Ponce De Leon KOs Lucero; Rubio, Mora Battle to Draw
by
Coyote Duran
10/23 - "Quien mas macho?", indeed. The main event of Telefutura's Miller's Solo Boxeo was an interesting bout between junior featherweight/featherweight prospect Daniel Ponce De Leon and former IBF 122 pound titleholder Emmanuel Lucero for the NABO Super Bantamweight strap.
Resembling somewhat an amalgam of Ruben Olivares and Asian-American action star Jason Scott Lee, Ponce De Leon, 122, out of Cuauthemoc, Chihuahua, Mexico, started the bout tentative and cold, allowing Lucero, 122 out of the Bronx, NY by way of Mexico City to press an immediate attack. Many of the shots missed wildly as Ponce De Leon dodged while measuring the onslaught. Ponce De Leon would go on to circle the ring while going for the body. Lucero would stay low, continuously ducking, but opening himself. Ponce De Leon would compensate by keeping his stance very wide, lowering his center of gravity while staying eye-to-eye with his foe. Ponce De Leon would eat a sharp left soon enough for his troubles, prior to the end of the round.
The second heat would open with more uncertainty from Ponce De Leon and more confidence from Lucero. Lucero used more good head movement, confusing his undefeated challenger, but Ponce De Leon would return well on the inside. Lucero would command the ring for the majority of the round, capitalizing on the apparent clumsiness of Ponce De Leon. With about 30 seconds left, Ponce De Leon starts finding his spots.
Lucero opens the third backing up Ponce De Leon and almost slips. Ponce De Leon finds his opening and backs up Lucero with hard shots. Ponce De Leon connects with a sharp left uppercut and follows with a body attack. Ponce De Leon would begin to find his rhythm and thoroughly claim dominance with more powerful lefts.
Lucero smirks back at Ponce De Leon, trying to work the bluff that Ponce De Leon's attack didn't affect him, but was only met with a straight left body shot to the bread basket that doubled over Lucero for a nine count. Lucero would back into the corner and use serious head movement to try to confuse his foe to no avail. Ponce De Leon would crack Lucero with a short beauty of an uppercut to the head, flattening him for an immediate stoppage by referee Rocky Burke.
With the KO, Daniel Ponce De Leon lifts his record to 23-0 with 22 KOs and gains the NABO Super Bantamweight title. Emmanuel Lucero falls to 22-3-1 with 13 KOs.
Rubio and Mora Battle to Majority Draw
In a bout that outshined its main event, in terms of quality, welterweights JUan Carlos Rubio and young prospect Adrian Mora battled in a special 10 round attraction on Telefutura's Miller's Solo Boxeo.
Rubio, out of Mexico, is best known for his spoiler victory over then-hot prospect Francisco "Panchito" Bojado in 2002. Mora climbed into the ring, very likely believing Rubio would be a walkover opponent, but was surprised by a game, hardnosed challenger that took the fight to the young prospect in spades.
In the first heat, Mora worked the first minutes with his lanky, long reach while Rubio staked his claim with punches in bunches. Being so tall, Mora had a lot of area to protect and had much to cover, leaving open targets for the smaller Rubio to pick at will. Rubio, an expert at in-fighting, digs in and uppercuts and jabs with authority.
Mora opens the second stanza with cautious jabs, but Rubio keeps the pursuit going. Rubio would target Mora's jaw with crisp left uppercuts and hooks, often finding his mark. Near the end of the round, Mora would start warming up and find his spots.
In the third and fourth rounds, Rubio continued to attack hungrily, taking adavantage of Mora's height, but would become part of a new back-and-forth that saw Rubio and Mora give and take with gutsiness to spare.
In the fifth, both men crack heads, but the fight continues as neither men were seriously affected. Rubio keeps his straight rights consistent while Mora opens up with combos to the head and body
The sixth sees Mora still catching rights and lefts in frequency although Rubio's face would show the evidence of the sparse, yet harder shots from Mora. Another unintentional headbutt opens up a small cut near the edge of Rubio's right eyebrow but the ringside doctor allows the fight to continue, much to Rubio's approval and ignition of a new Mora attack. Mora tries to target the cut but Rubio forces him back readily.
Rounds 7 and 8 see more brave exchanges by the two with a warning in the 7th for headbutting and a slight slowing of the pace in the 8th. Mora would throw more telegraphed loopers but Rubio would come back with more inside work and uppercuts.
Round 9 starts slow with a Mora straight right, but the action halts when referee Rafael Ramos admonishes Mora for hitting Rubio twice from behind, once on the back when Rubio was bent over briefly and once again behind the head. Mora would go on to command the 9th with more straight rights and lefts. At the bell, Rubio delivers a staredown that showed he was nothing less than incensed.
Round 10 starts slow and measured. Mora wings more wide shots. Some connect but even more miss before Rubio corners Mora and fires away. The crowd vocalizes its support for the game, scrappy Rubio while he stays busy catching Mora with great straight power punches. Mora hops on his bike to preserve the round but soon trades with Rubio into the closing seconds. As the bell rings ending the bout, both gutsy Latinos raise their hands in victory.
When the cards were tallied, a different tale would be told than the one I experienced. In a fight that I scored 98-93, Rubio, Judges Wilfredo Esperon and Rocky Burke scored the fight 95-95, a draw, while Levi Martinez scored a very dubious 96-94 in favor of Adrian Mora, resulting in a majority draw.
With the draw Juan Carlos Rubio's record becomes 30-7-2 and 11 KOs while Adrian MOra's career gains his first draw, making his record 12-0 with 7 KOs and emerging with the realization that Juan Carlos Rubio is noone's walkover.
"Quien mas macho?", indeed.
The event was promoted by Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions and both fights were at El Paso Colisseum in El Paso, Texas.
Coyote Duran can be reached at theboxingguy@yahoo.com
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