Two fighters were featured on HBO last weekend with a similar goal. Jorge Arce and Kelly Pavlik not only needed to win their bouts, they also needed to finish their foes in impressive fashion. They each have exciting fight styles but they lack the name recognition that brings in the more lucrative fight purses. Tonight was more about trying to make names for themselves in their individual fights than anything.
Kelly Pavlik vs. Jose Luis Zertuche
Pavlik is an undefeated middleweight prospect from Youngstown, Ohio. He has serious knockout power in both hands which explains his 90% KO ratio. Pavlik is only 24 years-old and looks to be a surefire hit in the 160 lb division. Jose Luis Zertuche is a step up in competition for Pavlik and was a member of Mexico’s 2000 Olympic team. Despite his credentials, Zertuche was selected with the sole purpose of making Pavlik look good.
These two stood in front of each other and slugged away the entire fight. That’s an easy way to get the crowd on your side. Pavlik landed with ease in the first round and the two fighters even had a nice little stare down after the bell to add to the drama. Zertuche came out strong in the second round but I see no way he can keep up this pace. He’s throwing no jabs and using all his energy to throw heavy punches. Pavlik is winning the slugfest so it would be in Zertuche’s best interest to come up with a new gameplan.
It looked like Kelly Pavlik was hoping to coast in the fourth round so he could rest a bit from the frenetic pace Zertuche was setting. Not happening on Zertuche’s watch as the Mexican kept coming on strong. Zertuche managed to get some swelling underneath Pavlik’s right eye and it became more pronounced in the fifth round. Zertuche was showing a lot of heart in the ring but Pavlik was winning the rounds. Pavlik countered Zertuche with an overhand right at the end of the sixth round that created the first knockdown of the fight.
Pavlik remained calm when he came out for the seventh round. A lot of fighters would rush their opponent coming right off of a knockdown but Pavlik chose to be patient and pick his spots. Zertuche wasn’t looking good at the end of the seventh round. It was the second round in a row that he couldn’t figure out which corner he was supposed to go to. Pavlik put Zertuche on the ropes in the eighth round and landed a straight right that put him out on his feet. A right uppercut landed clean before the ref was able to stop Pavlik and it looked scary. The ref saved Zertuche from any more damage and stopped the fight.
Kelly Pavlik did what he need to do. He was in an exciting fight and closed the show. Pavlik admitted that he needed to do a little work defensively if he wanted to hang with the tougher middleweights but this was an excellent showing on his part.
Jorge Arce vs. Julio Ler
Jorge Arce is a showman known for eccentric ring entrances and an exciting style in the ring. So why don’t many casual boxing fans know his name? It’s because he’s little. Really little. Arce is fighting in the 115 lb super flyweight division, and that’s after moving up in weight. Boxing usually doesn’t care about the little guys but this seems like one fighter destined to make his mark on the sport. To their credit, HBO has put Arce on pay-per-view undercards as well as headlining his own cards (such as this one) and he hasn’t let them down.
Arce came to the ring on horseback. Not just any horse, however. A dancing horse. I had to see it to believe it but the horse did indeed have a little shimmy in his step. It was a nice distraction from Arce, who owns the ugliest mug in boxing. He was also donning his signature black cowboy hat and a cherry lollipop.
Jorge Arce attacked the body of Julio Ler early. Ler did little more than cover up in the first round to avoid Arce’s onslaught. Round two is nothing more than a machismo contest. One will throw a hard punch while the opponent reacts by beckoning the other forward, as if unfazed by the shot. Lots of showmanship here and the crowd was eating it up. By the third round it appears that Ler is trying to rope-a-dope his opponent by letting Arce punch himself out. I’m not sure that’s the best strategy. Arce is no George Foreman and Ler is certainly no Ali. Arce begins to publicly question Ler’s manhood by the fourth round because he’s not throwing any punches. Through four rounds, Ler has landed 17 punches compared to 106 landed for Arce.
Julio Ler is committed to his plan. He’s really trying to get Arce to expend all of his energy. He’s even yelling at Arce from behind his guard. I’d say his incessant yelling is even more annoying than his inactivity. Ler is nothing more than a bipedal punching bag. They exchange dance moves in the sixth round as Ler attempts to do anything other than actually fight. It’s bad enough he won’t fight, but now Ler is trying to take the horse’s shine away.
The eighth round comes and goes and it’s more of the same. Ler willingly retreats to the ropes and covers up while Arce swings away. Arce shows his frustration with Ler in between rounds as he gets animated with his corner about Ler’s lack of cojones. The ninth round marks the start of Ler’s attack as he actually gets Arce on the ropes and finally throws more than two punches in succession. Apparently it was just a tease of an actual exchange because Ler retreated for the remainder of the round. Ler opens up again in round 11 and that gives Arce the opportunity he was looking for. Arce landed a clean shot and wobbled Ler. That was all the reminder Ler needed that Arce wasn’t sapped of his energy. Ler went back into his shell until the final bell. Arce threw 886 punches in the fight while Ler managed to fire back with only 353 of his own. It was an easy call for the judges and Arce won by unanimous decision.
I’m not sure what Ler was thinking with the rope-a-dope. It might work with heavyweights but did he really think Arce would get tired? Plus, Arce has a decent chin and Ler didn’t seem to have the power needed to capitalize on a weakened opponent. Ler ruined any chance he had of being on HBO ever again with that performance. As for Arce, he didn’t get the performance he wanted due to the lack of fight in his opponent but the crowd still got behind him. That was a good sign. Arce showed he can captivate an audience and that is exactly what he needs to do to get over the hurdles he encounters as a super flyweight attraction.
Other Results From The Week
– Michele Piccirillo is a man. He is also a recent victor by 12th round TKO over Michael Jones in their light middleweight bout in Italy.
– Ulises Solis retained his IBF Light Flyweight Title when the referee stopped his bout with Will Grigsby in the eighth round.
– Canadian super middleweight prospect Lucian Bute remained undefeated with an easy unanimous decision over Sergey Tatevosyan.
– WBC Flyweight champion Pongsaklek Wonjongkam scored a 4th round TKO of Lito Sisnorio.
– Richard Gutierrez stopped veteran Teddy Reid by knockout in the 4th round of the main event on ESPN Friday Night Fights.
– Stevie Johnston returned to lightweight and picked up a majority decision victory over Tyronne Harris.
– Zahir Raheem beat the outclassed Armando Cordoba by unanimous decision.
– Zsolt Erdei made his seventh consecutive WBO Light Heavyweight Title defense a successful one as he earned an eighth round TKO of Danny Santiago.
