number1contender.net

HBO Boxing After Dark Recap

"The Young and The Reckless"

March 7, 2009

San Jose Arena (HP Pavilion)-San Jose, California

This card is designed to showcase 3 young Golden Boy Promotions boxers: Robert Guerrero, Victor Ortiz and James Kirkland.Powered bythe local boxer, Guerrero, the event has drawn a respectable attendance of 6,765.

1. WBO NABO Junior Lightweight (130 pounds) 10-Round Championship Match:

Robert Guerrero (23-1-1, 1 ND, 16 KO's, 130 pounds) vs. Daud Yordan (23-0, 17 KO's, 129.5 pounds)

This title is currently vacant. It was last held by Roman Martinez, who vacated the belt to go after a more major title.

Guerrero began his amateur boxing career at a young age. He amassed a good amateur record, but decided to not wait around to attempt to qualify for the Olympics. Instead Guerrero turned pro at 18-years-old with a 4-round unanimous decision victory over Alejandro Cruz on April 22, 2001 at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California.

A resident of nearby Gilroy, California (which is also the home of the excellent Gavilan Hills Academy where I went to Elementary School), Guerrero has been out of high profile action for a while because of promotional issues. Guerrero had been with Dan Goosen, and after a protracted legal battle is now with Golden Boy Promotions. Guerrero's last real high profile match was a technical knockout victory 56 seconds into round 1 over Martin Honorio on November 2, 2007 at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California. Guerrero landed a straight left hand to Honorio's face to bring a quick end to the match. Honorio tried to stand at 9, and went stumbling. That forced the referee to stop the match. The full recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/3/15/recap-of-robert-guerrero-vs-martin-honorio.html

Guerrero's last match was a technical knockout victory 43 seconds into round 1 over Edel Ruiz on January 24, 2009 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Guerrero landed a perfect left hand to the body that left Ruiz gasping for air on the canvas to earn the quick stoppage.

Guerrero is The Ring magazine's number 10 contender to their vacant championship at 130 pounds.

Yordan has been brought in to be knocked out in spectacular fashion by the hometown boxer.

The Indonesian has a ridiculously built up record. Yordan has faced 3 boxers making their pro debut, 1 winless boxer, 2 boxers with 1 victory and 2 boxers with 2 victories. Yordan won a minor regional title at 126 pounds on May 17, 2007, then defended it against a boxer that was 3-0. However, that boxer said he was 7-1. To further inflate his record, Yordan even faced 2 boxers with only 3 wins in 2008.

Yordan's last match was a round 2 technical knockout over Hardian Siregar on December 22, 2008 at Indosiar Studio in Jakarta, Indonesia. Siregar was coming into the scheduled 8-rounder with a record o f3-12, and having lost his last 6 matches, the last 4 by knockout.

Yordan is unranked by The Ring, and currently the number 68 ranked boxer in the world at 126 pounds by boxrec.com.

At 21-years-old, Yordan is 4 years younger then the 25-year-old Guerrero. Guerrero stands 5' 9" tall, while Yordan stands 5' 7" tall. The local boxer has the reach advantage with a 22.5" arm length measured from the armpit to the end of the fist, compared to 21" arm length of Yordan. Both boxers have unofficially rehydrated to 135 pounds approaching match time.Guerrero will employ the southpaw stance, and Yordan will box out of the orthodox stance.

California's modified version of the unified rules of boxing are in effect for this match. All of the official judges keeping score of this match are from California. The referee is Jon Schorle. Harold Lederman will be keeping HBO's unofficial scorecard for this event.

The more aggressive Guerrero wins a relatively close round 1, 10-9. Guerrero is showing no respect for Yordan's power. With 2:00 to go in round 2, Guerrero has been cut by an unintentional clash of heads. Yordan is throwing 1 punch, then jumping in to clinch. When Yordan follows up to grab Guerrero, the Indonesian is frequently headbutting the Californian. The cut is above Guerrero's right eye and very bad. With 1:13 to go in round 2, the referee calls time to have the doctor check on Guerrero's cut. It appears the boxer is having difficulty seeing. Guerrero told the doctor he cannot see and that the blood is dripping directly into his eye. The doctor is going to have to stop the match. The referee is waving off the match. Since the match was stopped before the end of round 4 on an accidental foul it is by rule a no decision.

The official outcome courtesy of the legendary Michael Buffer is that: at 1:47 of round 2, because of a cut caused by an accidental headbutt Robert Guerrero cannot continue. Therefore, the referee after consulting with the ringside physician is calling a stop to this match and it will go into the record books as a no decision.

The final punchstat numbers have Guerrero landing 23 of the 111 total punches he threw, for a 21% total connect percentage. Guerrero landed 20 of the 73 power punches he threw, for a 27% power connect percentage. Yordan landed 14 of the 65 total punches he threw, for a 22% total connect percentage. The Indonesian turned out to only land power punches, landing 14 of the 54 power punches he threw, for a 26% power connect percentage.

Guerrero as expected showed that he was the much better boxer in this abbreviated match. He would reportedly like to face Humberto Soto next. Guerrero may take 1 more tune up match or go directly for Soto. The Gilroy resident showed he is one of the top boxers in this division and only risks further injury or a loss by delaying taking the title shot. Guerrero would be best off going for Soto as soon as he gets off medical suspension in the summer. Golden Boy Promotions is planning to collaborate with HBO for another Boxing After Darkevent on June 27 and tentatively, Guerrero will be boxing on that show.

Yordan used a dirty smoke and mirrors technique to briefly hang with the much better Guerrero. The one punch and hold technique is illegal and dirty. Yordan is very young and appears to have upside. However, he has very little power and would be best off refining his skills back in Indonesia.

2. USBA/WBO NABO Junior Welterweight (140 pounds) 12-Round Championship Unification Match:

Victor Ortiz (23-1-1, 18 KO's, 140 pounds) (WBO NABO) vs. Mike Arnaoutis (21-2-2, 10 KO's, 140 pounds)(USBA)

Arnaoutis won his USBA Championship when it was vacant via 12-round unanimous decision over Harrison Cuello on March 6, 2008 at the Grand Ballroom in New York City, New York. The previous champion was Demetrius Hopkins who vacated this title, because it is relatively meaningless. Arnaoutis is making his second defense of this title.

Ortiz won his title when it was vacant via technical knockout at 2:25 of round 5 over Robert Arrieta on September 13, 2008 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. The previous champion was Victor Manuel Cayo who vacated this rather meaningless to compete for another meaningless trinket in his native Dominican Republic. Ortiz is making his second defense of this title.

Ortiz had a solid amateur boxing career that culminated when he won the 2003 PAL Championship at 132 pounds.

The native of Garden City, Kansas should arguably be undefeated. His lone loss camevia questionable disqualification 2:59 into round 1 against Corey Alarcon on June 3, 2005 at the Performing Arts Center in Oxnard, California.

Ortiz' last match was a technical knockout victory at 1:19 of round 2 over Jeff Resto on December 6, 2008 at the MGM Grand. Ortiz completely dominated Resto in that match. The southpaw dropped Resto twice with a right-left combo in round 1. Ortiz was landing hard straight left hands with such frequency that Emanuel Steward, who was doing color commentary of the event for HBO, thought the match should have been stopped with 50 seconds to go in round 1. However, Ortiz had to drop Resto for the third time with a left hook in round 3 to earn the stoppage. The full recap of the match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/3/15/recap-of-victor-ortiz-vs-jeff-resto.html After that win, ESPN.com named Ortiz their Prospect of the Year for 2008.

Ortiz is unranked by The Ring, and ranked by boxrec.com as the number 12 boxer in the world at 140 pounds.

Arnaoutis is a native of Athens, Greece, but now resides in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He has boxed in the United States for his entire pro career having only made 2 trips to compete abroad. Arnaoutis' pro debut on April 30, 2001 was in Kiev, Ukraine. His other match outside of the United States was a technical draw against Ibrahim Aroby at Indosiar Studio on August 15, 2003.

The Greek is another boxer whose career has been reinvigorated by a management change. Arnaoutis suffered back-to-back losses to Ricardo Torres and Kendall Holt on November 18, 2006 and April 20, 2007 respectively. The Athens native then switched management and captured his fringe title in his next match. With a win here Arnaoutis would be in position to challenge for a major belt at 140 pounds by the end of the year.

Arnaoutis' last match was a non-title 10-round unanimous decision over Ben Ankrah on October 29, 2008 at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City.

Arnaoutis is unranked by The Ring, and currently ranked by boxrec.com as the number 59 boxer in the world at 140 pounds.

At 22-years-old, Ortiz is 7 years younger then the 29-year-old Arnaoutis. Arnaoutis has the height advantage standing 5' 10" tall, while Ortiz stands 5' 9" tall. Ortiz has the reach advantage with a 23" arm length, compared to the 22.5" arm length of Arnaoutis. The American will be the heavier boxer in the ring having unofficially rehydrated to 155 pounds approaching match time. Arnaoutis has only unofficially rehydrated to 150 pounds approaching match time. Both boxers will employ the southpaw stance. However, Ortiz is naturally right handed.

All of the official judges keeping score of this match from ringside are from California. The referee is Ray Balewicz.

Ortiz easily wins a deliberate round 1 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. With 1:39 to go in round 2, Ortiz lands a big left hand that has Arnaoutis in trouble. Ortiz follows up and traps Arnaoutis in the corner. That forces the referee to step in and save the still standing Arnaoutis with 1:33 to go in round 2. Arnaoutis was not punching back, and a right uppercut from Ortiz caused Arnaoutis to involuntarily drop his guard. That caused the referee to move in for a very good stoppage. Arnaoutis may think it was a little early, but on replay it is clear the referee made the correct call.

The official outcome courtesy of Michael Buffer is that: at 1:27 of round 2, the referee has called a stop to this contest making the winner by technical knockout and new unified USBA and WBO NABO Junior Welterweight Champion, "Vicious" Victor Ortiz. As Buffer is announcing the result, Oscar De La Hoya is shown on camera for the first time at a boxing event since being stopped by Manny Pacquiao on December 6. De La Hoya is shown congratulating his young star in the ring with a very impressed look on his face. The win moves Ortiz to 24-1-1 with now 19 wins coming by way of knockout.

The final punchstat numbers show how dominant Ortiz was landing 19 of the 58 total punches he threw, for a 33% total connect percentage. Ortiz landed 18 of the 29 power punches he threw, for an outstanding 62% power connect percentage. Arnaoutis landed only 3 of the 31 total punches he threw, for a pathetic 10% total connect percentage. The Greek landed 2 of the 8 power punches he threw, for a 25% power connect percentage.

Ortiz said in his post-match interview that he is ready for anyone at the top of the division. He also said he wants to go to Taco Bell, which luckily is only about a 5 minute drive from The Arena. (However, he would be much better off with Sue's Mongolian Bar-B-Q next to Santa Clara University it is less then a 10 minute drive from The Arena.)

The young boxer was great in this match. Ortiz started a little slow, but did not really show anything else he could improve on in this match. There are a lot of big names now at 140 pounds, and Ortiz may be too dangerous without the name value for any of them at this time. He is probably going to need to box on 1 or 2 more HBO BAD events before maybe getting a title shot at the end of the year. Ortiz is also tentatively scheduled to compete next on that June 27 HBO BAD event. If he wins quickly there and picks up another quick win in September, Ortiz could challenge for a title on the undercard of the big PPV in December.

Arnaoutis was completely dominated in this match. This was his first knockout loss. However, this was a far worse setback then most knockout losses. Arnaoutis did not land his first punch until 2:17 seconds into the match. The Greek is going to need to take some matches as the semi-main events of ESPN cards to rebuild from this blow out loss.

3. Junior Middleweight (154 pounds) 10-Round Match:

James Kirkland (24-0, 21 KO's, 153.5 pounds) vs. Joel Julio (34-2, 31 KO's, 154 pounds)

Kirkland had a good amateur boxing career, where he compiled a record of 134-12. He had a good chance to make the 2004 United States Olympic boxing team, but chose to turn pro in 2001 rather then attempt to qualify for the Athens Olympiad.

The Austin, Texas resident is becoming most well known for having a female trainer, Ann Wolfe. She has used an unorthodox approach to make Kirkland exceptionally well conditioned and aggressive in the ring. The 154-pound division is very thin and they believe they can make him the first male boxer trained by a woman to win a world championship possibly by the end of the year.

Kirkland's last match was a technical knockout victory at 1:45 of round 8 over Brian Vera on November 22 at the MGM Grand. Kirkland completely dominated the match from the opening bell. The Texan knocked down Vera twice in round 2, then became technically sloppy. Kirkland seemed to have such little regard for Vera that he was not concentrating on defense and consistently punching. The match degenerated in a glorified toughman contest, because Kirkland seemed unwilling to use his boxing skills and Vera did not have any. Finally, Kirkland knocked down Vera again in round 8. The referee allowed Vera to continue after the knockdown, but after Vera ate a few unanswered punches, the referee stopped the match a few seconds later. Kirkland was dominant in his win, but did not look very good. A full recap of the match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/3/15/recap-of-james-kirkland-vs-brian-vera.html

Kirkland is currently The Ring's number 9 contender to their vacant championship at 154 pounds.

Julio turned pro at 16-years-old in his native Colombia with a round 4 knockout over Jorge Perez on May 18, 2001. The Colombian knocked out his first 14 opponents in his homeland. When Julio finally started to box in the United States, he was named ESPN.com's Prospect of the Year for 2005.

The Colombian had a high profile match opening the ESPN Friday Night Fights show on March 30, 2007 at the Cobo Center in Detroit, Michigan. The boxing event was being run to take advantage of the huge crowd that had come to see WrestleMania XXII that weekend. Julio's match was particularly interesting, because it featured guest commentary from former amateur boxer and then current ECW-Extremist Elijah Burke. Julio defeated Thomas Davis in that match via knockout at 2:47 of round 7. The Colombian was so dominant in out-working Davis that the match was somewhat boring. The full recap of that match featuring excerpts of Burke's commentary can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/3/15/recap-of-joel-julio-vs-thomas-davis.html

Julio's last match was a 12-round unanimous decision loss to Sergiy Dzinziruk on November 1, 2008 at the Koenig Pilsener Arena in Oberhausen, Germany. That was only the second loss of Julio's career and both have come to boxers who employ the southpaw stance. Julio reportedly turned down the largest payday of his career to headline another HBO BAD card against a boxer that uses the southpaw stance for a title at 154 pounds. Considering that 154-pounder was the elite Sergio Martinez, that may have been a good decision. Unfortunately, Julio is facing a boxer who will be using the southpaw stance in this match.

Julio is unranked by The Ring, and currently the number 34 ranked boxer in the world at 154 pounds by boxrec.com.

Both boxers are 24-years-old. Julio has the height advantage standing 5' 10" tall, while Kirkland stands 5' 9" tall. Both boxers have a 23.5" arm length. The Colombian will be the slightly heavier boxer in the ring, having unofficially rehydrated to 167 pounds approaching match time. Kirkland has unofficially rehydrated to 166 pounds approaching match time. Julio will employ the orthodox stance and Kirkland will box out of the southpaw stance.

All of the official judges keeping score of this match from ringside are from California. The referee is Raul Caiz, Jr.

With a little over 30 seconds to go in round 1, Julio is cut over the right eye. The referee has ruled that the cut was caused by a punch. Kirkland starts very fast and wins round 1 easily on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. A close up in the corner shows Julio's cut is in a bad spot. It is under Julio's eyebrow, barely over the outside of his right eye. The boxer's eye was already showing a little bit of redness from the blood getting into it. The cut is probably inhibiting his vision. Kirkland wins round 2 in dominating fashion, 10-9. The southpaw is showing vastly improved defense over his last match. However, Kirkland is still very defensively flawed. Julio is repeatedly landing straight right hands over the top of Kirkland's left hand. This would be more of a problem for the Texan, except Kirkland's constant pressure is forcing Julio to throw these punches backing up so they are not as hard as they could be. Lederman scores round 2 for Kirkland, 10-9. Round 3 is really good. The boxers were exchanging combinations of power punches throughout the round. Kirkland takes round 3, 10-9, and leads on my scorecard after 3 rounds, 30-27. Julio looks completely exhausted at this point. Kirkland is forcing Julio to work and move at a frenetic pace that the Colombian does not seem mentally able to handle. In the corner, Julio looks frustrated. He will only be able to go a few more rounds at this pace before breaking. Lederman scores round 3 for Julio, 10-9, but has Kirkland leading after 3 rounds, 29-28.

With 2:55 to go in round 3, the referee gives Kirkland a stern warning for hitting behind the head. Then with the referee standing between the boxers before the action has fully resumed, Kirkland hits Julio with a left hook. That was a complete cheap shot on a boxer who was not looking to defend himself, because the action had not resumed. The referee is somehow not taking a point for that. The referee instead admonishes both boxers to "keep it clean" and orders the match to resume with 2:36 to go in the round. Julio won the first 1:30 of round 4. However, he completely ran out of gas in the second half of the round and resorted to holding on to rest rather then punching. Kirkland's consistent work wins round 4, 10-9. To open round 5, there is severe swelling under Julio's right eye. The cut above Julio's right eye has been bleeding almost non-stop. The boxer is having severe difficulty seeing out of his right eye, which is making him an easier target for Kirkland's left hands. Kirkland wins round 5, 10-9. The Texan takes rounds 4 and 5 on the Lederman scorecard, both by the score of 10-9. Kirkland overwhelms Julio to win round 6, 10-9, and is ahead on my scorecard after 6 rounds, 60-54. The referee is stopping the match in the corner following round 6. It appears Julio said he could not continue. Replays after the match confirm it was a left hand from Kirkland that cut Julio above his right eye in round 1. It was repeated left hands from Kirkland throughout the match that caused severe swelling above and below Julio's eye to the point he could barely see out of it. It also appears at some point, another left hand from Kirkland cut Julio below the right eye.

The official outcome courtesy of Michael Buffer is that: the referee has stopped the contest in the corner after round 6 making the winner at 3:00 of round 6 by technical knockout and still undefeated, "The Mandingo Warrior" (Yes, he apparently took his nickname from the name Ultimate Warrior wrestled under in Texas.) James Kirkland. The win moves Kirkland to 25-0 with now 22 wins coming by way of knockout.

The final punchstat numbers have Kirkland landing 125 of the 459 total punches he threw, for a 27% total connect percentage. Kirkland landed 94 of the 323 power punches he threw, for a 29% power connect percentage. Julio landed 93 of the 306 total punches he threw, for a 30% total connect percentage. The Colombian landed 79 of the 205 power punches he threw, for a 39% power connect percentage.

Kirkland said in his post-match interview that he was intentionally dropping his hands to set a trap for Julio. The Texan explained that he was dropping his hands to induce Julio to punch. Then he (Kirkland) would raise his hands to block and counter Julio. Kirkland said he was also intentionally dropping his hands on the inside to create more punching room for himself. This is an odd technique that requires the boxer to have a tremendous ability to take a punch if something goes wrong, but it worked perfectly in this match. Kirkland said he never felt Julio's punching power. The boxer continued that the hardest contacts came from unintentional clashes of heads, but during training camp he had been prepared to deal with that. Therefore, being headbutted did not bother him at all. This sounds hard to believe, but he sounds like he is telling the truth.

Kirkland was very good in this match. He is still very technically flawed, but has a crowd pleasing style that makes him enjoyable to watch. Kirkland could be much better if he threw more jabs and cleaned up his defense. However, he is ready for some top level matches, now. Kirkland is currently scheduled to box on the undercard of Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton PPV on May 2. He could face Alfredo Angulo in a top undercard match on that show, possibly even the semi-main event.

Julio was completely over-matched by the very aggressive Kirkland in this match. The Colombian who is known as a power puncher was unable to do any significant damage to Kirkland. The fact he was unable to hurt Kirkland shows he may need to moved down a weight class and reportedly he is already considering that. Julio will probably need to return to boxing on ESPN for several years to rebuild from 2 straight losses to top competition. He is still very young, but will need to do a lot to prove he belongs back competing against the top boxers in the world.

The Kirkland match was exciting. However, Ortiz appeared to be the most promising prospect coming out of this show. None of the matches on this event were competitive. Anyone who missed this event did not miss much.

News and Notes: It appears Miguel Cotto will take the most difficult opponent available for his June 13 match at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It appears Cotto is going to face Joshua Clottey in a 147-pound title unification match that night on either HBO or Showtime. HBO would be the most likely network to carry the broadcast. The winner would then get Shane Mosley to determine an undisputed champion at 147 pounds in the fall. If that is Cotto it would be on PPV. If it is Clottey it would be carried on premium cable.

Boxing at Madison Square Garden did suffer somewhat of a setback recently. On March 6, a show scheduled for March 16 at what was formerly the Theater at Madison Square Garden had to be canceled due to poor ticket sales. The show had an Irish theme for St. Patrick's Day, but apparently a show on a Monday was not a good idea. What promoters have figured out to cope with a difficult economy is to run more shows in the hometown of the headlining boxers. Therefore, there will be no boxing events held in Las Vegas in 2009 until April 11. That will be the Paul William-Winky Wright match and it is expected to do rather poorly at the gate. Instead, Youngstown, Ohio got to host a PPV and Newark, New Jersey has hosted 2 world championship matches in less then 3 months.

The details of the Jermain Taylor-Carl Froch match are finalized. Taylor will challenge for Froch's 168-pound title on April 25 at the Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Connecticut. The match will be broadcast on Showtime. The talkative Froch had wanted to do the match in England, but no one in England was willing to put up the money for the match.

Finally some video game news, the cover athletes for EA's Fight Night Round 4 have been announced. It will be Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson. The game's advertising will be based around who would win a hypothetical match up between the 2 in their prime. However, the game seems to be using the animation of the post-suspension Ali, where he was heavier, had lost some of his speed and was clearly on the decline. (Also, if anyone thinks the match does not end with Ali winning via knockout they need to watch more video tape.) Fight Night Round 3 was the first good sports game for the XBOX 360 and for several years remained the best. Lennox Lewis is consulting on this game and it has a lot to live up to, and will hopefully feature less of the Burger King.

The next recap will be coming out soon covering the March 13 ShoBox event featuring Lucian Bute defending his 168-pound title.

Sincerely,

Jereme Warneck

number1contender.net

Boxing and Video Game Correspondent for f4wonline.com

Hidden Valley Lake, CA

I can be reached for feedback and comments at ZurRoadie@aol.com or as JeremeW on XBOX Live. I read everything.