Golden Boy on ESPN Results: Quigley and Caballero Emerge Victorious
By: William Holmes
Boxing made its return to ESPN last night as Golden Boy Promotions put on a card from the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California.
Many boxing aficionados’ are hoping the deal between Golden Boy and ESPN turns out to be successful for both parties as boxing has greatly missed the legendary Friday Night Fights series on ESPN.
The opening bout of the night was between Randy Caballero (24-0) and Jesus Ruiz (36-8-5) in the junior featherweight division.
Despite Caballero’s undefeated record and the eight losses of Ruiz this fight was much closer than expected. Caballero was clearly the better technical boxer, but Ruiz was willing to get in tight and rough up Caballero on the inside. Ruiz had success to the body, but Caballero was landing the cleaner combinations.
Caballero suffered a cut over his right eye in the ninth round from an accidental head butt but it didn’t cause him any serious problems for the remainder of the fight.
The quick and crisp combinations of Caballero were too much for Ruiz to overcome; though no knockdowns were scored in the fight.
Caballero won the decision with scores of 97-93, 96-94, and 96-94.
The main event of the night was between Glen Tapia (23-4) and the undefeated Jason Quigley (13-0) in the middleweight division.
Tapia is known for giving his fans action packed bouts and this one was no different. However, Tapia started off slow and it cost him this bout.
Quigley looked like he may end the fight early and his right hand was finding its target on Tapia’s chin in the opening round and had him wobbled as the round came to an end.
Quigley’s assault continued into the second and third round and he was very effective to the body. But Tapia was able to stay on his feet and fight back and slowly wear down Quigley.
Quigley was taking some hard shots of his own from Tapia and his face was showing the effects of Tapia’s punches. By the eighth round Quigley looked exhausted and Tapia had blood on his face, but Quigley was still out boxing Tapia who at times appeared to be flat footed.
Tapia needed a knockout in the final two rounds to win and he made an honest effort to get it, but it was too little too late as Quigley won the decision.
The final scores were 100-90, 99-91, and 98-92 for Quigley.