[GForce]

March Title Fight Recaps Cont.

IBF Featherweight Title Fight: Vicente Saldivar (5-0, 4 KO) vs Cecilio Lastra (2-1)

Saldivar comes off an impressive defense against Danny Lopez, knocking him out in 4. Here, he takes on another solid challenger in Cecilio Lastra, a rematch of the tournament semifinal in which Saldivar stopped Lastra by TKO in Round 7. This time, Saldivar makes even shorter work, battering Lastra into a 5th round stoppage as ref Mickey Vann jumps in with Lastra out on his feet. He never went down, but that's just a technicality. Saldivar has been extremely impressive so far.

Vicente Saldivar TKO 5 Cecilio Lastra

WBA Jr. Welterweight Title Fight: Antonio Cervantes (4-0, 3 KO) vs Saoul Mamby (2-1)

Cervantes chooses an intriguing opponent for his first defense, the defensive Mamby, who makes it very hard to look good. And through 6 rounds, Mamby is ahead on two cards and tied on a third. Cervantes was visibly frustrated after the second round, but ripped Mamby apart in the third, then took over late in the fourth, hurting Mamby late with a thudding left to the body. But Mamby appeared to take both rounds 5 and 6 on the strength of his defense, as his accuracy on his punches was lacking. He was, in essence, getting points as much for making the champion look bad as he was for scoring. Cervantes took the 7th and in the 8th, when Mamby was cut outside his right eyebrow, which bleeds badly and brings swelling quickly. Cervantes has his best round of the fight in the 8th, working the head and body with power and precision, finding openings that didn't seem to be there earlier, and it's more of the same in rounds 9 and 10. Mamby seems to be tiring, and in the 11th, that gash over the eye is reopened, with the eye nearly swollen shut. The doctor takes a look, but lets Mamby continue. Shockingly, Mamby responds well, with a furious flurry that seems to catch Cervantes off balance. He makes it out of the round, but early in the 12th, with his corner unable to stem the flow or reduce the swelling, Cervantes rips him early. The cut opens wider and it's obvious Mamby sees nothing coming from that side. Despite his objections, the doctor tells Richard Steele to stop the fight, awarding Cervantes a TKO victory at 48 seconds of the 12th. It's a debatable stoppage, since Mamby won the 11th on all cards and hadn't been down. But it took a breather in the 11th when the doctor checked the cut for Mamby to get that second wind. Had he been left to fight on, Cervantes likely would have taken him out anyway. A great effort from Mamby, but Cervantes survives to keep his title.

Antonio Cervantes TKO 12 Saoul Mamby

IBF Jr. Middleweight Title Fight: Maurice Hope (4-0, 2 KO) vs Tadashi Mihara (2-1-1)

This fight drew cries from Winky Wright, who drew with Mihara last month. "Hope's scared of me," Wright said before the fight. "Why would he fight Mihara but not me? Because he knows I can beat him." Hope's response was a predictible one..."I already beat Wright," he said, referring to his unanimous decision victory in the tournament semifinal. "Been there, done that." Hope is in control of this one through 6, save for Round 2, and looks to be fighting with confidence. Mihara eats a lot of leather early and is dropped twice in Round 6. But Hope starts to get a little careless, and starts to leave openings. After an even 7th, it's Mihara who starts to rake Hope, dominating him in the 8th and for the first 2 minutes of round 9, before Hope realizes he better not give this one away. Mihara still takes the 9th, but Hope resumes control in the 10th before knocking Mihara cold in the 11th.

Maurice Hope KO 11 Tadashi Mihara

More to come....

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