Tag: Luis Oritz

Viktor Faust stops Iago Kiladze in wild brawl that might’ve been stopped prematurely

Viktor Faust stopped Iago Kiladze ina wild brawl that might’ve been stopped prematurely.

A strange decision by the referee might’ve ended a wild heavyweight bout too early Saturday.

Viktor Faust and Iago Kiladze went down a total of five times in less than two full rounds in the first fight on the all-heavyweight pay-per-view card featuring Luis Ortiz vs. Charles Martin on Saturday in Hollywood, Florida.

Kiladze (27-6-1, 19 KOs) went down the last time, got up on wobbly legs and wanted to continue. However, referee Samuel Burgos didn’t like what he saw in Kiladze and stopped the fight at 1:44 of Round 2.

An enraged Kiladze responded by hitting Burgos with a soft punch, for which he undoubtedly will pay a price.

“What’s wrong with you, man?” Burgos asked Kiladze, which was a reasonable question.

However, his frustration was understandable. He was arguably in no worse shape than Faust (9-0, 7 KOs) in a fight that could’ve been a boon to his career had he won.

Burgos said afterward that he stopped the fight because Kiladze stumbled sideways when he was asked to step toward him, which one could argue.

Still, the stoppage will be debated. And many will have decided that an entertaining brawl came to a premature end.

The fighters went down three times in the first round, Kiladze two times and Faust once. They each went down in the second round.

Viktor Faust stops Iago Kiladze in wild brawl that might’ve been stopped prematurely

Viktor Faust stopped Iago Kiladze ina wild brawl that might’ve been stopped prematurely.

A strange decision by the referee might’ve ended a wild heavyweight bout too early Saturday.

Viktor Faust and Iago Kiladze went down a total of five times in less than two full rounds in the first fight on the all-heavyweight pay-per-view card featuring Luis Ortiz vs. Charles Martin on Saturday in Hollywood, Florida.

Kiladze (27-6-1, 19 KOs) went down the last time, got up on wobbly legs and wanted to continue. However, referee Samuel Burgos didn’t like what he saw in Kiladze and stopped the fight at 1:44 of Round 2.

An enraged Kiladze responded by hitting Burgos with a soft punch, for which he undoubtedly will pay a price.

“What’s wrong with you, man?” Burgos asked Kiladze, which was a reasonable question.

However, his frustration was understandable. He was arguably in no worse shape than Faust (9-0, 7 KOs) in a fight that could’ve been a boon to his career had he won.

Burgos said afterward that he stopped the fight because Kiladze stumbled sideways when he was asked to step toward him, which one could argue.

Still, the stoppage will be debated. And many will have decided that an entertaining brawl came to a premature end.

The fighters went down three times in the first round, Kiladze two times and Faust once. They each went down in the second round.

Brandon Figueroa and Julio Ceja fight to draw in war

LAS VEGAS – No one should’ve been disappointed with a draw in light of what Brandon Figueroa and Julio Ceja gave on Saturday at the MGM Grand. The junior featherweights didn’t stop throwing punches from beginning to end, producing an astonishing …

LAS VEGAS – No one should’ve been disappointed with a draw in light of what Brandon Figueroa and Julio Ceja gave on Saturday at the MGM Grand.

The junior featherweights didn’t stop throwing punches from beginning to end, producing an astonishing total of roughly 2,800 in a give-and-take war that revealed remarkable durability on the part of both fighters on the Deontay Wilder-Luis Ortiz card.

Some will argue that Ceja (33-4, 28 knockouts) got the better of the nonstop exchanges in more rounds that Figueroa (20-0-1, 15 KOs) did but two judges didn’t see it that way.

The scores were 115-113 for Figueroa, 116-112 for Ceja and 114-114. When that final score was announced, the crowd booed loudly. Boxing Junkie scored it 116-112.

One could argue that Figueroa, a top contender, shouldn’t have gone through with the fight. Ceja missed the 122-pound limit by 4½ pounds, which technically made him a junior lightweight.

Perhaps that’s one reason he was so resilient. Figueroa hit the Mexican with everything he had and then some but Ceja was never fazed and never stopped throwing punches. Of course, Figueroa was just as durable as his bigger foe, also taking significant shots but never giving ground.

Ceja came into the fight with consecutive knockout losses, to Franklin Manzanilla and Guillermo Rigondeaux.

Also, Eduardo Ramirez (23-2-3, 10 KOs) stopped Leduan Barthelemy (15-1-1, 7 KOs) at 2:59 of Round 4 in a scheduled 10-round featherweight bout.

The boxers had fought to a split-decision draw in September 2017.

On Saturday, Ramirez, from Mexico, quickly took control of the fight. By the final round, he was punching the one-time star amateur from Cuba at will. And he ended matters with a straight left that sent Barthelmy staggering backward and then down on his back.

He got up but the referee determined that he couldn’t continue.