Boxing Challenge: Matias stops Ponce

 It might not have quite reached fight of the year level but Subriel Matias's stoppage of Jeremias Ponce to win the vacant IBF junior welterweight title was still a very entertaining five rounds with Ponce unable to answer the bell for the start of round six.

Ponce charged early and controlled the first round with a surprising early attack and the two squared off with bunches of punches landed on each other in rounds two-four, as the two set a tremendous pace and had the fight continued at that rate, we could have seen a fight that would be remembered for years.

As usually happens in these types of give-and-take battles, one of the participants eventually wilts and in this case, it was Ponce as he was knocked down hard late in the fifth round, and while he showed tons of grit in getting up and concluding the round, his corner decided to stop the fight before the start of round six.

I scored the fight even after five rounds at 57-57, giving Ponce three of the five rounds with Matias gaining a point for the knockdown and I think Matias would have had an excellent chance at closing the show had the fight continued into the sixth round.

I think both fighters have futures as action fighters but Matias now has 19 knockouts in as many wins and with his hard punching and sometimes wild style, Matias is likely to provide entertaining fights against almost anyone and Matias should see the best of PBC's fighters in the division and even lightweights moving up as the better fighters in the division are affiliated elsewhere. (Josh Taylor, Regis Prograis, Jack Catterall, and Jose Ramirez fight for others).

PBC does have the somewhat lightly-regarded WBA champion Alberto Puello in their stable and pitting Matias and Puello against each other would unify half the division's titles, so that fight would not only make sense, it would provide extra credibility in a talent-rich division.

The co-feature saw comebacking welterweight Jamal James win a unanimous decision over Alberto Palmetta in a fight that never really seemed to catch fire.

James started well and finished well with Palmetta doing his best work in between.

James had not fought for seventeen months and it showed a little but James will have other fights available against fighters of his level.

I scored James a 97-93 winner, a tad closer than the official cards at 98-92 X2 and 99-91.

In the opener, Elvis Rodriguez won a majority decision over Joseph Adorno with knockdowns in the seventh and tenth.

I haven't watched this one as of this writing but the official scores read 94-94, 96-92, and 97-91 for Rodriguez, who could be in the running for a chance at IBF champion Subriel Matias or WBA king Alberto Puello with the win.

Boxing Challenge: Stevenson Snoozer, Ponce Impresses

 The boxing weekend didn't look to be all that exciting and it didn't turn out to be, but boxing could have found itself a possible future champion, and on a day that promised so little, that alone is a small victory.

In the biggest fight of the day from Top Rank/ESPN in Las Vegas, Shakur Stevenson dominated unknown Jeremiah Nakathila in winning every round and a unanimous decision, but no one seemed thrilled with Stevenson's tentative performance, and the only positive from the bout was the hope that Stevenson will fight Jamel Herring for Herring's WBO title next unless Herring decides to vacate in order to face Oscar Valdez for Valdez's WBC belt.

Should Herring choose to give up his title to face Valdez, the WBO will either hand Stevenson the title (he won their silly interim title in victory) or force Stevenson to face their top available contender in another untested contender Muhammadkhuja Yaqubov, in what would be the latest of lopsided bouts for Stevenson that the outcome is known before the fighters step into the ring.

Stevenson knocked an off-balance Nakathila late in the fourth round, but Nakathila wasn't seriously troubled and there were no other real chances to finish the fight.

I scored Stevenson a 120-107 winner in a forgettable fight except for the performance of referee Celestino Ruiz, who commented to the fighters "Watch Your Feet" about a dozen times per round.

The styles were awkward as southpaw vs conventional fights often are and in these fights, feet will often get tangled, and it's not easy to keep thing smooth, but Ruiz's non-stop warnings will be the only part of this fight that anyone will remember six months from now about this fight.

In the co-feature, former IBF junior lightweight and WBO lightweight champion Jose Pedraza fought well enough in yet another crossroads bout for the veteran to bring to mind Jim Valvano's phrase "Survive and Advance" as he defeated undefeated prospect Julian Rodriguez when Rodriguez's eye was swollen shut at the end of the eighth round.

The fight was closer on the cards than most seemed to see it with all three judges scoring Pedraza ahead 77-75, while I had Pedraza up 78-74 and I wonder if that might have been generous.

Rodriguez fought hard and gave what he had, but he was taking a big jump in opposition against Pedraza and it was apparent from the beginning as Pedraza's right hand smacked Rodriguez around the left eye and never stopped targeting the left side of Rodriguez's face throughout.

Pedraza's win may have placed him into position to fight for one of the titles that Josh Taylor may eventually give up, but Pedraza was calling out another champion after the win- WBA, IBF, and WBO lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez.

I wouldn't have an issue with Lopez-Pedraza down the road as a decent fight placed in between two really strong fights, and Pedraza would be better qualified than most for that type of challenger.

In the day's first fight from Newcastle, England, undefeated Argentine junior welterweight Jeremias Ponce jumped on hometown boxer Lewis Ritson and almost stopped him in the first round with a relentless attack to the body of Ritson that he was never able to shrug off.

Ponce's aggression overwhelmed the tough Ritson and Ritson didn't win a round on my card with only the fourth round even close to being scored for the Briton.

Ponce knocked Ritson down three times and Ritson's father, who is the boxer's head cornerman, threw in the towel after the first knockdown to save his son, but referee Steve Gray chose to ignore the towel and allowed the fight to continue with Ritson scoring two more knockdowns before the not-so merciful ending.

Referees can choose to ignore the corner's surrender if they desire, although they usually do honor the corner's request.

Ponce's performance made him the mandatory contender in the IBF for unified champion Josh Taylor, although he is more likely to fight for an eventual vacated title by Taylor.

In the boxing challenge, I scored three points to Ramon Malpica's two to boost my lead to 78-72.