EL UNIVERSAL
Monday 25 September 2006
BOLANOS TOPPLES HAUGEN
IN SALTILLO!
Story by Miguel Trelles
#1 seed Greg Haugen crashed out of the International Boxing League's Lightweight Challenger's tournament last night, the Seattle native being knocked out in the 5th round of his semi-final bout against Enrique Bolanos at the Estadio Saltillo. Having had the better of the opening four rounds Bolanos really went on the attack in round five, catching Haugen with a succession of power shots before a three-punch salvo dropped him late in the frame. Disorientated, Haugen could not beat the count and the bout was sensationally over at the 2:36 mark. Neither man had been particulalry impressive through the first two stages of the tournament, Haugen eeking out a draw and a split decision win while Bolanos had made it this far after back-to-back draws against Livingstone Bramble and Cornelius Boza-Edwards. He left absolutely no doubt last night in scoring one of the biggest wins of his career to date.
Bolanos takes on Japan's Jaguar Kakizawa in the final after the #2 seed defeated Ruben Navarro by unanimous decision in the co-feature (97-93, 96-94, 97-94). It was an even affair through the first six rounds but Kakizawa came home with a wet sail, sweeping the last four rounds on two scorecards to take the verdict. All three of his tournament bouts have gone the distance and he must be considered a favourite to win that world title shot come December. Both the world championship and challenger's tournament finals feature a Mexico vs Japan matchup and it will be interesting to see if one nation or the other can emerge victorious in both bouts. Rafael Limon squares off against Teruki Nakata for the title on Friday the 15th of December, with Kakizawa and Bolanos scheduled to clash the following Sunday. Kakizawa is actually the most experienced of the quartet so it would be a surprise if he doesn't earn himself a title shot.
Summary of results
(#2) Kakizawa UD10 (#6) Navarro
(#4) Bolanos KO5 (#1) Haugen
Tournament final, 17 December
(#2) Jaguar Kakizawa (28-4-1(16)) vs (#4) Enrique Bolanos (22-2-3(16))