After all, the WBC junior middleweight title grudge rematch between Tony Harrison and Jermell Charlo was on ice after Harrison suffered a training injury to his ankle that required surgery, late replacement Jorge Cota was clearly not on Charlo's level, the perpetually boring, yet technically dominant Guillermo Rigondeaux in the supporting bout against Julio Ceja and another Joey Spencer squash match to drag out what looked to be a dull night live from Haymon Land.
The main event ended as expected as Jermell Charlo violently knocked out Jorge Cota in the third round with a pair of right hands, the first one which dropped Cota and almost ended the fight then and there, but Cota was given the chance to survive only to be devastated by one more straight right that looked to be guided by radar and end the fight that will certainly be mentioned in the knockout of the year conversation.
While the KO was exciting, the fight didn't really prove anything considering the opponent and the post-fight talk featured the typical Charlo crowing, including the inference that Harrison dodged the fight, despite his watching from ringside with the ankle propped up, many fans/media criticized Charlo for yet another win against a fighter that was not remotely in his class.
I won't and I've not been afraid to notate either Charlo's weak challengers in the past, but I'm not sure what people expected from Charlo or PBC.
The division isn't especially deep right now. there was no one interested in taking a tough fight that isn't for a title on short notice, Fox had a network date set and both Charlo's have been criticized by me in the past for not fighting enough.
All things considered, I'm not blaming Jermell Charlo or PBC for the mismatch, it was one of those times that it simply could not be avoided, although if they fought better opponents (Remember that Harrison was lightly regarded after his split decision win over aging Ishe Smith entering their fight) I'd be more likely to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Guillermo Rigondeaux has been regarded for years as a master boxer that was boring to watch as his racehorse-like legs carried him around the ring to dominate top fighters such as Nonito Donaire and
Joseph Agbeko and occasionally show power against fighters that he didn't respect their punching prowess to score the odd knockout.
In an eliminator to face WBC champion Rey Vargas for his junior featherweight title, Rigondeaux appeared to be a prohibitive favorite against former WBC champion Julio Ceja, who had fought only three times since his February 2016 title loss in one round to Hugo Ruiz and one of those against good competition (Former bantamweight champion Anselmo Moreno) as he was expected to once again gallop circles around Ceja, earn a unanimous decision and move on the likely difficult work of making the mandatory fight against Vargas and his promoters with Golden Boy.
Instead, Rigondeaux dug into the canvas and fought Ceja in the most entertaining fight of the former two-times Olympic champion's career.
The action swung back and forth and often pushed the rulebook as both fighters were penalized in the eighth round for low blows and it seemed to be Ceja that was charging down the stretch to slightly lead (67-66) on my card after seven rounds.
The eighth round saw plenty of exchanges including the penalization of points as mentioned above, but it was Rigondeaux, who landed largest and last with a left hand that looked to have ended the fight with Ceja dropping to the floor with a thud.
Ceja surprisingly beat the count and was in deep waters, but referee Russell Mora waved the fight off with one second to go in the round.
Here's my complaint-you always hear the thump from ringside to indicate ten seconds remaining in the round, so Mora knows the time remaining, why not give Ceja a chance in his round to revive as, with only one second to go, Rigondeaux isn't going to be able to land any further punches in the round.
Simply follow Ceja to the corner, tell the corner you need to see some offense quickly or you'll stop the fight.
By not doing so, Ceja was not given a chance to continue in a situation where he should have been.
Bad call by Russell Mora, a referee that makes more than any referee named Lawrence Cole.
Rigondeaux seemingly has begun to make the same transition as his fellow Cuban Erislandy Lara, who also has become less dominant while providing more entertaining fights.
If this is a sign to come, Rigondeaux's fights may see a more vulnerable boxer, yet in the waning stages of his career, one that fans may finally want to watch him fight.
A final word on a non-boxing challenge fight as prospect Joey Spencer survived a stern challenge to remain undefeated with a close unanimous decision over Akeem Black, who entered the fight at only 5-2.
While I thought Spencer won the six rounder, his face was bloody at the end and Black rocked him in the fourth round to make me wonder just what PBC has in Spencer.
They must think he has the makings of something they can work with as Spencer's fights are often shoved into the two-hour block that PBC always advertises, but never reaches, but I question that after the struggles last night.
This is a problem when you push a prospect to the front of the line rather than for the hardcore observer that watches every prelim bout- every blemish is seen and it makes one wonder just what PBC expects from Spencer to give him this type of push?
It'll be interesting to see if the management slows Spencer's exposure down a bit to see where that may take them.
I do know this- it isn't good for a prospect to squeak by this early in his career against the fighter level that he is opposing.
In the boxing challenge, I added five points (3 from Charlo with a bonus point for the round of KO and 2 from Rigondeaux to Ramon Malpica's four (2 Charlo, 2 Rigondeaux) to move my lead to 152-138
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