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by: Joshuwa Jernigan (Ashyknuckles)

In the main event, the flashy Brooklynite Paulie "Magic Man" Malignaggi (26-3-1 w/ 5 KOs) would lose a unanimous decision to the hometown favorite Juan "The Baby Bull" Diaz (35-2 with 17 KOs). This fight represented the first fight back from Diaz's crushing defeat by the hands of pound for pound great Juan Manuel Marquez.

Paulie would come shooting quick jabs trying to take command of the fight early. Paulie would rip lightning fast combinations, but the high guard of Diaz blocked great portions of those shots. In round two, Diaz found his rhythm and as well as a secure place for his counter right hand being on the sturdy chin of Malignaggi. As the fight went on Diaz would time Paulie with big left hooks that was seemingly off target in round one. As the fight continued, an accidental head butt opened up a cut under the left eye of Diaz. Hardly bothered by the blood, Diaz continued to stalk his opponent landing counter left hooks and full right hand counters to Malignaggi's face. Obviously affected by the pace of the fight, Malignaggi would throw a forearm the face of Juan Diaz that was caught by referee Laurence Cole.

Diaz would continue his trademark body punching, in round five, which seemed to slow the former champion Malignaggi down enabling Diaz to land flush hooks to the chin. Seeing that cuts aren't really that important in determining fights, Laurence Cole finally decided to rule the cut due to a head butt which made Lou Dibella so irate that he circled around the press section, of the Toyota Center, pleading his case claiming foul play by Cole.

"It was a clean punch that opened Diaz up. A clean punch," shouted Lou as he walked away obviously peeved by the ruling.

By the middle of the eighth round, Dibella came back to the media section asking, “How do you guys have it," obviously excited that Paulie was beginning to come on strong behind quick combination punching. I said, "It looks like the hometown kid is landing the cleaner and harder punches, Lou."

"It looks like the hometown kid has the referee on his side," said an interjecting Lou Dibella. I said, "Quite possibly, Lou." However, I failed to mention that is was also quite possible that Juan was actually beating the britches off of his prizefighter, literally.

In round 9, Malignaggi really began to found a home for that solid jab. He also began to move and use the entire ring much better than in the earlier rounds. Malignaggi shots landed flush but they did little to no damage while Juan's shots had more impact, which kept the fight close. And though Diaz was effectively countering with solid shots the body, he was being outpointed thoroughly from the ninth round leading into the twelfth round. In the final round, there was back and forth action, but for the most part Malignaggi’s jab and counter hooks told the story in this round. It was Juan's solid infighting that secured the victory in a semi-packed arena in front of the hometown fans. The final scores were 118-110, 115-113, and 116-112 all in favor of the Baby Bull.



The Undercard:

Robert Guerrero (UD) vs Malcolm Klassen
-IBF Super Featherweight Title Fight-

Round one, Robert Guerrero came out shooting a crisp right-handed jab and straight left hand in succession as he looked to make Klassen pay for the insults levied at the press conference. Klassen said, "I heard you've been in training camp with Shane Mosley. Mosley is a great fighter, but I'm better than Mosley. I'm the total package. You aren't even in my league." Guerrero swept the first three rounds as he landed more shots and the better shots. It seemed he couldn't miss with the one-two combination that consisted of the southpaw jab and straight left hand. The same continued to happen in round four, but Klassen began to adapt to Guerrero and began landing the straight hand with consistency. Klassen countered Guerrero's onslaught well as he stepped in with right hand leads to the head and body. Guerrero would begin the sixth round like he did the first, by landing hard combinations behind the jab. Klassen fought and countered well in spots, but his activity level wasn't enough to win the round. Guerrero swept the last three rounds by continuing to outwork the champion from South Africa. It seems like Klassen took his foot off of the gas pedal, which allowed Guerrero to seize control of the fight landing the jab, and straight left at will. At the end of the twelfth round, Guerrero would become the new IBF Super Featherweight Champion with scores of 117-111, 116-113, and 116-112.



Daniel Jacobs vs Ishe Smith

Danny Jacobs (17 - 0 w/ 15KOs), of New York, would come out aggressively establishing the jab against Ishe Smith 21 - 3 w/ 9KOs) of Las Vegas, Nevada. He moved around, using the whole ring, while popping the jab on Ishe's face and gloves. Round 2 saw Smith finding his rhythm as he found a place for his counter left-hook upstairs, and a two-punch combination to the body. In rounds three and four, Jacobs would take control of the fight by setting up his combination punching behind a stiff jab. He would buckle Ishe with a counter uppercut mid way, but he took it well and continued to fight on proving that he belonged in the ring with a legit middleweight fighter. Round 5 saw both fighters having success with Jacobs taking the early lead. Smith would comeback with a combination that wobbled Danny Jacobs. At the end of the round Jacobs would hit Smith with a punch after the bell that almost started a melee in the ring. Rounds 6 and 7 saw Smith beginning to take control of the fight, timing Danny Jacobs with fluid combinations up and downstairs. Jacobs' activity level didn't necessarily decrease, his shots were constantly being picked off and slipped by Ishe Smith. Round 8, Danny took back over popping the jab, getting back to solid fundamental boxing. He countered well with the right hand over the top and underneath the guard with an uppercut. Smith came on late in the round, which wasn’t enough to secure the round, but at worst it made the round even. Round 9 saw Jacobs fighting well, mixing up his attack really well. Ishe, by no means is out of this fight and he continued to time Jacobs backing up with his hands low. At the end of the round, the official would take away a point from Ishe Smith for landing a punch after the round. In round 12 Ishe Smith needed a knockout to win the fight. Both fighters fought well in the final round with neither guy really taking the lead in the round. The fight would end with Daniel Jacobs winning with scores of 100-89, 96-93, and 96-93 unanimously.

Danny Garcia vs Oscar Leon

In the Danny Garcia (13 - 0 w/ 8KOs) vs Oscar Leon (28 - 9 w/ 18KOs) fight, it was your basic leftie vs rightie encounter. Garcia, the conventional fighter, would come out leading with left hooks. He would eventually find his punching range, as he would time Leon coming in unprotected, with his right hand by his waist. For the most part the action was slow as both fighters obviously respected each other’s fight game. Round three saw Garcia stepping up the pace and closing the distance on Leon. Leon, in attempts to draw attention of the crowd, began to showboat that led to him getting caught with a big overhand right that buckled him. Garcia continued to press the action and dropped his opponent with a two-punch combination upstairs. Leon beat the count easily, and tried to make up for loss ground by taking the action to Garcia. The display of machismo eventually led to his demise as Garcia would time Leon beautifully with an overhand right/left hook combination that put Leon down for the entire ten count. With the win, Garcia improves to 14 - 0 w/9KOs placing himself in a position to fight a top ten/top fifteen opponent in the near future.

Hylon Williams vs Baudel Cardenas

Highly touted prospect Hylon Williams (10 - 0 w/ 3KOs) continues to show he deserves the attention as he put on a clinic against a game Baudel Cardenas (18-17-2 w/6KOs). Hylon would box effectively behind a good jab and set up rapid combinations from the outside and inside. "Lil Ced" would show a wide array of skills and he used his angles and pivots, picked off punches with his gloves, and used solid head movement. He also stopped and mixed it up on the inside at times while moving his upper body to avoid the onslaught from Cardenas. With the victory, Hylon improve to 11 wins, zero losses, and 3 wins coming by way of knockout. Hylon is showing with his performance that he is the future of the lightweight division.

Jermell Charlo vs Vardan Gasparyan

Jermell Charlo (8-0 w/ 4KOs) came out strong establishing a stiff jab and following it up beautifully with a straight right hand. But, his opponent Vardan Gasparyan (11-1-4 w/ 5KOs) would have some success countering with solid body shots on the inside. Gasparyan looked very sharp early as he picked the pace up taking round two easily as he outworked Charlo with quality over quantity. Jermell would go back to using his boxing skills as he stuck to his jab and good lateral movement. But, Gasparyan would keep the fight competitive as he continually found success countering with the overhand right, and by throwing big body shots in succession. Gasparyan looked to seize control of the fight as he began stalking his opponent around the ring. In round six, he put forth a great effort in securing the hometown victory with scores of 58-56 across the board for a unanimous decision.

Omar Figueroa vs Jeremy Marts

Omar Figueroa (6 - 0 6KOs) completely decimated Jeremy Marts at 1:54 of round one. Figueroa was caught with a few big shots from Marts and made immediate adjustments as he switched to the southpaw stance. He would have success in that stance as he bombed out Jeremy Marts, knocking him down several times in the process. The victory improves him to 7 - 0 with 7KOs.


Adrien Broner vs Edgar Portillo

In the fight with Adrien Broner (10 - 0 7KOs) vs Edgar Portillo (5 - 2 3KOs), Broner would no time jumping right on his opponent from Midland, Texas. Broner came forward behind a tight guard and educated jab, setting up crisp combinations and dropping Portillo three times in route to a first round stoppage. The end came as Portillo would fall from a big counter left hook that had Portillo wobbled, dazed, and confused. It's a good win for Broner as he continues his way up the rankings in the junior lightweight division.

Rashad Ganaway vs Mickey Bey

Arkansas native Rashad Ganaway (10 - 1 - 1 7KOs) would find some great competition in his opponent Mickey Bey (12 - 0 7KOs). Ganaway began the fight boxing behind an educated jab as he look to dictate the pace of the fight. Neither fighter took control of the fight, as both guys would win in the few exchanges that took place early. Rashad would find some success with the jab and the occasional counter left hook, as Bey would circle left looking for openings. Around round four, Mickey Bey began to take control as he pressed the fight and stalked his opponent around the ring. He would have success with the jab and right hand counters. Ganaway, who began the fight with a good stiff jab, became content with fighting on the back foot looking to counter with the left hook. Bey, who seemed unphased by Ganaway's power continue to press forward as the aggressor. Ganaway's activity level would pick up in round 7 and would firing good combinations and quick counters. Round 8 was a closely contested round that saw both guys having their moments. Bey would take the victory by SD with scores of 79 - 73, 76-74, for Bey and 76-74 for Ganaway.

Marcus Johnson vs Matt Gockel

In a one-sided drubbing, light-heavyweight Marcus Johnson (16 - 0 13KOs) of Houston put on a one round beat down of Matt Gockel (12 - 10 7KOs). Johnson would stalk his opponent cornering him and firing rapid combinations to the head and body. The fight was stopped momentarily due to an accidental head butt. The fight would continue after the official took a close look at Gockel, but it would end moments afterwards due to the following onslaught by Johnson that halted Gockel at 1:37 of the first round. Marcus Johnson would indeed prove "Too Much" for the over matched Gockel of Topeka, Kansas.