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By Michael Norby: In the main preliminary bout on the Pacquiao vs. Clottey HBO pay-per-view broadcast, skilled Mexican Humberto Soto picked up the vacant WBC lightweight world title with a unanimous decision victory over former champion David Diaz at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, USA.
Soto 51-7-2 (32) who also holds the WBC version of the junior lightweight championship, wasted no-time introducing himself to Diaz 35-3-1 (17) after he landed a cracking short right uppercut seconds into the first round. After a short time-out due to a clash of heads, Diaz’ glove touched the canvas after a stunning left hook on the inside caught the already bloodied former champion off balance, handing Soto a 10-8 opening round.
The typically aggressive Diaz seemed perfect for Soto and the taller, faster Mexican scored regularly as his opponent tried unsuccessfully to hustle his way to the inside. Diaz had only landed seven punches in the first six minutes and things got no better over the next handful of rounds as Soto continued to pick off the Chicagoan with well timed punches.
To his credit, Diaz remained in top gear and he tractored his way into position in the fifth where the southpaw began to connect a little more frequently with straight left hands. The gulf in class was still evident, however, and Soto largely negated Diaz’s pressure game with greater speed and accuracy as the contest passed the midway point.
Diaz enjoyed his best round of the fight in the eighth when Soto’s output was boiled down to occasional right hands. The American built on that success a round later and he landed with some of his best punches of the contest as he raked Soto with both hands against the ropes throughout the three minutes.
Diaz continued to blast forward aggressively in the tenth and eleventh rounds, prompting tight action and forcing Soto into wild exchanges. The Mexican obliged and, although he seemed to tire in the final round, his faster hands saw him score a knockdown late in the frame to cement his victory.
Scores: 115-111; 117-109; 117-109
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Undercard Report
In welterweight action, Contender season one star Alfonso Gomez surely brought the legendary career of former world champion Jose Luis Castillo to a sad end as the veteran remained on his stool after the fifth round.
It’s no secret that Castillo 60-10-1 (52) has seen better days and he was a shadow of his former self in the opening round as Gomez 22-4-2 (11) easily out-landed the veteran in a lopsided three minutes. Things got a little tighter in the second and third, but the former Contender star continued to land the better shots. His steady offering of straight right hands and hooks to the body all scored while Castillo missed regularly and connected with infrequent and power-lacking counter punches.
The fight was uninspiring to say the least but, in fairness, Gomez was trying to press forward and he landed the more significant shots and he bloodied his fellow Mexican after a string of right hands landed flush on the dial of Castillo in the fourth.
After another mismatch in the fifth, Castillo remained on his stool, handing Gomez a stoppage victory.
Time of stoppage: End of round 5
***
With just a handful of days remaining before St. Patrick’s Day, Ireland’s John Duddy will return to New York in time for Wednesday’s big parade with a narrow victory under his belt. The popular middleweight scored a split decision nod over capable Mexican Michael Medina over ten rounds.
After an evenly fought first round that saw both fighters score with short hooks to the body and head, Medina 23-2-2 (18) landed the first big sequence of the fight in the second – a left hook downstairs followed by a quick, chopping right hand to the head. Duddy 29-1 (18) responded with his own body work and he began to control the frame with sharp and accurate combination punches that forced his opponent to retreat.
By the third, Duddy was largely in control of the contest. Despite a handful of lightly toasted head shots from Medina, the Irishman scored regularly with two and three punch combinations and widened the gap in the fourth with crisp, clean punching.
It seemed from the early going that Medina didn’t have the weaponry to truly trouble Duddy and, in the middle rounds, although the Mexican connected with some of his best punches, Duddy’s output was much brighter. His quicker, shorter and straighter punches zipped through Medina’s wide, looping shots and, although the action was less than exciting, it looked like Duddy was strolling to victory.
The Derryman forced Medina to the ropes with a terrific combination midway through the sixth which finally prompted the Mexican to bite down and let his hands go which led to the most exciting action of the contest. Medina was warned for low bows in the seventh but he exploded at the end of the round with a huge right hand that stunned Duddy and forced him to walk gingerly back to his corner at the bell.
Duddy had recovered by the start of the eighth and, in what was a close round; the Irishman caught a break when referee Robert Chapa deducted a point from Medina’s tally for low blows. Duddy managed to turn the tide in the ninth and he buzzed Medina with a string of hard punches but seemed to tire somewhat in the final three minutes.
That allowed a spirited Medina to surge forward over the three minutes but after some decent exchanges, including a fiery punch-up in the final ten seconds, Duddy scraped by with the victory.
Scores: 96-93; 93-96; 96-93
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