OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post

kenyan_cheena · 04-03-2009, 05:08 PM

EL UNIVERSAL

Sunday 9 July 2006

ZARATE AND ROMAN
ONE STEP CLOSER TO
COLOSSAL SHOWDOWN

Story by Miguel Trelles

Two of Mexico's premier boxers moved within one fight of a long awaited and anticipated clash last night. Bantamweights Carlos Zarate and Gilberto Roman both scored convincing victories in the quarter-finals of the International Boxing League's World Championship tournament at the Arena Mexico. Former WBA Champion Zarate turned back a determined challenge from Japan's Katsuhige Kawashima, winning by 6th round knockout. The fight had been a tight, competitive affair through the first four rounds before Zarate imposed his will on Kawashima, punishing him in the 5th and then completely obliterating him in the 6th. A jolting right cross floored the 8th seed for the first and last time in the bout, Kawashima counted out at the 2:14 mark. Zarate upped his record to 29-1(22) while Kawashima fell to 27-4(17). There are many observers who have said that, pound-for-pound, Zarate is amongst the top three or four most talented fighters signed by the IBL. The man himself ignores such talk, but it would be true to say that at the very least he is presently the #1 bantamweight in the world.

Earlier in the evening Roman was too classy for the Frenchman Theo Medina, winning by unanimous decision (96-94, 98-93, 97-94). 24 year-old Roman relinquished his IBF junior-bantamweight title to sign on with the IBL and made a confident start to the tournament, outlanding Medina 266-179. They willingly traded hard shots through the first six rounds but the action died down noticeably during the last four. Medina looked to be out of gas, something that Roman noticed and went with, content to cruise to the finish line. He's now 24-1(17), Medina 29-4-1(22). Roman was in a relaxed mood afterwards, saying that he was happy to avoid misfortune and make it to the semi-finals. Roman is a good friend of welterweight fighter Enrique Diaz, the two both born and raised in Mexico City. Diaz will be competing in the IBL's welterweight World Championship tournament semi-finals on September the 1st and was there in support last night as part of Roman's entourage as he made his walk to the ring.

Roman's next opponent figures to be a much tougher challenge as it will be the undefeated former IBF bantamweight champ Owen Moran. The Englishman defeated Scotland's Peter Keenan by unanimous decision in a rematch of a clash from late 2004. On that evening they'd gone twelve rounds in Moran's first title defense, last night's encounter a ten-rounder with Moran taking the verdict by scores of 98-90, 97-90 and 98-89. He subdued Keenan through the first five rounds and then floored him once in each of the 7th, 8th and 9th frames. It was only in the final round that Keenan had any success and that was entirely due to Moran easing off dramatically. Moran landed 276 punches to Keenan's 190, the Scot connecting with 36 in the 10th to inflate his numbers. Keenan had come into the fight expecting to test and even defeat Moran. If anything, he received a worse beating than in their first meeting. He fell to 28-4-1(22) while Moran improved to a still perfect 23-0(15).

The hope amongst Mexican fight fans was that the veteran Romeo Anaya would be able to get past Korea's Jung-Il Byun to set up an all-Mexican semi against Zarate but it was not to be. Anaya mounted a brave offense through the first three rounds but Byun wiped him out in the 4th, connecting with a flood of unanswered shots that left referee Jose Cobain with no choice but to stop the fight 2:19 into the round, Byun the winner by TKO. Although only 31 years of age Anaya appears to be a spent force. He's now 33-8-1(22), his brief run as IBF champion (from mid '02 to early '03) seeming a distant memory. There wouldn't be many prepared to put their money on Byun when he steps in the ring against Zarate in twelve weeks, but the Korean is a tenacious customer and that must count for something.

For a number of years the lighter weight divisions have been mostly ignored by the American boxing-following public, mainly due to the lack of American fighters campaigning in them. However, IBL president James Molk has made it a priority to heavily promote his organisation's fight cards in these lower weight classes, such as bantamweight and flyweight. Once released, the ratings figures that last night's card generated for HBO will give a clear picture of how successful Molk was in that endeavour.

***

Results

(#4) Jung-Il Byun TKO4 (#5) Romeo Anaya
(#3) Gilberto Roman UD10 (#6) Theo Medina
(#2) Owen Moran UD10 (#7) Peter Keenan
(#1) Carlos Zarate KO6 (#8) Katsuhige Kawashima

Semi-finals

(#2) Moran (23-0(15)) vs (#3) Roman (24-1(17))
(#1) Zarate (29-1(22)) vs (#4) Byun (36-6-2(27))

***

04-03-2009, 05:08 PM	#258 (permalink)
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 7,598 Thanks: 81 Thanked 143x in 125 posts	EL UNIVERSAL Sunday 9 July 2006 ZARATE AND ROMAN ONE STEP CLOSER TO COLOSSAL SHOWDOWN Story by Miguel Trelles Two of Mexico's premier boxers moved within one fight of a long awaited and anticipated clash last night. Bantamweights Carlos Zarate and Gilberto Roman both scored convincing victories in the quarter-finals of the International Boxing League's World Championship tournament at the Arena Mexico. Former WBA Champion Zarate turned back a determined challenge from Japan's Katsuhige Kawashima, winning by 6th round knockout. The fight had been a tight, competitive affair through the first four rounds before Zarate imposed his will on Kawashima, punishing him in the 5th and then completely obliterating him in the 6th. A jolting right cross floored the 8th seed for the first and last time in the bout, Kawashima counted out at the 2:14 mark. Zarate upped his record to 29-1(22) while Kawashima fell to 27-4(17). There are many observers who have said that, pound-for-pound, Zarate is amongst the top three or four most talented fighters signed by the IBL. The man himself ignores such talk, but it would be true to say that at the very least he is presently the #1 bantamweight in the world. Earlier in the evening Roman was too classy for the Frenchman Theo Medina, winning by unanimous decision (96-94, 98-93, 97-94). 24 year-old Roman relinquished his IBF junior-bantamweight title to sign on with the IBL and made a confident start to the tournament, outlanding Medina 266-179. They willingly traded hard shots through the first six rounds but the action died down noticeably during the last four. Medina looked to be out of gas, something that Roman noticed and went with, content to cruise to the finish line. He's now 24-1(17), Medina 29-4-1(22). Roman was in a relaxed mood afterwards, saying that he was happy to avoid misfortune and make it to the semi-finals. Roman is a good friend of welterweight fighter Enrique Diaz, the two both born and raised in Mexico City. Diaz will be competing in the IBL's welterweight World Championship tournament semi-finals on September the 1st and was there in support last night as part of Roman's entourage as he made his walk to the ring. Roman's next opponent figures to be a much tougher challenge as it will be the undefeated former IBF bantamweight champ Owen Moran. The Englishman defeated Scotland's Peter Keenan by unanimous decision in a rematch of a clash from late 2004. On that evening they'd gone twelve rounds in Moran's first title defense, last night's encounter a ten-rounder with Moran taking the verdict by scores of 98-90, 97-90 and 98-89. He subdued Keenan through the first five rounds and then floored him once in each of the 7th, 8th and 9th frames. It was only in the final round that Keenan had any success and that was entirely due to Moran easing off dramatically. Moran landed 276 punches to Keenan's 190, the Scot connecting with 36 in the 10th to inflate his numbers. Keenan had come into the fight expecting to test and even defeat Moran. If anything, he received a worse beating than in their first meeting. He fell to 28-4-1(22) while Moran improved to a still perfect 23-0(15). The hope amongst Mexican fight fans was that the veteran Romeo Anaya would be able to get past Korea's Jung-Il Byun to set up an all-Mexican semi against Zarate but it was not to be. Anaya mounted a brave offense through the first three rounds but Byun wiped him out in the 4th, connecting with a flood of unanswered shots that left referee Jose Cobain with no choice but to stop the fight 2:19 into the round, Byun the winner by TKO. Although only 31 years of age Anaya appears to be a spent force. He's now 33-8-1(22), his brief run as IBF champion (from mid '02 to early '03) seeming a distant memory. There wouldn't be many prepared to put their money on Byun when he steps in the ring against Zarate in twelve weeks, but the Korean is a tenacious customer and that must count for something. For a number of years the lighter weight divisions have been mostly ignored by the American boxing-following public, mainly due to the lack of American fighters campaigning in them. However, IBL president James Molk has made it a priority to heavily promote his organisation's fight cards in these lower weight classes, such as bantamweight and flyweight. Once released, the ratings figures that last night's card generated for HBO will give a clear picture of how successful Molk was in that endeavour. * Results (#4) Jung-Il Byun TKO4 (#5) Romeo Anaya (#3) Gilberto Roman UD10 (#6) Theo Medina (#2) Owen Moran UD10 (#7) Peter Keenan (#1) Carlos Zarate KO6 (#8) Katsuhige Kawashima Semi-finals (#2) Moran (23-0(15)) vs (#3) Roman (24-1(17)) (#1) Zarate (29-1(22)) vs (#4) Byun (36-6-2(27)) * __________________ The Greatest Prize in Sports (a TBCB Dynasty) The Greatest Prize in Sports: Almanac kenyan_cheena's NBA 2K11 Off Topic Dynasty Major League Baseball: 1990 and Beyond... (an OOTP11 Dynasty)