We're down to one final fight on the Top Rank pay-per-view card from the Honda Center in Anaheim. Humberto Soto and Urbano Antillon will collide for the WBC lightweight title in what could be an explosive fight.
Antillon comes to the ring first, sporting a 28-1 pro record with 20 KO victories. He has fought for interim belts before, but this is first attempt at an actual world title.
Reigning titleholder Soto comes in second. He is 53-7-2 yet amazingly is only 30 years old. Joan Guzman was the last fighter to beat him cleanly back in 2007.
Michael Buffer formally introduces both men, getting us set for a scheduled 12 rounds of boxing.
Round One
Antillon looks like he want to apply the pressure early on, forcing Soto to punch while retreating. Both men look like they just want to swing away. Antillon walks through head shots to double up to the body. Soto tries to tie up along the ropes but gets roughed up in the process.
Nice combination by Soto as he fights off the ropes. Antillon hurls Soto to the mat while they are locked up, and it's obviously no knockdown. Soto fires more shots before the ref warns Antillon about a low blow. Two more Soto uppercuts punctuate a late exchange.
Tylwalk: 10-9 Soto
Round Two
Antillon tries to jab instead of just walking in. Soto's accuracy is helping, but he is taking some shots in return. A Soto right hand pauses Antillon for a moment. The ref warns Antillon for leading with his head.
Urbano tries to work the body again, and he is straying low repeatedly. Soto is blazing away even though his back is to the ropes. Great action all the way to the bell.
Tylwalk: 10-9 Soto
Round Three
Soto is forced to back up immediately as Antillon almost runs across the ring to engage. Soto rips uppercuts and left hands, but Antillon keeps coming. Soto lets his hands go in combinations while Antillon looks for hooks to the body.
Humberto rips a left hook that earns him a brief breather. Both guys go to the body and Soto fires a left hook upstairs. Now Soto turns Antillon around and delivers body shots with both hands. Antillon scores with some head shots right before the bell.
Tylwalk: 10-9 Soto
Round Four
There are no signs of anyone backing down. Soto is covering up a little more now while countering a little less. Nice right hand by Antillon followed by a left hook. Urbano covers up as the champ flurries. There's a stiff right cross from Soto.
Antillon roughs up his man along the ropes again. Hooks from both hands score for Antillon. Soto unloads with both hands, and the ref gives Antillon one more warning for low shots. That was a much closer round, maybe slightly in Antillon's favor.
Tylwalk: 10-9 Antillon
Round Five
Antillon forces Soto to a neutral corner with repeated hooks to the body. Humberto pivots out and flurries. The challenger reaches with the jab as he keeps stalking. Soto connects with two left hooks but they don't stop Antillon. Uppercuts fly both ways along the ropes.
Soto stays mobile and lets some jabs fly. Antillon goes low again, and the ref takes a point away. That could cost him in this particular frame. Soto staggers Antillon in the closing seconds with a nice combination.
Tylwalk: 10-8 Soto
Round Six
The point deduction doesn't stop Antillon from throwing to the body early on. He lands a nice left upstairs too. Antillon has a cut, but the ref says it was caused by an accidental head butt. Soto blocks a left hook before he opens up. Both men land some shots at close range.
Antillon rushes in with hooks from both hands. Soto flurries again but Antillon walks through them to connect with a solid right hand. Antillon closes strong with body shots and a right hook upstairs.
Tylwalk: 10-9 Antillon
Round Seven
The cut is right on Antillon's right eyelid but doesn't look too bad. The pace is still breathtaking even with six rounds in the bag. Antillon scores with lead right hands and eats some in return.
Antillon leans in and just fires away with left and right hooks. Soto hooks to the body and finishes upstairs. A nice right hook by Soto makes Antillon pause again, and he almost slips down right after that. Soto turns up the heat with vicious shots in the center of the ring over the final 20 seconds.
Tylwalk: 10-9 Soto
Round Eight
The doctor pauses the action for just a second to check out Antillon's cut. Antillon is simply relentless, even when Soto is connecting. Antillon goes to the body and smacks a left hook home.
Now it's Soto's turn to let his hands go. Soto is using good footwork to his advantage, and Antillon is only scoring with hooks. They stand and trade along the ropes with Soto getting the better of it.
Tylwalk: 10-9 Soto
Round Nine
Antillon says something to Soto, and the fighters reluctantly touch gloves. Soto jabs and tries to keep some distance. Left-right combo to the body by Antillon. There's two more left hooks to the body by Antillon.
Soto stands in and gets the combinations going again. They lean on each other as the ref implores them to work. Antillon wades in for more rough stuff at close range. Soto pivots away and unleashes a mean flurry that may have won him the round, but it's close.
Tylwalk: 10-9 Antillon
Round 10
Unless someone scores a late stoppage, the scorecards for this one are bound to be fascinating. Soto scores with uppercuts, forcing Antillon to wrestle him to the ground. The ref is busy now, trying to keep some flow to the action. Soto is boxing a little more now to good effect.
Five jabs in a row by Soto. Antillon digs in and blazes away with left and right hooks. Urbano corners the champ and smacks him with a right hook. Another low blow by Antillon goes unpunished. Soto bides his time and scores with a number of hooks that have Antillon a little wobbly in the closing seconds.
Tylwalk: 10-9 Soto
Round 11
Antillon looks like he still has gas left in the tank, going right back on the attack. His shots don't seem quite as crisp, but he's still landing. Soto circles and scores with uppercuts.
They trade along the ropes before falling into a clinch. Soto pops his foe coming in with both hands. Humberto has the spacing he wants, firing head shots at will. Antillon bulls his way in again. The challenger shows incredible will by firing hooks right to the bell.
Tylwalk: 10-9 Soto
Round 12
The fighters embrace before the final round. Soto winds up with some overhand rights. Antillon jabs as he closes in. Antillon scores with a short hook, then another. Soto is spun around and goes down, but it's clearly not a knockdown.
Soto sticks and moves, but both men are scoring. Blood is flowing from Urbano's eye again. Antillon tries to get his hands free at close range. Twenty seconds to go. They battle all the way to the final bell and get a big show of appreciation from the fans.
Tylwalk: 10-9 Antillon
Tylwalk: 116-111 Soto
The judges score it 115-112 and 114-113 twice, all for the winner by unanimous decision... and still WBC lightweight titleholder... Humberto Soto.
Asked if it was his hardest fight, Soto replies that the fans were the winners tonight. He says they knew Antillon would keep coming, so he tried to box as much as he could.
Soto thinks that there are times you have to fight no matter what the game plan says, and his corner encouraged him to stand and fight when necessary. He did not expect Antillon to wilt.
Bob Arum gets in a plug for Top Rank-branded cards, saying he can put together the best fights when he doesn't have to worry about what the networks want.
Arum feels like Soto, Antillon and Brandon Rios could fight each other for the next three years and the audience would be treated to some really great bouts.
Both Soto and Arum say February may be too soon to fight Rios due to the tough night tonight.
Antillon gets some interview time too, and he says he doesn't feel defeated at all. He thinks the crowd loved the fight so everyone won.
Arum steps in and says Miguel Vazquez is willing to fight Antillon, so his idea is to do Soto-Rios and Vazquez-Antillon and have the winners fight each other. Antillon is okay with that but still wants the WBC belt.
Nick Tylwalk is the editor and co-founder of BoxingWatchers.com. Follow his Twitter feed @Nick_Tylwalk or the site's feed @boxing_watchers.
Christina Milian Kelly Brook Robin Tunney Kate Groombridge Dania Ramirez
No comments:
Post a Comment