SHARKIES MACHINE January 20th, 2002

Julio Pablo Chacon (42-2-0-31 KO’s) Vs. Victor Polo (30-3-2-22 KO’s)

WBO Featherweight Championship

As a Boxing fan I especially enjoy watching the lighter weight classes show everyone else out there what action really is. These guys usually put on a fast and furious show. Being smaller and lighter, they have tremendous agility and speed. They may lack the power of heavier fighters but within their own class, they can exert definite power. This Saturday, Julio Pablo Chacon of Mendoza Argentina, traveled to the home of Prince Naseem Hamed, London England, to face challenger Victor Polo, of Cartagena Colombia. With the WBO’s version of the Featherweight Championship (Hamed’s former title, for which he was stripped due to inactivity) at stake, the prospect of a great fight was imminent.

The first round was a typical sizing up round with Polo throwing a few punches and Chacon unable to connect much at all. Chacon is five feet, two inches tall; Polo is five foot seven, in the ring they looked like David and Goliath. Only this time Goliath used his advantage of reach to dominate the contest. Chacon’s arms seemed too short to reach his opponent. In the second round, Chacon adjusted his strategy and closed in on Polo and was able to connect with a few good shots, cutting Polo’s right eye socket. In the third round, Polo made adjustments too and he kept Chacon at a distance, controlling the fight’s tempo as well as Chacon. Polo easily won round three. In the fourth, Polo cut Chacon’s right eye area in two places but he sent Chacon to the canvas with a right cross to the jaw, a 10-8 round for Polo. Victor controlled Julio easily, bloodying his face some more in the sixth and outclassing Julio through the eighth round.

In the ninth round, Chacon realizing the urgency of his cause came on strong, moved inside and whaled on Polo, giving his best effort. At one point, Chacon had Polo against the ropes and Polo slipped because of the advertising mats, which are triangular and line the outer ledge of the ring where they threw off his footing. Although Chacon was throwing punches when Polo slipped, the slip was not from a punch. Referee Roberto Ramirez of Puerto Rico counted it a knock down. During the replay between the rounds, it was fairly obvious that Polo had lost his footing because of the ad-mat and not a punch. It was a controversial knock down call.

In the 10th round, Chacon, bleeding profusely from his right eye for many rounds, tried to finish off Polo, who seemed hurt from the last round. In the 11th, Polo came on strong, using his long jab and combinations to subdue Chacon. In the 12th round, Chacon must’ve known he needed a knock out to win and went for it. He chased Polo down and tried his best but couldn’t drop him. Steve Albert began to ask, “Who’s winning?” in a fight that was clearly going Polo’s way. Albert must’ve known something viewers didn’t. The judge’s scorecards read as follows:

Paul Thomas Dave Parris Roy Francis

114-113 for Polo 115-112 for Chacon 114-113 for Chacon

It was a split decision win for Julio Pablo Chacon. Usually, punch stats are shown afterward on Showtime broadcasts, but not this time. Had they shown the punch stats, all three judges would appear extremely questionable in their scoring. I would guess that Polo landed at least 100 more punches than Chacon. Polo had the only legitimate knock down and basically out boxed Chacon the whole time. I had it 115-111 for Polo.

Julio Pablo Chacon seems very beatable. The judges were all from England. Hmmm. Naseem Hamed’s people must be thinking how easy it should be to regain the WBO Featherweight Title now. If Naseem gets his title back, he can once again call himself a champion, except in the face of Marcos Antonio Barrera and schooled Boxing fans worldwide.

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Johnny Tapia (50-2-2-27 KO’s) Vs. Eduardo Alvarez (29-4-0-6 KO’s)

Former IBF, WBO Junior Welterweight Champion and former WBA, WBO Bantamweight Champ Johnny Tapia returned to Boxing in dramatic fashion, pummeling Eduardo Alvarez in the first round, knocking him out. It took six body shots to cause referee Ritchie Davies to call a halt to the bout. After the fight, Tapia did a back flip to the applause of the London crowd. Tapia looked crisp and ready to take on better fights in the near future. At 34 years old, he may only have a couple of fights left in him but he sure looked sharp on Saturday night. Tapia’s life is well chronicled for its many highs and lows, and was recently rumored to be suicidal. His tattooed body looks like a Church advertisement. He is an enigma as much as he is erratic. “Mi Vida Loca” seemed stable, in tune and low on static. He hopes to fight Marcos Antonio Barrera or Naseem Hamed soon, but says he’ll fight anybody. Always exciting, Tapia is a fighter who entertains fight fans with his passion for the sport of Boxing. Watching him fight you can see into his soul, feel his pain and his joy. He is the definition of drama. Boxing, in spite of all the obvious corruption, remains a fascination because of guys like Johnny Tapia.

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David Telesco (25-3-0-21 KO’s) Vs. Julian Letterlough (17-2-1-16 KO’s)

I gained new respect for Julian Letterlough as I watched him take on David Telesco, who once put Roy Jones Jr. on the canvas. Letterlough was the lesser fighter on Friday night, but he gave all he had unlike his opponent. Letterlough needs to set up his punches, as he is not so skillful a boxer. With the right training, he may prove a better fighter in the near future. For now, Julian is still a slow, unpolished fighter with power. He gave Telesco a competitive fight and as a fan, you can’t ask for more.

Telesco has a reputation for being inconsistent and last Friday was no exception. Telesco is a fighter with all the tools to be great but he seems to go into the twilight zone in the middle of rounds, not doing enough to finish opponents. Telesco has speed, power and decent defensive skills and when he gets busy can be very dangerous. His problem is that he is lazy and doesn’t stay busy. Had Telesco used his jab to set up Letterlough chances are the fight would have been shorter and more rewarding for David, who is fond of showboating and behaving like a Roy Jones Jr. wannabee. Telesco won a unanimous decision. I thought Letterlough won four rounds while Telesco won seven, with one round being even.

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DeMarcus Corley (26-1-1-16 KO’s) Vs. Ener Julio (21-3-0-16 KO’s)

WBO Junior Welterweight Championship

DeMarcus Corley of Washington D.C. scored two knockdowns early in the fight and later benefited from a two-point deduction of his opponent. Ener Julio of Colombia shot himself in the foot in this fight. Julio started slowly, proving to have much ring rust. Corley was athletic and the more effective throughout the first three rounds. Julio started coming alive in the fourth, winning the round with the more telling punches.

Corley came back to win the fifth round. In the sixth, Julio came on strong, suddenly finding his stamina and poise. Julio dominated from rounds 6-8, but lost a pair of points for hitting Corley while he seemed to take a knee in the 6th, forcing the ref, George Alonzo to take points for the blatant infraction. In a round Julio could have won 10-8, he lost it the opposite way for being foolish.

Roy Jones Jr. was disqualified for punching Montell Griffin while he was on a knee, which resulted in a dirty knock out. That accounts for the only loss on Jones’ record. Corley wasn’t knocked out though and he survived Julio’s best efforts in rounds seven and eight, came back and won round nine. Corley got knocked down in the 10th, but it was called a slip. Corley won the 11th and 12th rounds and got the decision to improve his record to 27-1.

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Rosendo Alvarez (30-2-1-19 KO’s) Vs. Pitchit Siriwat (25-2)

WBA Junior Flyweight Championship “El Bufalo,” Rosendo Alvarez of Nicaragua, overpowered Pitchit Siriwat of Thailand, winning 11 of 12 rounds and finally knocking out Siriwat in the 12th. Siriwat was taking a beating most of the fight but never quit. Too bad he couldn’t get points for bravery. Alvarez, with his conventional style was simply too much for the slick, unorthodox Thai fighter.

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Mia St. John (22-1-0) Vs. Greenwald (2-5-0)

In her last fight, Mia St. John left the protected domain of Bob Arum and Top Rank. She actually took a REAL fight. The result was a second round knock out compliments of Rolanda Andrews. Now Mia is back, fighting the kind of fights she fights best, easy ones. She fought unknown Greenwald, who has only two wins in seven bouts. For a short moment it seemed Greenwald would get lucky and connect against Mia, who fought tentatively with her last knockout obviously on her mind. Greenwald winning wasn’t in the script for this bout and Mia got another win improving her bogus record to 23-1 after this four rounder. Someone with more than 20 ‘professional’ wins should be fighting at least eight rounder fights.

Mia St. John’s works hard as a P.R. machine for her image, with pictures of herself on websites and having been in Playboy Magazine in 1999. She is more of a ‘sexy curiosity’ than a legitimate female fighter, clad in her tight pink Boxing outfit. The shame of it is that, as a “name attraction” she gets to be on televised under card fights while legitimate female fighters who work hard at Boxing and deserve that opportunity don’t get that chance. Mia’s best contribution to Boxing would be as a Ring Girl, where she can wear a pink bikini while carrying the big card that shows what round is coming instead of being in the ring fighting. She knows how to show off her body, but she certainly doesn’t know how to Box.

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In Other Fights:

Omar Adorno was too slow for Devind Thapa who out boxed Adorno and won on points when the fight had to be stopped in the ninth round due to head butts.

Bronx New York native Nick Nurse improved his record to 8-5 as he beat up on professional ‘Tomato can’ Mat Green whose record now stands at 13-12.

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Speculations For Upcoming Bouts

De La Hoya vs. Vargas

It seems that Oscar De La Hoya, who recently said he was in the process of arranging a fight with Bernard Hopkins has now decided to finally fight Fernando Vargas instead. Seems Oscar is going to throw a bone to fans and give them something they have been salivating to see for some time now. It is no secret that these guys hate each other. Vargas has shown himself to have a glass chin in recent fights and De La Hoya has shown that he likes to run and is beatable.

During a press conference, we got the typical shoving match which had to be broken up, with Vargas being the aggressor and Oscar seeming nervous as Vargas shouted from his seat beside the podium, “Look, he’s crying! Why are you crying?” To which De La Hoya responded, “I have something in my eye.” I wonder what that something is? Could it be fear? I do believe Oscar is a better fighter than Fernando, but Vargas may have the edge in hatred. I think De La Hoya has the tools to take Vargas out of his misery, and yet, Vargas hits hard and often, has tons of heart too. Vargas has shown himself to be a cocky showboating type who has yet to have won any significant titles. The only thing I can say about this fight is that no matter what plans my girlfriend or family makes for that weekend, they can count me out. The VCR will not stand in for me on this fight. This is a must see fight, I will not miss it for any reason save nuclear holocaust.

De La Hoya by decision, or Vargas by knock out.

Mosley vs. Forrest

Although many have Shane as their number one pound for pound fighter, I say the jury is still out on him. He has not had enough big fights to wear such a big reputation at this point in his career. He just barely beat De La Hoya in their fight. Had he knocked Oscar out, I would give him more credit, but Mosley seems a protected fighter lately with no major fights since his bout with Oscar. Vernon Forrest beat Mosley in the amateurs and has been a quality fighter in the pros. He has a longer frame and probably a significant reach advantage over Mosley. I doubt this will be an easy fight for Mosley, in spite of the near deification he’s enjoyed since beating De La Hoya. Quite frankly, I am sick of protected fighters who win a big fight and then live on a steady diet of ‘creampuffs’ afterwards. I do like Mosley, he’s been nothing less than a gentleman both in and out of the ring, but he needs to prove he deserves all the celebrity by fighting QUALITY opponents and winning.

Mosley by questionable decision.

Until next time, enjoy all your favorite sports.

Sharkie