Malignaggi gets redemption over Diaz and picks up NABO title

Chicago ignites as Paulie “The Magic Man” Malignaggi and Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz wage war! There was no love lost as the two battled in Chi-town.

Paulie Malignaggi scored a twelve round unanimous decision at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago in a Jr. Welterweight bout

Malignaggi 27-3(5KO) came out for round one with his blistering speed and clearly beat Diaz to the punch very early. Diaz started finding his mark midway through the second round while the two engaged to the delight of the fans. Diaz 35-3 (17KO) narrowly won rounds two and three with a classic match of a boxer versus puncher, with Diaz trapping Malignaggi in the corner on occasion but the Magic Man disappeared to the abyss of the big ring. The two warriors split the next two rounds while mixing it up on occasion, and in round 6 Malignaggi landed a great right hand that stunned Diaz for a moment and Malignaggi took the opportunity to land a great flurry while playing to the crowd to their delight. Round 8 was a great close round of back and forth action with the slick speedster out punching the relentless Mexican puncher. Round ten drew excitement as Malignaggi knocked Diaz off balance and down (glove touched the canvas) with a slick right hand. Diaz came out fueled in the 11th knowing he has ground to cover, stalking and throwing big left hooks at the Italian fighter out of Brooklyn . Going in to the final round both fighters knew what was at stake, with Diaz pressuring a counter punching Malignaggi who seemed to know he was ahead slightly on the score cards. Diaz landed a few really hard left hooks that started a ferocious crowd pleasing exchange, a perfect ending for a gem of a fight. The final score cards read 116-111. The 15rounds.com scorecard was a little closer at 115-112. Great fight!

In the co-main event Vicious Victor Ortiz got back on track with a great TKO6 win over Antonio “Tono” Diaz due to a cut caused by a punch. Ortiz dropped Diaz in round two with two big straight left hands, and controlled the fight with snapping jabs from the southpaw stance that was setting a trap for the straight left hand that often found its mark. In round 6 as Diaz was pressuring Ortiz he was caught with a straight left that caused a big cut over the left eye of Diaz. Officially the win comes at :01 of the seventh round. Ortiz was coming off of a hard loss at the hands of tough Marco Maidana, a fight in which Maidana was down once in round 1 and twice in the second. Ortiz also down in the 1st once in 6th where the fight was stopped. Over the last 14 years Diaz has fought a Who’s Who of the sport including Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito, and Juan Lazcano and he holds wins over the likes of Corey Spinks, Micky Ward, Ivan Robinson, Emanuel Augustas, and Omar Weis. Diaz was the former IBA JR Welterweight and defended that title 11 times while compiling a 24 fight winning streak.

Former Cuban amateur star Erislandy Lara 9-0(5KO) won convincingly over Luciano Perez 17-10 (15KO). The southpaw Lara spent most of the fight being the cat in a cat and mouse affair in which Perez fought valiantly but basically to survive the rounds. Lara’s southpaw, peek-a-boo style, frustrated and confused the Mexican fighter who had a long night trying to reach the Cuban rising star. Officially the cards read 100-90 twice and 99-91.

Lara, who was considered to be one of the favorites at welterweight for the 2008 Beijing Olympic games, left the Cuban amateur boxing team on July 22, 2007 during the Pan-American games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Lara left the team with Guillermo Rigondeaux Ortiz, and initially was reported to be turning professional with ARENA Box-Promotion and Ahmet Oener. However, Lara was subsequently arrested with Rigondeaux, and stated that he wanted to return to Cuba. Lara subsequently escaped from Cuba again via speedboat to Mexico. He has since signed with Arena Box-Promotion and turned professional in July 2008.

Brooklyn based JR Lightweight Arenis Mendez 15-2 (9KO) outpunching a tough and awkward but powerful Morris Chule 7-8-1(7KO). Arenis hurt the Kenyan Chule with big shots throughout the fight with the 5th round being the most competitive. This fight drew many ooo’s and boo’s but overall was a very clean technical win by Mendez over a very unorthodox Chule. The official scorecards read 80-72 twice and 78-74.

Former US Olympic alternate and 19 year old Hylon Williams Jr 12-0(3KO) showed excellent skill in a slick 8 round contested win over Humberto Tapia 14-12-1(7KO) in the Jr. Welterweight division. Williams spent the fight fighting off a very aggressive Tapia, but his brilliant hand speed and power proved to be too much for the Mexican Tapia. All three judges saw the fight 80-72 for the golden boy promoted Williams. My ringside scorecard read 78-74.

Welterweight Jimmy Herrera made an explosive pro debut with a stunning first round knockout over Gustavo Palacios who falls to 2-7. The end was a result of two big right hands at just 28 seconds of the opening round.

One of the most ferocious Pound for poundpunchers in boxing, and former world champion, Randall “The Knockout King” Bailey 40-7 (35 KO’s) knocked tough guy Germaine”Silky” Sanders 27-8 (17 KO’s) down a total of 3 times on the way to unanimous decision. Bailey was coming off of a 11th round TKO loss to Juan Urango in August while challenging Urango for the IBF Light Welterweight title. I spoke to Bailey immediately after the fight and he said he felt great fighting at his new weight of welterweight, but was not overly happy with his performance, as he felt he could of taken the Chicago based Sanders out to add to his knockout tally. The official cards read 80-69, 79-70, and 77-72. 15rounds.com ringside had it 79-70 Bailey.

Heavyweight Darlington Agha 2-0(2KO) scored a 2nd round TKO over Terry ADAMS 0-2 to get the show started with a bang. The end came at :01 of the second.

Heavyweight Dominick Guinn 32-6 -1 won a hard fought unanimous decision over Charles Davis 19-18-2. The scorecards read 60-54 and 58-56 twice.

Jr Welterweight Omar Figueroa 9-0(9KO) was very impressive with a 2nd round TKO over Anthony Woods who falls to 6-13. The fight was stopped at 1:46 of round 2.

Jr Middleweight, Ronald Hearns 23-1-(18KO) the Son on Legend Thomas Hearns, wins by TKO6 over Shadrack Kipruto 10-12. The end came at 2:33 of the sixth.

Welterweight Jermell Charlo 10-0 (5KO) ignited the crowd with and exciting 2nd round TKO over Abdon Lozano 6-1(1KO) who suffered his first pro loss. The official time of stoppage was 2:11 of the second.