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Photo © HoganPhotos.com
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HBO PPV offered a triple header fight card tonight featuring WBC super featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera against IBF champion Robbie Peden. It did not take long to figure out that on this evening, Barrera was the better man.
Barrera put his punches together beautifully and worked behind a tight guard that blocked many of Peden's punches. In the fourth round a cut opened on the corner of Barrera's right eye. Referee Richard Steele ruled that a punch opened the cut but HBO's replays clearly showed the cut was opened by a head butt. The cut had no effect on Barrera throughout the 12 round bout, as it appeared he was able to land at will.
Although game at times, Peden seemed reluctant to get inside and mix it up with Barrera. Both men fought dirty at times, throwing after the bell and on the break, but it was Barrera who was penalized a point in the ninth round for hitting low. But like the cut, the point deduction had no effect on the fight. The 12th round was the biggest round for Barrera, who finally managed to rock Peden with his heavy punches, but ran out of time before he could put Peden down and out. In the end, Barrera cruised to an easy unanimous decision with the scores of 118-109 and 118-108 twice. With the win Marco Antonio Barrera adds the IBF title to his WBC title and improves his record to 61-4 (42 KO's) while Robbie Peden fall's to 25-3 (14 KO's).
The co-main event featured former lightweight and welterweight champion Shane Mosley against Jose Luis Cruz. It was obvious from the start that Cruz may be the slowest welterweight on planet Earth. As slow was Cruz was, he was able to find Mosley's chin from time to time, but was never able to do any damage. As for Mosley ,this is not the same Shane Mosley who once dominated men with his speed and power. He looked flat in the ring, not being able to put his once deadly combinations together but he was able to put enough together to win a unanimous decision with the scores of 98-92, 96-94 , and 97-93. With the win Shane Mosley ups his record to 41-4 (35 KO's) while Jose Luis Cruz falls to 33-1-2 (28 KO's).
The first bout of the night featured IBF lightweight champion Levander Johnson against former 130 pound champion Jesus Chavez. Chavez was the smaller man fighting at 135 pounds for the first time but it never showed throughout the bout as Chavez was able to get in the inside and fight his fight, ripping hooks to he body and head. Johnson had his moments but they were few and far in between, as Chavez continued to land brutal shots to Johnson's head of . Going into the ninth and tenth rounds Johnson appeared to be taking unnecessary damage and the fight could have easily been stopped by his corner without argument. As the bell rang to start the 11th round, Chavez wasted no time and jumped on Johnson landing hard shots to the head, forcing referee Tony Weeks to step in and call a halt to the bout. Shortly after the fight, HBO announced that Levander Johnson was taken to the hospital, suffering from bleeding of the brain. Johnson underwent surgery and remains in critical condition. Our thoughts and prayers are with Levander Johnson and his family. With his win Jesus Chavez becomes the IBF lightweight champion and improves his record to 42-3 (29 KO's) while Levander Johnson suffers his fifth defeat falling to 34-5-2 (26 KO's).
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© Copyright / All Rights reserved: Doghouse Boxing 1998-2005
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By Kenny Perrault (September 18, 2005)
