By: Ken Hissner
Bob Arum’s Top Rank Boxing over ESPN Saturday at the Save Mart Arena in Fresno replaced the fall out of the main event between Jose Ramirez and Danny O’Connor who was dehydrated trying to make weight and hospitalized so that made the Egidijus Kavaliauskas and Juan Carlos Abreau which was the co-feature is now the main event.
In the Main Event the No. 2 WBO Welterweight contender Lithuanian Egidijus “Mean Machine” Kavaliauskas, 20-0 (16), of Oxnard, CA, defeated Juan Carlos “Merengue” Abreu, 21-4-1 (19), of Dominican Republic, over 10 rounds in retaining his NABF title.
Photo Credit: Top Rank Boxing Twitter Account
In the first round with a pair of punchers Kavaliauskas uses a left hook while Abreu throws an occasional right to the head. A clash of head caused both fighters to be cut. Kavaliauskas had a cut over the right eye and Abreu a cut over the left eye. In the second round Kavaliauskas had a right blocked but a left hook land on the chin of Abreu. Abreu landed a combination to the head of Kavaliauskas. There were too many clinches so far early in this fight.
In the third round Abreu kept his hands down trying to draw Kavaliauskas in. The fans start letting the fighters know they want more action. Kavaliauskas ended the round with a left hook to the chin of Abreu. In the fourth round Kavaliauskas was hunting Abreu down. Abreu mostly threw overhand rights while Kavaliauskas used his jab more and left hooks. At the end of the round Abreu taunted Kavaliauskas by hitting his own chest. Kavaliauskas suffered a small cut over his left eye during the round from a punch.
In the fifth round blood was coming down the face of Kavaliauskas from the cut by his left eye causing the referee to stop the action and take a look at the cut. Both fighters got in solid single punches in the final seconds of the round. In the sixth round the fighters are falling into clinches. In the final ten seconds Kavaliauskas landed a solid right to the head of Abreu.
In the seventh round Kavaliauskas landed several good left hooks to the head of Abreu who came back with an overhand right to the head. Kavaliauskas continued to build up points but Abreu was still dangerous with his right hand though not throwing it enough. In the eighth round Kavaliauskas is chasing Abreu who must realize he is well behind in the fight. Kavaliauskas landed a double jab to the chin of Abreu knocking his head back. Abreu seemed too reluctant to throw his right but has shown very little with his left. Abreu landed his best right of the round but it was after the bell sounded.
In the ninth round with too many clinches Abreu landed several rights to the head of Kavaliauskas but still gets out punched. In the tenth and final round Abreu got warned for a low left. Both fighters taunted each other with hands down. The fans were not happy near the end of the round due to too many clinches. Abreu raised his right hand for some reason. He couldn’t possibly think he won. Ed Collantes was the referee who had plenty of work to do in this one.
Scores were Ralph McKnight and Michael Tate scoring it 97-93 Eric Cheek 96-94 while this writer had it 99-91.
In the co-feature Heavyweight Andy “Destroyer” Ruiz, 31-1 (20), of Imperial, CA, won a lopsided decision over Kevin “Kingpin” Johnson, 32-10-1 (16), of Lawrenceville, GA., over 10 rounds.
Scores were 97-93 by Pat Russell and Eric Cheek while Lou Moret had it 99-91 with Marcos Rosales as the referee.
Andy “The Shark” Vences, 21-0-1 (12), of San Jose, CA, won a lopsided decision over southpaw Frank De Alba, 22-4-2 (9), of Reading, PA, in a defense of his WBC Continental Americas Super Featherweight title, over 10 rounds.
In the first round it was all jabs until at the halfway of the round southpaw DeAlba missed a left and was countered with a right to the chin by Vences. Before the round was over, Vences landed half a dozen more lead rights to the chin of DeAlba. In the third round DeAlba who is usually a counter puncher was able to counter with his straight left to the chin of Vences in another close round.
In the fourth round after the fans getting restless with lack of action Vences turned southpaw in the last minute matching DeAlba with jabs. In the fifth round Vences landed a 3-punch combination to the body of DeAlba. After starting the round southpaw Vences switched back to orthodox and in doing so landed several lead rights to the chin of DeAlba. Vences style had him leaning to the right having his right cocked and ready to throw.
In the sixth round Vences remains the aggressor landing an occasional chopping right to the head of DeAlba. The pace of the fight picked up in the fifth round cutting out the unhappiness of the fans due to lack of action. The fight had few clinches making it easy for referee Raul Caiz, Jr. From the corner of Vences they yelled encouragement for him to stay orthodox. In the seventh round after starting orthodox Vences again went back to southpaw. It ended in another close round with Vences building up a lead that DeAlba would have a hard time overcoming. Vences best punch was a right uppercut to the chin of DeAlba.
In the eighth round DeAlba lead with a left to the chin of Vences and began staying in front of Vences realizing he may need a knockout to pull this fight out. Vences came in with his hands down but landed a right uppercut to the chin of DeAlba. Vences head clashed with the nose of DeAlba causing the referee to give DeAlba a very short rest.
In the ninth round Vences came out very aggressively landing rights to the chest and then to the chin of DeAlba. DeAlba countered with a left to the chin of Vences. Vences landed a combination that DeAlba missed with a counter left and took a questionable right to the back of his head while leaning down. DeAlba ended the round with a solid left to the chin of Vences.
In the tenth and final round DeAlba came out realizing he needed a knockout to pull out the fight against a CA opponent in CA getting countered by a Vences right. There was one of the few clinches in the fight after a minute into the final round. DeAlba continued for the first round of the fight going after Vences. DeAlba in the final minute of the fight was getting countered with rights from Vences to the chin.
Judges scores were 99-91 twice and 98-92 as did this writer.
Lightweight Joseph Adorno, 8-0 (8), of Allentown, PA, knocked out Guadalupe De “Lupillo” Leon, 9-16-1 (5), of Mission, TX, in the third round in a scheduled 6.