Montiel Smashes Soto, Paredes Edges Pitalua; The Rest of Friday’s Action

Gimnasio Municipal , Saltillo, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Mexico

Fernando Montiel (44-2-2, 34 KOs) KO 2 Giovani Soto (29-12-1, 24 KOs)

Recap– In a non-title affair, WBO/WBC bantamweight champion, Montiel, easily dismissed a weathered, over-matched Soto. Everything Montiel landed seemed to hurt his opponent, sending him to the canvas once in the first and two times in the second. The official time of the KO was 2:29 of the second round.

What this means to boxing– The build-up to Montiel-Donaire started when “The Filipino Flash” crushed Wladimir Sidorenko last week. It continues to grow this week as, post-fight, Montiel would state that he’s “ready” for Donaire. This could very well be the biggest fight in the smaller divisions since Michael Carbajal vs. Humberto “Chiquita” Gonzalez back in 1993.
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Kissimmee Civic Center, Kissimmee, Florida, USA

Ed Paredes (26-3-1, 16 KOs) SD 12 Antonio Pitalua (50-5, 44 KOs)

Recap– In a close, entertaining battle, Paredes came away with the minor upset by beating an always tough and hard-charging Pitalua via split decision. Paredes would do his best work from the outside while Pitalua, predictably, fought to turn the contest into an inside war. A half-slip after a legit punch by Pitalua in the eleventh was ruled a knockdown, but it turned out not to be a factor in the decision. The judges’ scorecards read: 114-113, 117-110 for Paredes and 115-113 for Pitalua. The Boxing Tribune scored it 114-113 in favor of Pitalua.

What this means to boxing– This was for the WBO latino welterweight title, so there could be a token Top 10 ranking for Paredes in the organization. Pitalua, at 40 years of age, is still a viable fringe contender, but would do better to try and make jr. welter where bigger paydays and higher-profile fights are available.
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Other Noteworthy Fights– (Welterweight) Randall Bailey NC Said Ouali; (Welterweight) Hector David Saldivia RTD 5 Jorge Daniel Miranda; (Lightweight) Michael Perez UD 8 Jose Hernandez