Aug 5 - HBO KO Nation
5:00 pm
Sornpichai Pisnurachank vs. Eric Morel
(WBA flyweight championship)
Sorn is a relatively unknown Thai boxer, albeit he is the WBA flyweight champion.
He has fought only once outside of Thailand and fought a tough 12 round decision in Italy
to beat the local favorite Luigi
Castiglione. That was only in his 8th professional fight. Sorn is relatively unknown, but
his record stands at 19-0 with 16 KO's. Sorn packs a big punch. He once again enters the
ring fighting the home town boy in Eric Morel. Eric continues his quest, and is finally
vying for a REAL world title. Last Dec he fought his toughest foe to date Oscar
Arciniega to a convincing decision (as predicted). In
Eric's last outing this past Feb, he dismantled Tomas Rivera in an 8 round unanimous
decision. Now he steps up against the WBA Champion Sornpichai. How do I see it?
Eric will start slow and cautious, but will dictate the pace of the fight early. Sorn will
hold his own and there will be many heated exchanges, but Eric will get off first, more
accurately and will be more effective. Expect Eric to box his way convincingly to his
first REAL world title.
Morel by Decision
Clarence "Bones" Adams vs. Andres Fernandez
(WBA jr featherweight championship)
Since Clarence won his title with the major upset of Nestor Garza, he has been
catapulted into the international spotlight. Prior to his surprising win over to Nestor he
was relatively unknown, and his only bouts of notoriety were a 12 round draw against Kevin
Kelly in Sep 95 and an impressive 10 round decision to heralded Aristead Clayton. Clarence
has now set his sights on all the icons of the 118-126 pound weight classes like Johnny
Tapia and Naseem Hamed. Yeah, we'll see how he does in his first title defense against
Andres.
Andres is virtually in the same situation Clarence was in when he fought Nestor. He too is
unknown, and this is the fight of a life time for him. The only difference between these
two is tenacity and heart. Clarence has both. His loses were due to cuts or injury. He has
never been stopped. Andres has been stopped. Unknown Jason Pires stopped him in the first
round in Aug 98. Expect Clarence to open fast, and make a statement. I expect Clarence to
be dropping bombs from the opening bell, and most will penetrate the porous defenses of
Andres. The damage will be done inside 6 heats. Clarence will get his stoppage then call
out every champion in the post fight interview.
Adams inside 6
Aug 5 - Showtime 10:00 pm
Zab Judah vs. Terron Millett
(IBF jr welterweight championship)
This is going to prove to be the most entertaining bout of the week-end. This is
an epic grudge match of world championship proportions. You see, Zab holds Terron's title.
Terron won the title by 5th round TKO over Vince Phillips in Feb 99. Five months later he
fought and defended his title in an exciting 12th round stoppage of Virgil McClendeon. Zab
was to be his next challenger. Well, a little more than that. Zab was the IBF #1 MANDATORY
challenger. Then it was discovered Terron broke his hand in the fight with Virgil. Delays
on Terron's part to defend his title ensued. These delays resulted in Terron being
stripped of his title, and Zab #1 had to fight Jan Bergman #2 for the vacant title. Zab
won, defended once, and now Terron's back saying something about wanting his title back .
. . This should be good.
I've touted Zab since I saw him take apart Darryl Tyson in Oct 98. His first round
destruction of David Sample was as predicted, and when
he won the title by stopping Jan Bergman in 4 this past Feb, it was as predicted, in the exact round!
Terron is banger in his own right. with a record of 21-1-1 with 17 KO's, he shows power in
his punching ability. He beat Virgil as predicted, and
I believe that fight took a lot out of Terron. Some suspect that he hid behind his injury
to avoid Zab. Hmmm. Terron's only loss came via 1st round blow out at the hands of current
WBA super light weight champ Sharmba Mitchell in Sep 95.
Expect a fast and furious fight, as long as it lasts.
Zab has lightning fast hands, and throws well placed combinations. I expect Zab to bum
rush Terron and go for the early KO. With Terron's long lay off and Zab's consistent
activity and Duva leadership, it'll be a short night for the former champion Terron.
Judah inside 4
Jessie James Leija vs. Juan Lazcano
Every since Dec 95, when Oscar stopped Jesse in the 2nd, this poor guy hasn't
been the same. Six months later he fights Azumah Nelson, and gets his clocked cleaned
again in 6 rounds Jun 96. In Jul 98, he faced Azumah again, and fought him to a 12 round
decision. Sure enough, in Nov the same year, Shane Mosely stops him in 9. Jessie has had a
career of ups and downs, every since Oscar was the first to stop him and those 4
tremendous wars with Azumah Nelson. Jessie steps in the ring, 4 bouts since his loss to
Shane and on the heels of a 3 round stoppage of Jorge Luis Lopez this past Apr. Now he
faces Juan. Juan is a banger in his own right. With a record of 23-2-1, 16 KO's, he owns a
win to KO ratio of %69.5. Though not a former world champion like Jessie, he has fought
some noted opposition, most recently an 8th rd KO of Wilfredo Vazquez this past Jun. He
lost by TKO to Golden Johnson in Jun 98, but that was due to cuts. The boy has heart. He
took Golden's bombs and was landing his own, until the ref stopped the fight.
It's self evident that when Jessie is pitted against heavy handed opponent that applies a
lot of pressure, he folds. That's Juan's style. That's Jessie's down fall. Jessie will
make a go early, but will fade in the middle and fall in the later rounds.
Lazcano inside 8
In Retrospect:
This was a most entertaining week-end of fights. I nailed my predictions on all
four cards, and in 3 out of the four wins, I hit my prediction in the exact round!
Sornpichai Pisnurachank vs. Eric Morel
As expected. Eric displayed great boxing skill and movement and never allowed the Thai
banger to set his feet and get his power off. Eric out hustled and out punched him at
every exchange. Finally, Eric has a REAL world title! I suspect he will make many
successful defenses of this title as well. I'll keep an eye on Eric.
Clarence "Bones" Adams vs. Andres Fernandez
Almost as expected. Andres was continually leading with his head, and there were a lot of
head butts. Clarence didn't look real good in this outing. He did prove his chin and heart
though. He was taking some big bombs from the Andres. It seems that Clarence just couldn't
get into a rhythm. I hope his boxing ability is better than what was displayed to the
world last night. If that's all the boy has, it's just a matter of time before someone
takes his title away. He was lucky to land that big overhand right to open Andres eye
because if this went to the cards, we may of seen an upset.
Zab Judah vs. Terron Millett
Exactly as expected. And like I said, as long as it lasted. Both men opened up with bombs,
and in the last minute of round 1, Terron scored a flash knockdown of Zab. Zab was on his
feet in a instant, then the bell ended the round. In the second round, they picked up
right where they left off. Zab was landing shots at will then landed a perfect straight
right that had Terron on his back. He got up, but you could see in his eyes he was rocked.
By the third round, the Zab express was in full steam, and Zab was clearly in control. In
the fourth, Zab landed a left hook that spun Terron and dropped him. The end was near. Zab
opened with another flurry, and landed a hook to Terron's head. At the same time Terron
was delivering a right, over punched and hit the deck. He was up, the ref was counting.
The Ref asked if he wanted to continue, he said yes, the ref stopped the fight. Even
minutes after the stoppage, you could see a distance in Terron's eyes. He wasn't all
there. Terron made no excuses, and like Jessie before him gave all credit to his
challenger and accepted defeat. I told you to keep an eye on Zab. Next stop . . .
Kostya Tszyu.
Jessie James Leija vs. Juan Lazcano
Not as expected. Jessie brought a lot to the table, and in the end took defeat gracefully.
I have to take back anything bad I've ever said about Jessie because last night he proved
that he is a champion. Not only because he out worked and out hustled the youngster Juan,
but he looked fresh throughout and in losing, took it like a man. I have a much deeper
respect for Jessie and his abilities now, and in my opinion he won last night. It's funny,
because the only one who was making excuses was Juan, and he took the nod! This was a good
experience for the young banger from Sac-Town, and I hope he learned an important lesson
tonight. Always expect the unexpected. Although I believe Jessie won, officially Juan was
the victor. Shamelessly I add this as a win in my record, but I can live with that =)
