PHOTO GALLERY

photos by chris cozzone

MARQUEZ STOPS AUSTIN

VALENZUELA UPSETS WILLIAMS

BURGOS TKO'S SANCHEZ

Marquez Stops Austin!
Upset at Caesar's Palace for IBF Bantam Title

Report by Mike Oliver, Photos by Chris Cozzone

In the main event at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas Rafael Marquez scored an upset TKO victory over Tim Austin in the eight round. The fight started off slow in round one with each fighter fighting cautiously. Austin controlled the round with his jab but it was Marquez who landed the bigger punches with a left hook, straight right hand. Round two would be another cautious round as the fighters tried to figure out the other ones style. The crowd would begin to get restless in the third as each fighter continued to be wary of the other fighters power. Austin would begin to attack the body midway through the round and Marquez finally found the range with his right hand. Marquez would end the round by countering an Austin miss with another straight right that brought the crowd back into the fight.

Marquez would continue the momentum he found in round three by seriously hurting Austin with a crisp left hook, straight right combination. The combination would cause Austin's legs to fail him, but somehow he remained on his feet even as Marquez looked for the finishing punch. Austin, true to his champions heart, would rally late in the round with two straight left hands that stunned Marquez. The fighters would turn cautious again in round five after the fighters tasted the other guys power in the previous round. Austin went back to jab and his body work to regain his senses and control the round.

By round six it appeared that Marquez was becoming increasingly tired. Austin would begin to take advantage by ripping uppercuts to the body and head of Marquez. Austin would end the round by stunning Marquez with a quick straight left. Austin appeared to be in complete control of the fight as he went back to work on Marquez's body. Marquez would land a counter right hand only to run into another straight left and right uppercut from Marquez.

While 2003 is still relatively new, round eight might go down as one of the top rounds of the year. Marquez charged out at the bell and became the aggressor during the opening seconds of the round. That aggressiveness would allow Austin to unload a straight left that left Marquez on wobbly legs in the corner. Austin would pounce on Marquez with a barrage of punches and appeared to be just one punch away from ending the fight. Marquez never let that punch land and somehow found the will to fight his way off the ropes. As Austin was looking for another opening, Marquez beat him to the punch and landed a crunching right hand that sent Austin crashing threw the ropes. Amazingly Austin beat the count and the fighters would end up in the center of the ring going toe to toe. Marquez would take advantage of the wobbly Austin by pinning him on the ropes and unleashing multiple unanswered shots. Referee Vic Drakulich stepped in at 2:20 of the eighth and stopped the contest giving Marquez the victory as well as the belt. After the fight Marquez had this to say, "I am very happy to be the IBF bantamweight champion of the world. I am happy that both me and my brother are both champions." Marquez improves his record to 29-3 with 27 KO's and Tim Austin suffers his first defeat at 25-1-1, 22 KO's.
 

Valenzuela Shocks Williams!
by Mike Oliver & Bobby Mundy

Gritty Mexican Juan "El Pollo" Valenzuela showed up on short notice with a lot more game than Ricardo Williams could have ever expected and the result was a stunning unanimous-decision upset. Conditioning played a factor, as Valenzuela, (17-6, 6 KOs), outworked Williams, now 8-1 with 6 KOs, down the stretch, winning four or five rounds in the last half of an exciting ten-rounder. The action was brisk throughout as Valenzuela pressured the 2000 Olympian constantly with lead right hands and chopping uppercuts. To his credit, Williams showed a great deal of heart in lasting the distance and even staged a mini-rally in the final stanza. The scoring was surprisingly lopsided in the underdog's favor, 98-92, 97-93 and 97-93. Despite sporting six career losses in a 22-fight career, this is the second major coup Valenzuela has been able to pull. In April of last year, he knocked out highly regarded Julio Diaz in one round.

Burgos Wins IBF Jr. Flyweight Title!
by Mike Oliver & Bobby Mundy

The third time was a charm for Jose Victor Burgos (36-13-2, 21 KOs) who captured the vacant IBF jr flyweight tile by stopping Alex "Nene" Sanchez (29-3-1, 20 KOs). In March 1997, Sanchez barely outpointed Burgos to defend his WBO minimumweight title (105-pounds). Five years later and 3 pounds heavier, Burgos and Sanchez battled to draw in a May 2002 in a IBF eliminator for the jr flyweight belt. Sanchez controlled the early action moving forward while Burgo chose to be showboat a bit. Burgos started to find his rhythm and started to put his combinations together in the middle rounds. The turning point of the fight was when the right eye of Sanchez started to close and he could no longer see the right hands of Burgo. In the tenth round, an unexplainable golfball-size lump started to develop on the left size of the face Sanchez in to further add to his misery. Sanchez was getting pummeled in the twelfth when referee Joe Cortez stepped in to stop the action for a TKO at 1:50 of the final round. Burgo was well ahead at the time of the stoppage with the scores of 107-102, 108-101 and 109-100. FightNews.com scored it 106-103 for Sanchez. The IBF jr flyweight title was vacated last year by the IBF jr flyweight title vacated by the legendary undefeated champion Ricardo "Finito" Lopez who retired last year.

Undercard Results

report by Mike Oliver, photos by chris cozzone

ASHIRA TKO'S PEREZ

In a ten round middleweight attraction Evans Ashira of Copenhagen, Denmark scored a sixth round TKO victory over Ruben Perez of Rosenberg, Texas. Perez started fast in round one as he charged across the ring and pinned Ashira against the ropes with multiple body shots. Perez would follow the body work with a solid left hook to the chin of Ashira. Ashira would remain calm during the early Perez offensive, and would turn the tide of the round with a head snapping straight right hand. Ashira would end the round with a solid left hook letting Perez know that he was in for a fight. In round two Ashira would open the frame with a lightning quick right hand followed by digging left and rights to the body. Ashira would continue to dig to the body throughout the round hoping to wear Perez down. Ashira would follow this formula throughout rounds three and four as he would attack to the body and then unleash uppercuts and left hooks to he head of Perez. Ashira would lose a point in round four as he dropped Perez to a knee with a low blow. Perez would take most of his allotted time to recover only to run into a triple left hook combination from Ashira. To Perez's credit he survived the onslaught and fought his way out of the corner just as the bell brought a conclusion to round four. By round six the body work from Ashira had paid off as Perez's hands had dropped around his waist. Ashira took little time to take advantage of Perez's low hands as he nailed him with straight right. Perez would collapse into the ropes and Ashira began his final attack with lefts and rights to the head. Referee Jay Nady stepped in and separated the fighters and picked up the count ruling that the ropes had kept Perez standing. By the count of eight Perez could be seen telling Nady that he had enough, so Nady waived off the bout 25 seconds into the round. Ashira keeps his record perfect at 22-0 with 12 KO's and Perez falters to 10-7-2 with 4 KO's.

MCCARTER DECISIONS BYRD

In a special six round women's attraction, hometown favorite Layla Mac Carter out boxed Tracy Byrd of Flint Michigan to earn a majority decision. Each fighter would start off cautious to open the round, but it would be Mac Carter who caught Byrd's attention with a flurry to end the round . Byrd, who is the sister of heavyweight Chris Byrd, would catch Mac Carter with a crisp left right combination to open round two. Mac Carter would regain her composure and would end the round with another flurry. The fight would turn ugly from there with a lot of clenches as well as holding and hitting. To Mac Carter's credit she never became frustrated and would end most rounds with flurries that would enable her to build up a lead on points. Byrd would be the aggressor in round six as she fought with the desperation of a fighter that knew she was behind on points. Byrd, however, was never able to land the big punch in the round, but the fighters would get the crowd excited as they ended the fight in a toe to toe exchange. The fight would go to the cards and Mac Carter would be the victor via majority decision 58-56, 58-56, and 57-57. Mac Carter runs her record to 12-9-4, 2 KO's and Byrd drops to 12-6 with 4 KO's.

WELLS TKO'S TOWNSEND

In a ten round super welterweight attraction Rhoshii Wells from Las Vegas, NV. picked himself off the canvass to KO Leonard Townsend of Chicago, Illinois. Well, who is a Olympic bronze medallist, would start fast in round one as he caught Townsend with a chopping right hand to the temple that sent Townsend staggering across the ring. Townsend would regain his senses and was able to survive the round. Wells would enter round two a little too over confident as he started boxing with his hands below his belt. It would cost Wells as Townsend landed a looping left hook right on chin sending Wells crashing to the canvass. Wells would beat the count and survive the rest of the round on shaky legs. The best action of the night would occur after the final bell for round two as the fighters would continue to fight several seconds after the bell. Robert Byrd was finally able to separate the fighters with Townsend getting the better shots in during the extracurricular work. Townsend would start round three with much more confidence as he looked to score the upset. Townsend would be able to sneak in a couple more left hooks but it appeared that Wells had regained his senses in-between rounds. Wells opened round four with his hands noticeably higher and began pinning Townsend against the ropes with straight right hands. After backing Townsend into a corner Wells would unleash a straight right, left hook, straight right that sent Townsend to a knee. It appeared that Townsend was going to let referee Robert Byrd reach the count of ten, but Townsend would jump to his feet at nine. Wells wasted no time in finishing Townsend as he landed a chopping right hand to the temple that sent Townsend crashing to the canvass. Robert Byrd immediately waived off the fight at 1:11 of round four giving Wells the KO victory. Wells remains undefeated at 17-0-2 with 10 KO's and Townsend falls to 37-11-1 with 20 KO's.

WELLS TKO'S TOWNSEND

Undercard Results

reports by Bobby Mundy

DULA DECISIONS HARO

Robert Dula(14-0-1,8KOs) won a unanimous decision over Sandro Haro(7-6,2KOs) in a special middleweight attraction. Dula used his southpaw style to confuse and frustrate Haro over the course of the 6 round bout. Dula's controlled aggression allowed him to continue to come forward with clean shots, hurting Haro a few times. The judges scored the bout 58-56, 59-55, 59-55. Fightnews scored the bout 58-56 for Dula.

GUERRERO TKO'S BLOCUS

Ron Guerrero(16-6-2, 10Kos) scored a TKO victory over Frenchman Josue Blocus (12-2,11Kos) in a special heavyweight bout. Guerrerro was busy early on, keeping his hands moving and always pressing Blocus against the ropes. Blocus used his jab most of the time, but did not throw many power punches. In the 2nd round, Blocus did throw a few uppercuts that actually hurt Guerrero but Blocus seemed to run out of gas and could not finish the assault. In the 5th round, Guerrero returned the favor by hurting Blocus with a solid right hand that Blocus never saw. Blocus seemed ready to go, but Guerrero allowed him to get out of the round. At the end of the 5th round, Blocus was evidently extremely tired and his corner stopped the fight.