Saturday, July 16, 2022

Boxing Challenge: Barboza defeats Zorrilla

   Undefeated junior welterweight Arnold Barboza outslugged his undefeated opponent Danielito Zorrilla and won a unanimous decision in the main event of an ESPN/Top Rank card from Temecula, California.

Barboza won the middle rounds of the fight and generally outboxed Zorrilla, who was fighting his first fight against a world-class opponent.

Barboza appeared to have hurt his left hand in either the sixth or seventh round and it hampered his offense a bit but the bigger concern for the Barboza camp as their fighter nears an eventual title shot could be his chin as Zorrilla hurt Barboza in the final round with a right hand as Zorrilla looked for a comeback win.

Barboza was hurt but wasn't knocked down as he stemmed the tide of Zorrilla's late rush.

Barboza won handily on all three official scorecards, winning 98-92 and 97-93 x2, which was the same as my scorecard.

Zorrilla showed some heart as every time Barboza appeared to be nearing a stoppage in the middle rounds, Zorrilla would fire back with his strong right hand to gain the respect of the more polished title contender, and Zorrilla fought well enough that I'd like to see him again.

As for Barboza, who I also like, he was fighting for the first time in eleven months and there was some rust that he fought through but I'm starting to wonder if he is a top ten contender or a title threat?

Barboza isn't a smooth boxer or a big puncher, he's just a solid versatile fighter, and those types of fighters often have to be special or lucky enough to fight the right champion to win a title.

Still, he might be good enough to overcome that problem, if he can stay active and sharp.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 129 Pts (0)

Ramon Malpica: 108 Pts (1)

Vince Samano: 106 Pts (2)


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