Two title fights from Atlantic City, NJ are on the card for an HBO Boxing event. First, Super Bantamweight champion Daniel Ponce De Leon takes on Puerto Rican up-and-comer Juan Manuel Lopez. Then, Kelly Pavlik makes the first defense of his Middleweight title that he won from Jermain Taylor against an over-matched Gary Lockett.
Daniel Ponce De Leon vs. Juan Manuel Lopez (WBO Super Bantamweight Title)
Ponce De Leon starts out as the aggressor. He’s the bigger puncher while Lopez is the better boxer. Lopez is patient throughout Ponce De Leon’s attack. Lopez catches Ponce De Leon with a short hook and knocks the champion down. De Leon has no legs under him and rushes to his feet instead of taking an eight count. Lopez went in for the kill and landed more short, clean hooks as Ponce De Leon swung away in attempt to get his knockdown back. Ponce De Leon goes down again to a barrage of compact hooks. Again, he gets up too quickly and shows his wobbly legs. The referee waves the fight off, giving Lopez his first world title via TKO in the first round.
That was an impressive showing for Juan Manuel Lopez as he made quick work of hard-punching Daniel Ponce De Leon, who carried a record of 34-1 into this fight and was coming off of seven successful title defenses. Lopez is just 24 years old and proved he has championship mettle and poise beyond his years.
Kelly Pavlik vs. Gary Lockett (WBC/WBO Middleweight Title)
Don’t worry, you shouldn’t know who Gary Lockett is. He has a 30-1 record and hasn’t lost in six years, but he hasn’t faced top flight competition. This is Lockett’s first title fight. It is also Pavlik’s first title defense.
Lockett stands in the pocket against Pavlik and lands a nice combo midway through the first round. Pavlik responds with a combo of his own that backs Lockett up. Another one from Pavlik. Both fighters remained calm in the first round and both seemed to be trying to put some punches together as opposed to going for a one-punch knockout. Pavlik rips off more shots in the second round that back Lockett up. Lockett takes a knee as he looks demoralized and fatigued from a right hook to the body. Pavlik steadily stays at work against Lockett as a right to the jaw causes Lockett to take another knee.
Lockett comes out for the third round. I thought he might quit on his stool but Lockett shows heart by coming out. Now Lockett seems to going for a one-punch knockout as whatever gameplan he had in place wasn’t working. Pavlik just continues to throw punches at an easy target as another right hand causes Lockett to take a knee for a third time. This time Lockett was wobbly in going down to a knee. Lockett’s corner throws in the towel and this fight is over. Pavlik scores a third round TKO and barely broke a sweat.
This wasn’t supposed to be a close fight and Pavlik basically did what he was supposed to do. Pavlik said he would fight whoever was placed in front of him but the HBO announce team couldn’t help but ponder his possible opponents. Joe Calzaghe was brought up but he may be closer to fighting Roy Jones Jr than Kelly Pavlik. There aren’t any obvious contenders in the middleweight division but Arthur Abraham and Felix Sturm were brought up as other possibilities. Regardless, Pavlik has yet to come out flat in a fight so no one poses an immediate threat to his stranglehold atop the middleweight division.
