By: Sean Crose
Matchroom Boxing and DAZN hosted a live card Saturday evening from Mexico City featuring the 24-2-1 featherweight Mauricio Lara and the 33-5-1 Jose San Martin in a scheduled ten rounder. First, however, the 3-0 Alberto Mora fought the 14-7-2 Diego Andrade in a scheduled eight round affair at junior lightweight.
Andrade was the aggressor in the first, but Mora had his moments. Andrade was able to find and land on his man in the second. Although somewhat slow in his punching, Andrade was then able to continue pressuring Mora in the third. With that in mind, Mora was able to throw and land effectively during the fourth.
Mora worked effectively in fifth, particularly to the body. Andrade took a beating in the sixth, but – face covered in blood – kept engaging. Mora continued pressing the action in the seventh. Andrade went down in the eighth and final round. He was able to get to his feet in time, but needed to get a visit from the ring doctor in order to continue. Suffice to say, Mora stepped out of the ring with the judge’s decision on his record after the final bell had sounded.
Next up the 12-0 Reshat Mati squared off against the 10-2-1 Leonel Rodriguez in a scheduled junior welterweight ten rounder. Mati was able to apply his craft well in the first two rounds. Rodriguez worked well behind his jab in the third, but Mati had the crisper shots. Still Rodriguez was able to push the action. The fourth was close, with each man fighting cautiously. The fifth round was a series of moments for each man, as there seemed to be no real sustained action.
According to the DAZN broadcast team, Mati’s corner claimed the high altitude of Mexico City was sapping their fighter of energy. It may well have been the case, as the pace continued to be slow in the sixth. Rodriguez was able to land well in the seventh. Although Mati landed well himself, it looked as if Rodriguez might be starting to break his man down. Mati held strong in the eighth until Rodriguez was able to get to him towards the end of the round. Mati continued to fight gamely in the ninth. Rodriguez pushed the action in the tenth and final round, but it wasn’t enough. Mati was given the decision win.
The 14-1 Jeremy Cuevas then fought the 19-1-2 Angel Fierro in a scheduled ten round lightweight affair. Cuevas was the more active of the two men in the first. Both fighters traded well in the second. The fight remained a high octane affair throughout the third. Fierro rocked his man in the fourth. Cuevas’ lack of head movement allowed Fierro to tag him, as well.
Fierro spit out a seemingly endless number of shots in rapid fashion in the fifth. Cuevas, strangely enough, didn’t punch back, opting instead to wait until Cuevas seemed to run out of steam before moving in on his opponent. The sixth proved to be a war, with Fierro rocking his man in the final moments. He then went for the kill at the start of the seventh, firing shots viscously, ferociously. And yet Cuevas simply wouldn’t go down. Yet Cuevas was also simply taking a ton of punishment without doing much – if anything – in response. The referee mercifully stepped in and stopped the bout.