*Photo by Chris Farina/Top Rank
Honda Center, Anaheim, CA
Humberto Soto (54-7-2, 32 KOs) UD 12 Urbano Antillon (28-2, 20 KOs)
Recap: Soto defended his WBC lightweight title against a crude, but motivated Antillon in an action-filled candidate for Fight of the Year last night. Soto was sharp and focused on throwing from the outside while nailing his rival with crisp uppercuts whenever the action got up close. Antillon had his moments, but always seemed outclassed and just too raw to compete on Soto’s level. A point was deducted for low blows from the challenger in the fifth and that ended up being the difference between a majority draw and a unanimous decision loss. Judges’ scores were tighter than expected: 115-112, 114-113, 114-113 all for Soto. The Boxing Tribune scored it 116-111 for Soto.
What this means to boxing: Soto vs. Brandon Rios in the first part of 2011 and, as first formulated during the post fight interview, Antillon may move on to challenge IBF 135 lb. champ, Miguel Vazquez.
Nonito Donaire (25-1, 17 KOs) KO 4 Volodymyr Sydorenko (22-3-2, 7 KOs)
Recap: As expected, Donaire was just too big, too fast, too strong and, just generally, too good for Sydorenko. “The Filipino Flash” hurt his opponent with every big shot landed, turning Sydorenko’s face into a bloody pulp and dropping him three times en route to an easy night’s work.
What this means to boxing: Donaire vs. Fernando Montiel in February has once again been promised to the fans. If it comes through, Donaire will finally have his route to stardom: Montiel and then then winner of Showtime’s bantamweight tournament. 118 is another division loaded with real talent.
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Estadio Beto Avila, Veracruz, Mexico
Saul Alvarez (35-0-1, 26 KOs) UD 12 Lovemore N’dou (48-12-2, 31 KOs)
Recap: Whether N’dou was in Veracruz to win can be debated, but he sure did put up enough defense to stay alive and not engage with the 20 year old phenom. Alvarez pushed forward and scored some big shots and won the fight easily, but was never able to put a sustained offense together against the 39-year old former jr. welterweight champ. The end result was an easy decision for the judges: 120-108, 120-108, 119-109. The Boxing Tribune also scored the fight 120-108 in favor of Alvarez.
What this means to boxing: N’dou was a learning experience for “El Canelo,” but it could be considered troubling that Alvarez wasn’t able to close the gap against an aged opponent who wasn’t throwing all that much in return.
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Other fights of note: (Super Featherweight) Daniel Ponce De Leon TKO 7 Sergio Medina; (Welterweight) Ayi Bruce MD Shamone Alvarez; (Middleweight) Pawel Wolak (TKO 7) Jose Pinzon; (Featherweight) Miguel Angel Garcia (KO 5) Olivier Lontchi; (WBO Super Featherweight title) Ricky Burns UD 12 Andreas Evensen; (Jr. Middleweight) Alex Arthur UD 8 Jay Morris; (Super Middleweight) Ryan Rhodes TKO 2 Rocky Junior; (Jr. Middleweight) Zaurbek Baysangurov TKO 12 Richard Gutierrez; (Heavyweight) Juan Carlos Gomez TKO 4 Harold Sconiers; (Heavyweight) Alex Leapai UD 8 Darnell Wilson; Les Sherrington UD 12 Nader Hamdan; (Featherweight) Jonathan Victor Barros TKO 7 Irving Berry
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