By: Sean Crose
The 3-0 welterweight Gabriel Maestre appeared on Saturday’s PBC on Fox card from the Minnesota Armory, battling the 22-2 Mykal Fox for one of the WBA’s numerous belts. The first round was a close affair. In a surprise – Fox dropped his man in the second, though Maestre was able to get up and survive the round. Fox, who was considerably taller than his man, was able to effectively employ distance in the third and fourth while Maestre moved forward. Maestre proved unable to cut off the ring in the fifth. The determined Maestre was able to get to his man a bit in the sixth.
Maestre continued to find his man in the seventh, at least at times. Fox remained a crafty, slippery and frustrating foe. By the eighth, it was becoming a hard fight to call. Fox was effectively slippery, but Maestre pursued relentlessly, and was able to find his man’s midsection. Both men landed well in the ninth. Yet Fox was jabbing hard from the southpaw stance.
Fox kept his man at bay in the tenth. In the eleventh it seemed that Maestro, a decorated amateur who was only in his third pro fight, had perhaps crossed a bridge too far (and perhaps too soon). For Fox was simply having the fight of his life. The last round saw Maestre moved forward as he had throughout the fight – but Fox remained hard to hit. When Maestre did land, he wasn’t able to land particularly well. Regardless. The judges ruled in favor of Maestre by scores of 114-113, 115-112, and 117-110.