Arena Astros, Guadalajara, Mexico. The local fighter of the second flyweight (up to 52.2 kg) Archi Cortez (24-3-2, 10 KOs), who almost upset his compatriot Juan Francisco Estrada, barely passed his strong compatriot Eric Omar Lopez (16-7-2, 10 KOs) .
Cortes started the fight more confidently, boxing with the first number, pushing the opponent to the ropes. In one of these episodes, Lopez suddenly exploded in response and dropped the favorite.
Erick Lopez scores the knockdown on Argi Cortes #MunguiaCoria pic.twitter.com/00DjqjefxG
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) November 20, 2022
The episode seemed to unsettle Cortez, and Lopez felt confident in his abilities – now he was the aggressor. In the 6th round, the favorite again visited the floor. Now it will be very difficult to win on points.
Argi Cortes gets knocked down AGAIN #MunguiaCoria pic.twitter.com/NjyvqzLqd2
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) November 20, 2022
In the 7th round, the referee penalized Lopez for blows to the back of the head. He tried to immediately play the episode, but did not work. The initiative again passed to Cortes, who not only acted as the first number, but also remembered that the opponent was good at counterattacks. Interestingly, the fighters are well acquainted with each other, they used to train together.
Both, apparently, were solidly tired in the second half of the fight. A funny episode occurred in the 8th round: first, Lopez appeared on the canvas, then Cortez followed his example. In both cases, the referee decided not to call the knockdown.
The end of the 9th three-minute period was held in mahacha, and at the beginning of the decisive round, Cortez again visited the floor – the referee decided that the favorite had slipped. In the last seconds, the underdog shook the opponent.
Tough fight to count. I wonder who the judges will give the victory to? We have a split decision: 95-92 Cortez, 96-91 Lopez and 95-92 Cortez.
Cortes SD 10. Fans are unhappy with the decision of the judges.
Telford International Centre, Telford, Great Britain. In the main event of the evening, the vacant EBU European bantamweight title (up to 55.3 kg) and the WBC International belt were up for grabs. Romanian Ionut Balută (15-4, 3 KOs) this time failed to score another upset in Britain – he lost to local prospect Liam Davis (13-0, 5 KOs).
The favorite wisely used the advantage in height and length of the limbs: he jabbed well, did not stagnate, failed and countered the Romanian slugger.
Before the final gong, Balutse rushed at the opponent with sweeping and slightly wild splashes, but the opponent boxed smarter, acted more prudently and more accurately.
The fight went the whole distance, it didn’t turn out to be spectacular – there were too many clinches, small fouls, head collisions. Judges score: 116-112, 118-110 and 117-111.
Davis UD 12.
La Palestre, Le Cannet, France. Olympic and European medalist, two-time world champion, local lightweight prospect (up to 61.2 kg) Sofien Umiha (3-0, 2 KOs) confidently beat the Colombian journiman
Victor Julio (16-7, 8 KOs).
In the first round, the favorite kept an eye on the opponent, often jabbed. Realizing that Julio did not pose any danger, Umiha stepped up in the 2nd three-minute period and knocked out the Latin American with a blow to the body.
Umiha KO 2.