Coliseo Mario ‘Quijote’ Morales, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico– WBA jr, flyweight champ, Giovanni Segura (25-1-1, 21 KOs), made it clear from the opening bell that he wasn’t going to trust in the fairness of the judges in Ivan Calderon’s (34-1-1, 6 KOs) home town.
From the very beginning, the “Aztec Warrior” pressed the action and swarmed over the lineal and WBO jr. flyweight champ, Calderon.
The first three rounds were fairly predictable in that Segura pushed forward while missing most shots and Calderon, still with fresh legs and a clear mind, tried to score with counters.
The tide began to turn in the fourth as Segura started to land some hard body punches and, suddenly, Calderon’s legs seemed to be drained.
The fifth was the toughest round of Calderon’s career as he attempted to fire hard shots back in a last ditch effort to keep his opponent off him. But in a fire fight, Segura is by far the better-equipped fighter and would eventually back Calderon into the corner where he would let loose with some monstrous shots. Calderon would go down, but the referee seemed to make a mistake by ruling it a slip. A knockdown could easily have been called.
There was some question regarding whether Calderon would come out for the sixth round, but when he did, it was more of the same. Segura pounced and Calderon, with almost nothing left in his legs, loaded up on punches in an attempt to take Segura out.
The seventh was actually a Calderon round as he seemed to get his legs back under him and Segura seemed to be a little gassed from all the punches thrown.
However, once the eight began, it was clear that the seventh was just an off round for Segura as he immediately attacked and bullied Calderon into the corner. Focusing entirely on the body, Segura landed some thudding blows that would eventually make Calderon take a knee. The former two-division champ and future Hall of Famer would take the full ten count.
In the end, Segura had nothing to fear from the judges as they had scores of 68-65, 68-65 and 69-67 in his favor at the time of the stoppage. The Boxing Tribune scored it 67-66, also for Segura at the time of the KO.
Leave a Reply