shots to the body and head as the activity level really picks up. Santos is the huskier man and uses his jab as he tries to get to the inside and work over Barros’ body. Barros seems to have the quicker hands and tries to catch Santos as he does. Fun round we give to Barros (20-19).
Round 3
Santos slips and falls down 15 seconds in. Barros snaps Santos’ head back halfway through the round. Barros lands a nice combination in the last minute. Throughout the round, Santos is coming forward with the jab, going to the body then the head. But he is getting caught by Barros as he leaves. Both fighters are throwing a ton of punches and landing a good portion of them. Great fight! Round to Barros (30-28).
Round 4
Wow! Both fighters just square up and trade punches the ENTIRE ROUND! Neither man is getting that much on their punches, but the work rate is outstanding. Santos landed the best punch or two and gets the round (38-39)… both fighters deserve bonus points for that round! Teddy Atlas has the fight even, 38-38, having given the first round to Santos.
Round 5
Another very active round. Barros is throwing more and landing more but looks to be tiring a bit. Santos is throwing less (though most everyone would, Barros has thrown 230 punches in the 4th and 5th rounds!) but with more authority. Great fight! Round to Santos (48-48).
Round 6
Pace finally slows a bit, but another very active round for the quicker Barros. Still, the stronger and more efficient Santos seems to be in control of the fight. Close round we give to Santos (58-57). Teddy gives the round to Barros and has the fight even, 57-57.
Round 7
The boxers square up and trade again for the first minute. This is the first time Barros has been past the 6th round. He’s already thrown 12 rounds worth of punches in the first 6 rounds. Santos lands the biggest punch of the fight, a right to the head with 50 seconds to go. Another good, tough round as Barros squared up and traded with Santos. Santos gets the better of it (68-66).
Playmate Bai Ling is shown in the audience.
Round 8
Both fighters go out punching, as they square up and trade again. Barros continues to throw about twice as many punches as Santos, who fails to land any note-worthy punches. Round to Barros (77-76, Santos). Teddy has the fight even (76-76).
Let’s go to the cards:
Split Decision
79-73 Barros, 77-75 Santos, 76-76
Santos Draw with Barros
A fair decision to a great, close fight. The ultra-active Barros threw 822 punches in the fight, while Santos was more efficient and landed the more powerful punches. Neither boxer deserved to lose. Both fought agggressively and with heart. Fantastic fight, if only promoters and matchmakers would give the fans more of this style of fight!
Fight 2
Super Middleweights – Josiah Judah (6-0, 1 KO) vs. Guadalupe Acosta (5-5, 2 KO) – 4 rounds
Set-up: Josiah Judah is the younger brother of Zab Judah by one year. Acosta has lost 3 in a row and has fluctuated in weight from 149 to 169 pounds in his fights. Is there any way this can be even slightly competitive?
Round 1
Judah lands a right uppercut with 1:15 to go. Judah is bigger, taller and faster, but has a habit of keeping his left hand by his hip. Judah is allowing Acosta to get inside too easily where he clogs up the action. Judah landed the best punch and wins the round, but not in an impressive fashion (10-9).
Danica Patrick is shown ringside.
Round 2
The fighters clash heads and Judah suffers a nasty cut on the eyelid of his right eye. The referee waits an eternity before pausing the fight and having the doctor look at it. The fight goes on and Judah lands some sharp jabs. Acosta is unable to land anything other than that head clash. Round to Judah (20-18).
Round 3
The corner gets the bleeding stopped, but Acosta goes right after the cut and opens it back up. Judah is clearly bothered by it, as the blood is just flowing directly into his eye. Finally, the fight is stopped.
Technical Draw – due to a cut over Judah’s right eye caused by accident headbutt.
Judah Technical Draw with Acosta
Well, two fights, and two draws. Judah has quick hands, is nice and long, but he has the bad habit of keeping his left hand by his hip. He will need to correct that habit before stepping up his competition too far.
Shaun Alexander stops by and says that some of his teammates may have been mentally beaten before the Super Bowl even began.
Fight 3
Light Welterweights – Ramon Montano (10-3-2, 1 KO) vs. Hector Alejandro (10-2, 7 KO) – 10 rounds
Set-up: Montano is coming off a controversial draw with undefeated prospect Dmitry Salita where he had knocked Salita down twice in the first round. Alejandro lost his last fight by TKO after being on an 8 fight winning streak. Both guys are action fighters who took the fight on about one week’s notice. Montano has a good left hook and Alejandro has a good right hand. Alejandro may have a suspect chin, but Montano only has 1 KO in 15 fights. Can these two action fighters come close to matching the excitement of the first fight?
Round 1
Montano begins by working the body. The first two minutes are pretty slow. During the final minute, both boxers pick up the action and start letting their hands go. Montano landed the crisper punches. Round to Montano (10-9).
Round 2
Close round. Both guys are active and landing a lot of their punches. Montano got the better of it the first two minutes, Alejandro the last minute. Round to Montano (20-18).
Round 3
Alejandro is now throwing about 100 punches a round. He is not only more active, but lands the better punches this round. Round to Alejandro (28-29). Teddy has the fight 29-28 Alejandro, having given him the 2nd and 3rd rounds. Another fun, competitive, active fight. Hooray!
Round 4
Montano lands a left hook to the head halfway through the round. Alejandro lands a right uppercut with 45 seconds to go. Another action-packed round. Alejandro is throwing and landing more and gets the round (38-38).
Olympic kkater Kimmie Meissner, billiards star Jeanette Lee and pro bowler Chris Brown are shown in the crowd.
Round 5
The boxers go to work on the inside, but neither clutches or grabs. A monster exchange goes on for the final 30 seconds of the round. Another incredible fight to watch. A close round, but Alejandro’s amazing activity gives him the round (48-47). Teddy has the fight 49-46 Alejandro.
Round 6
A little less action this round, relatively speaking. No major power punches landed. Montano appears to be more in control of the action and takes the round (57-57). Teddy also scores the round for Montano.
Round 7
Alejandro land a clean right uppercut 40 seconds in. Montano lands a left hook to the head with 30 seconds to go. Alejandro has never been past the 6th round before. Another close round with tons of activity by both fighters. The referee has had to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING the entire fight. Montano again landed the more effective punches and gets the round (67-66).
Actor Taye Diggs is taking in the action as well.
Round 8
Both men look fatigued to start the round. That all changes by the final minute, as they are back to their usual selves, letting their hands go and battling each other. Montano is in control using his left hook more often and more effectively, and gets the round (77-75). Teddy has the fight even, 76-76.
Round 9
Both boxers are somehow able to keep up the work rate through 9 rounds. The left hook of Montano is more effective than anything Alejandro can put together. Round to Montano (87-84). Teddy scores it 86-85, Montano.
Round 10
Alejandro remains extremely active, but his punches don’t have much pop at this point in the fight. Round to Montano (97-93). Teddy scores the round for Alejandro and has the fight even, 95-95. If we have the same three judges from the first fight we could have our third draw of the night!
To the cards:
Majority Decision
95-95, 96-94 Montano, 96-94 Montano
Montano Majority Decision over Alejandro
Talk about earning your paycheck! Alejandro threw 1,116 punches and connected at 29%, while Montano threw 863 punches and connected at 37%. Alejandro was more active, but not as effective as the fight went on. Montano threw the crisper punches in the latter rounds to get the decision. Just a fantastic fight that could have easily went the other way with other judges doing the scoring.
The Contender Season 1 winner Sergio Mora chats with Joe and Teddy and says he may fight Jermain Taylor soon. Teddy tells him to get more experience before making that jump.
Here’s an equation for promoter’s to remember:
Competitive fights + active boxers = Great show!