Ivan Calderón prevails over Cazares in remach!
By Luis Torres (02-Sep-2008)

Luis Torres was live at ringside for Ivan Calderon's eagerly anticipated rematch with Hugo Cazares. Read on for a full recap of the card, only on FightFan.com!

Ivan ‘Iron Boy’ Calderon retained his WBO junior flyweight world title via seventh-round technical decision over former champion Hugo Cazares last Saturday night in Puerto Rico. While it was not the decisive victory Calderon and his fans wished for, it was still another dominant performance from the slick defensive artist.

Calderon, who entered the ring dressed like a matador, was able to impose his style effectively on the aggressive challenger right form the opening bell. Calderon used superior foot and hand speed to elude the constant pressure from Cazares. Reminiscent of their first meeting chants of “Ole!” erupted from the crowd with every missed shot from Cazares, who kept trying to corner the champion and confuse him with feints and a low guard.

Calderon dominated the early rounds with an accurate jab combined with slick right hooks and uppercuts that would often send the challenger off balance and stumbling across the ring. Cazares had his best moments in the fifth and sixth rounds when Calderon was a little less active on the offence. Yet the challenger was still not able to land any significant blows. Calderon used the jab and clinch when necessary to neutralize Cazares’ pressure.

After six rounds things were beginning to heat up, much like their first encounter. Then, in Round 7, an accidental clash of heads opened up a severe y-shaped cut on Calderon’s forehead that started bleeding profusely. It was inspected by the ring doctor who immediately decided to stop the bout. All three judges had Calderon ahead at the time of the stoppage for a unanimous-technical decision victory.

Calderon expressed disappointment over the nature of the stoppage but made clear his intention to unify the 108-pound division against another title holder. He also talked about his intention to move up to the 112-pound division in pursuit of the elusive pound-for-pound recognition some still seem to deprive him of.

Rocky Martinez wins another slugfest

Roman ‘Rocky’ Martinez won Puerto Rico’s 2007 fight of the year honors for his battle against Daniel Jimenez as the co-feature for Calderon vs. Cazares I. Last Saturday night, Martinez stole the show one more time putting up yet another thrilling performance against Ricardo Mayorga’s countryman Santos Benavides. At 14-1-(12 kos) the Nicaraguan had stated he was coming to war during the press conference prior to the fight. He did not disappoint as he came out slugging and dropped Martinez with a huge right hand in the second round. The crowd went quiet until the local rose to his feet banging his gloves together and visibly amped up by the wake up call. Motivated by chants of “Rocky!” Martinez furiously attacked Benavides who was more than willing to trade with the local warrior.

By the third round, Martinez connected with a solid hook to the body that seemed to bother Benavides and followed up with a vicious body attack. It was a thrilling battle that had the crowd cheering and chanting until the end came in the sixth. Benavides finally hit the canvas courtesy of a solid right hand and stood up just in time to meet Martinez who was going for the kill. Martinez followed his victim around the ring landing various combinations until the referee mercifully stopped the action.

After the fight Martinez commented, “When he knocked me down, it just instantly motivated me. I said to myself, ‘Oh this is a war, let’s do this!’ When they hit me like that, they better be ready to go to war. He’s a strong fighter, but I hit him in the body and saw that it hurt him, so I kept going to the body until I knocked him down and the fight was over.”

Morel puts on a clinic on his way to title shot

Former WBA flyweight champion Eric Morel continued his quest to win another world title with a solid unanimous-decision win over solid contender Heriberto Ruiz. Morel proved to be as slick and accurate as when he was on top of the flyweight division and even displayed punching power that seemed to be lacking even before his three-year layoff.

‘Little Hands of Steel’ dropped Ruiz with a solid left hook to the chin and was able to rock ‘El Cuate’ on numerous occasions, but Ruiz showed he had come to win and remained dangerous through all 12 rounds. Morel continued his almost flawless boxing exhibition piling up points as the bout progressed for a 117-109 win on all three official scorecards.

With the win, Morel collects a WBO regional title that has him knocking at the door for a shot at current titlist Gerry Penalosa which is expected to happen for his next fight.

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