San Antonio's Ramon Cardenas survives upset bid in L.A.
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Ramon Cardenas set the pace early. It was slow and rather deliberate, but decisive enough to stay a step – and punch – ahead of his Colombian opponent.
Or so it seemed.
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Cardenas' performance Saturday night in Los Angeles didn't live up to expectations - his or anyone else's. But it appeared to be good enough to win comfortably.
It was not.
The San Antonio super bantamweight contender had to endure some anxious moments in the ring, waiting for the ring announcer to reveal the result, after going 10 tough rounds with Leonardo Carrillo.
Cardenas wound up winning a split decision by scores of 98-92, 93-97 and 96-94. The suspense was created when the second scorecard was read in favor of Carrillo. Could the third go against Cardenas, resulting in a huge upset?
The final score brought sweet relief.
"Yeah, that was crazy, right? I don't know what (that third judge) was seeing," Cardenas said afterward. "I was surprised it was that close."
Most ringside observers felt Cardenas won by a wider margin. ProBoxTV analyst Paulie Malignaggi said no one "could make a case for Carrillo winning" the fight.
Final punch statistics said as much. Cardenas landed 148 of 623 total punches to 72 of 335 for Carrillo.
"Sometimes in boxing, you just have to win and move on," Malignaggi said.
Saturday was one of those times.
Cardenas (28-2, 15 KOs) had been on such a roll, with wins in 15 of his previous 16 fights.
And that one loss? It seemed more like a win. It came just over a year ago in Tokyo, when Cardenas shocked the boxing world by flooring "The Monster," Japan's undefeated pound-for-pound king Naoya Inoue, Cardenas lost by TKO, but the knockdown punch elevated his status worldwide.
Cardenas was now rated among boxing's upper echelon.
Ranked No. 2 in the world by the WBA and WBC, Cardenas was hoping to use the Carrillo fight as an audition of sorts for a match against recent Inoue challenger and former bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani of Japan.
He remains in line for that, but a resounding victory Saturday would have added considerable momentum to the cause.
Carrillo (20-2-1, 9 KOs) had other ideas. The 33-year-old now fighting out of Panama displayed his toughness from the opening bell. He never demonstrated much in the way of urgency, but he displayed toughness and a strong chin to go with enough skill to keep Cardenas from dominating.
Cardenas pointed out that he had been working on throwing more punches and that the 623 punches delivered against Carrillo were a career high.
"I thought I fought a good fight, considering what he gave me, which wasn't much," he said. "He came to fight but he didn't come to win. He just wanted to survive."
Midway through the fight, Cardenas was forced to increase his output - attacking the body - at the urging of his corner, But the slow pace continued with few inspired exchanges.
The biggest reaction from the crowd - an audible gasp - came at the beginning of the ninth round after a looping right hand by Cardenas that missed.
Cardenas didn't win as much as he survived, but not all wins in boxing are created equal.
Nor are they always pretty. Win and move on.
Franco beaten in comeback bid:Things did not go as well Saturday for San Antonio fighter Joshua Franco, a former world champion and brother of current pound-for-pound star Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez.
Franco (18-3-3, 8 KOs), fighting for the first time after retiring three years ago due to mental health issues, was upset by 22-year-old Santiago Barajas (10-1-2, 4 KOs), of Mexico, who won by split decision in an eight-round bout in Guadalajara.
By fight's end, the left eye of Franco, 30, was completely swollen shut.
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