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Juan Urango (21-2-1, 16 KO's, 139 pounds) (c) vs. Randall Bailey (39-6, 35 KO's, 139.5 pounds)

 

 

Urango won this title when it was vacant via unanimous decision over Herman Ngoudjo on January 30, 2009 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec. This was the first of the matches ESPN purchased with the extra money they saved from canceling the Wednesday Night Fights series. Montreal is getting near infamous for rigging matches for hometown boxers and they did their best to guarantee the local boxer, Ngoudjo, would walk away with the decision here. First, assigned to the contest was Montreal based referee Marlon B. Wright. Wright is literally the worst major hometown official in either the United States or Canada, and there is not even a close second. (Wright is not fit to be the official for a 5-year-old Tee Ball game where they do not keep score, he is that bad.) Wright and the time keeper did work to help Ngoudjo win, but Urango was so dominant that he won the match easily on the scorecards. To do that, Urango scored 2 knockdowns in round 3. Urango even seemed to poised to score a knockout in the round 3. However, with Ngoudjo badly hurt and nearly a minute left in the round, Wright stopped the action to spend several seconds sternly warning Urango for a phantom low blow. That allowed Ngoudjo to recover and last out the round. In round 10, Wright decided to be a factor in the match, again. Ngoudjo told Wright he was hit low. The thing is Wright never saw the punch Ngoudjo was complaining about it, which was not a low blow. At the asking of the Montreal boxer, Wright promptly moved in to vigorously chastise Urango for hitting low and threatened to take a point at the next fictional offense. Wright was looking to do it the rest of the match. Luckily, Ngoudjo forgot to signal Wright to take the point and Urango was not throwing low blows. That made it hard for even Wright to find a punch to deduct Urango for throwing. The farce that was round 10 continued, as the timekeeper forgot to ring the bell to end the round on time. It ended up going 5:10 when finally a local official just told the timekeeper to ring the bell when it was clear the round had gone way too long. The crowd figured it out after the round had gone less then 30 seconds too long, but there might be lead in the drinking water they give to the officials in Montreal that leads to stuff like this happening far too often. In another bit of good fortune, nothing major happened in the extra 2:10 of the round. Had anything happened in the overtime portion of the round, the match would have been ruled a no-contest. A full recap of this debacle can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/5/27/recap-of-juan-urango-vs-herman-ngoudjo.html Urango is making his first defense of this title.

 

Urango began his profession boxing at 21-years old with a round 2 knockout victory over Efrain Sotomayor on April 30, 2002 in Monteria, Colombia.

 

The native Colombian is seeming to be part of a statistic in boxing of Colombian's that show amazing power in their homeland, but average power outside of it. In Colombia, Urango was 8-0 with all 8 wins coming by knockout in under 3 rounds. Outside of Colombia, Urango has 8 knockouts in 16 matches, which is nothing special. Urango throws wild looping punches rather then more technical straight punches. That type of striking can score knockouts against lower level opponents and some good opponents when they occasionally land. However, top level opponents can usually see the punches coming and dodge them or counter them with straight punches. Urango has been in 4 major world title matches and has not knocked out any of his opponents in those matches.

 

Urango's last match was a 12-round unanimous decision loss challenging Andre Berto for the American's 147-pound title on May 30 at the same building that is housing this event. The native Colombian was confounded by Berto's amazing speed for the entire match and never competitive in the match. A full recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/8/28/recap-of-andre-berto-vs-juan-urango.html

 

Urango is The Ring's number 7 contender at 140 pounds to their champion in the weight class, Manny Pacquiao.

 

Bailey began his professional boxing career at 21-years old, on April 6, 1996 with a round 1 technical knockout over Fernando Garcia in Miami, Florida. The Miami resident would go on to knockout his first 21 opponents with all of those knockouts coming before the end of round 9.

 

Bailey has a knack of being in memorable matches. Bailey lost to Herman Ngoudjo, who Urango beat in blowout fashion to win this title in an unforgettable match via split decision on June 8, 2007 at Uniprix Stadium in Montreal, Quebec. The ring was set up in the middle of an outdoor tennis stadium and in the middle of this match, a thunderstorm erupted. At that point, many of the crowd headed for the exits. However, a large part of the tremendous Montreal crowd started heading towards the ring to try and stand in the shelter of the tarp covering the ring. The tarp did not provide enough cover for all of the crowd who chose to remain. Therefore, they began to sing the "Ole" song as they were doused with heavy rain. Meanwhile, the Bailey and Ngoudjo responded to the boisterous crowd, by having a thrilling all action slugfest. Then with only a few rounds to go, the storm knocked out the lights in the area while the boxers were getting their one minute rest between rounds. With the power gone, the crowd continued to sing as the boxers sat on their stools. Then when after about a minute the power came back, the crowd roared and the boxers immediately charged out of their corners to the middle of the ring to resume boxing without the referee's signal. This was similar to Samoa Joe vs. Takeshi Morishima, where the 2 wrestlers ran out to jump start the match and the referee's only choice was to call for the bell.

 

Bailey's last match, was of course, a memorable knockout of Francisco Figueroa at 1:46 of round 4 on April 3, 2009 at the Pepsi Pavilion in Memphis, Tennessee. Bailey landed a hard right hand that knocked Figueroa completely unconscious. It was such a spectacular knockout that would be the likely knockout of the year for 2009, except for Pacquiao's round 2 knockout of Ricky Hatton that seems to be the lock to win that award.

 

Bailey is unranked by The Ring, and ranked by boxrec.com as the number 15 boxer in the world at 140 pounds.

 

At 28-years old, Urango is 6 years younger then the 34-year-old Bailey. Bailey has the height advantage standing 5' 9" tall, while Urango stands 5' 8" tall. According to boxrec.com, Urango has the reach advantage with a 71" wingspan, compared to Bailey's 70" wingspan. Neither boxers unofficial weight approaching match time is available. However, Urango failed to make weight for this match on his initial attempt coming in at 140.5 pounds. He was then given 2 hours to sweat off the extra weight and came in on weight. That means he is likely to be the heavier boxer in the ring. Both boxers are naturally right-handed, but only Bailey will employ the orthodox stance. Urango will box out of the southpaw stance.

 

The hometowns of the judges keeping official score of this contest from ringside are not announced. The referee is Tommy Kimmons. Kimmons is the top referee in Florida and usually gets assigned to all of the major matches in the state.

 

With 1:23 to go in round 1, Bailey goes down to the mat. The referee rules it is a slip. That appears to have been an excellent call by the referee. After repeated viewings on slow motion replay, it appears the boxers torsos touched when Urango was coming forward throwing a combination. That was what caused Bailey to go down, not the combination by Urango. The referee was in perfect position to see the contact and made the correct call. Superb job on Kimmons part. With 34 seconds to go still in round 1, Urango goes charging in wildly and falls over Bailey's hip to the canvas. The referee correctly rules it a slip and the action is restarted with 28 seconds to go in the round. Bailey lands several good right hands to win round 1, 10-9. Urango wins a somewhat sloppy round 2, 10-9. Round 3 is contested at short range allowing the champion to win it, 10-9, and Urango leads after 3 rounds on my scorecard, 29-28. Atlas scored round 2 for Urango, 10-9. ESPN's color commentator scored rounds 1 and 3 for Bailey, 10-9, and has the challenger ahead 3 rounds, 29-28.

 

Urango wins round 4 easily by walking forward and landing power punches with impunity, 10-9. Atlas scores round 4 for Urango, 10-9. Bailey is able to land several hard right hands on the outside to win round 5, 10-9. Round 5 is even on Atlas' scorecard, 10-10. With 2:02 to go in round 6, Urango is hit with a short right hand, and half a second later the champion is laying bloody on the canvas. Urango is cut badly below his right eye, which is a safe place to be cut. It should not play a factor in this match no matter how much longer it goes, which looks to be about 10 seconds. Urango barely beat the count. The champion made his feet at the count of 9. The referee is allowing Urango to continue with 1:44 to go in the round. With 1:35 to go still in round 6, a left hook causes Bailey to take a step back and trip over Urango lead left leg. On this trip, Bailey's left glove touched the canvas. That could be ruled a knockdown, it should at least require a break to dust off Bailey's gloves. However, the referee does not call anything and allows the action to continue without any pause. The knockdown wins round 6 for Bailey, 10-8, and that pulls Bailey ahead on my scorecard after 6 rounds, 57-56. Atlas scores round 6 for Bailey, 10-8, and has the challenger ahead after 6 rounds, 58-56.

 

Urango's constant pressure wins round 7, 10-9. At the end of round 7, Urango's right eye is beginning to swell shut from the swelling around the cut under his eye. Bailey wins round 7 on Atlas' scorecard, 10-9. Bailey lands more clean right hands to take round 8, 10-9. Atlas scores round 8 for Urango, 10-9. A close-up to start round 9 reveals that Bailey's left eye is in bad shape and swelling shut. A left hook drops Bailey with 2:28 to go in round 9. Bailey is in real bad shape. The referee is standing over Bailey applying his count and it appears the challenger will not be getting up from that punch. Bailey barely beats the count standing at 9 7/8 or 9 15/16. (I hate fractions.) The referee is going to allow Bailey to continue with still 2:13 to go in round 9. The challenger's chances of making it out of this round appear slim. A right hook sends Bailey staggering to the canvas with still 1:49 to go in round 9. The referee is going to apply a count. Bailey is up at the count of 7, but looks completely out of it. Bailey's corner should throw in the towel here to protect their charge. Bailey is being allowed to continue with still 1:36 to go in the round. The 3 knockdown rule is not in effect. By almost exclusively holding for the last 1:36, Bailey is able to finish round 9 standing. The 2 knockdowns give Urango round 9 huge, 10-7, and that pulls him ahead on my scorecard, 85-83. Urango only wins round 9 on Atlas' scorecard, 10-8, and that makes the match even on the Atlas scorecard after 9 rounds, 85-85.

 

Bailey is still hurt when he comes out to start round 10 and looking to buy more time to recover. There is a cut around the left eye of Bailey with over 2:00 to go in round 10. A right hand to the body drops Bailey to a knee with 49 seconds to go in round 10. The challenger might be smart to stay down even if he can get up at this point. Bailey stood at 8, but has the look of a defeated boxer. The challenger appears to want out and Bailey's corner should oblige him by throwing in the towel. Bailey is allowed to continue with still 37 seconds to go in round 10. Bailey should be able to last out the round if he really wants to finish the round. A beleaguered Bailey makes it out of round 10 by running and holding. Urango takes round 10 on Atlas and my scorecard, 10-8. Less then 10 seconds into round 11, Urango pushes down on the back of Bailey when the challenger ducks down, and the American drops to the canvas. The referee rules it an obvious slip, but has to work to get Bailey off the canvas in a timely manner. Bailey's corner really needs to stop this match or their charge could be seriously hurt. In rounds 9 and 10, Urango had a 53-to-10 advantage on total punches landed. The action is not resumed until there is 2:44 to go in round 11, because Bailey is past the point of exhaustion. With 1:28 still to go in round 11, Bailey again drops to a knee in a clinch. Again, the referee rules it a slip and has to cajole Bailey to get off the canvas. The action is resumed with 1:20 to go in the round. This match should really be stopped by Bailey's corner. The referee will clearly stop it at the next opportunity, but in this situation it is the responsibility of Bailey's corner to throw in the towel to protect their boxer. With 1:10 to go in round 11, Bailey's corner is doing the right thing and throwing in the towel. Excellent job by the corner to stop the match. This is causing Bailey to collapse in tears in his corner, but hopefully the boxer understands that this was the only thing his corner could do.

 

The official outcome courtesy of Bob Alexander is that at: 1:51 of round 11 the winner by technical knockout and still IBF Junior Welterweight Champion of the World, Juan "Iron Twin" Urango. The win moves Urango to 22-2-1 with now 17 wins coming by way of knockout.

 

Urango said in his post match interview that he wants Timothy Bradley.

 

Urango was entertaining in this match. He is very limited, but when matched well can look like an elite boxer. Urango looked completely different tonight then the boxer that was dominated by Berto in his last match or Hatton in his other loss. The champion does not deal well with boxers that possess tremendous speed or that do not break down with his constant pressure. Bradley is an elite boxer who would probably make Urango look very bad. It might be an entertaining match and Showtime would be glad to televise it. It could also be a terrible one-sided match that Bradley could dominate on the outside with his speed. However, it would not be the best strategic match for Urango, because he would probably lose, badly. If Juan Diaz is going to stay at 140 pounds, that could be a great match-up for Urango. Urango has a title, which is something Diaz wants and the 2 could produce a match of the year candidate for HBO with how well their styles seem to mesh.

 

Bailey is good in a division filled with lots of great young boxers. As noted in the preview, he seems to always be in exciting matches. The American boxed well enough to beat most boxers tonight, but not the boxers in the top 10. He can probably be around the periphery and challenge for the numerous titles floating around in the weight class for the next several years. A match between Bailey and someone like Kendall Holt or Nate Campbell in another title eliminator for some belt makes sense. He should be a mainstay of ESPN cards for years. That is assuming he does not take too many more beatings like he did tonight.
 

 

 

This match was great at times and something worth looking to catch on a replay. As a negative, ESPN tried a new format for their season finale, which was not the best. Also, they had their studio analyst, Brian Kenny, and play-by-play man, Joe Tessitore, out for this show. The inexperienced fill-ins somewhat detracted from the show.