SHOWTIME PRESS RELEASE
SALISBURY, MD (April 16, 2010) – Undefeated middleweight prospect and hometown favorite Fernando Guerrero earned an impressive second round TKO victory over Chicago’s Michael Walker in the main event of ShoBox: The New Generation Friday night on SHOWTIME from the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center in Salisbury, Md.
Unbeaten prospect Shawn Porter dominated Colombian Raul Pinzon, scoring a first round TKO in Friday’s co-feature
The doubleheader was co-promoted by DiBella Entertainment and Prize Fight.
Fighting in front of a packed hometown crowd, Guerrero (18-0, 15 KOs ) displayed the type of energy and power that has made him such a coveted prospect in the stacked middleweight division. The southpaw came out swinging, drilling Walker (19-4, 12 KOs ) with repeated shots against the ropes to close out the first round.
It was more of the same in the second with Guerrero banging away against the ropes and landing shot after shot against his defenseless opponent. With Walker up against the ropes and unable to respond to the onslaught of combinations from Guerrero, referee Malik Waleed was forced to stop the fight at 1:49 of the second round.
“The crowd was a little bit off so I had to spice things up,” Guerrero joked. “I said I was going to go with him and fight an exciting fight. I’m going to be the new face of boxing, that’s a promise. I work hard like I’m going for a world title in every fight.”
Walker may have been the only person in the building who disagreed with Waleed’s decision to end the brutal attack.
“I’m pretty disappointed,” Walker said. “I think I could still go. He caught me with a shot but I was recovering. I should have moved when he was hitting me. It’s just a lesson learned.”
Porter (14-0, 11 KOs), of Cleveland , was equally impressive in his dominating win over Pinzon, although it was tough to measure his performance against a lesser opponent. The unbeaten prospect showed great one-punch KO power and a tremendous work-rate in the short outing. Porter moved to 14-0 in thrilling fashion with an overhand right that connected for a KO at 2:30 of round one.
“I tried to follow the gameplan, use my speed and set up the body shots,” Porter said. “I set him up for the overhand right with the body shots.
“I can’t said I’m disappointed that I didn’t get that many rounds. It was a great effort and performance. I know his weight slowed him down. He was definitely too slow for me tonight.”
Pinzon (17-5, 16 KOs ) took the fight on nine days notice and had trouble making the contracted weight limit.
ShoBox play-by-play announcer Nick Charles was impressed with the showing by Guerrero and Porter but would like to see them begin facing top 15 opponents.
“As measuring sticks the opponents fizzled,” Charles said. “But both of them showed the speed and power that translated into electrifying performances. I can’t fault them for their level of performance. It’s time to match them against some guys in the top 15 that will really challenge them.”
Friday’s fights will re-air on SHO 2 on Monday, April 19 at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast). They will be available On Demand from April 19 until May 2, 2010.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
5 comments:
It's time to start fighting some higher caliber fighters Fernando is a good prospect but at this point it seems he's padding his record . This strategy might pay off with a title shot but it doesn't prepare him to win it .
Picking opponents for an up-and-coming fighter is an art, not a science. Styles make fights. This is how Frazier could beat Ali, Ali could bear Foreman and Foreman could destroy Frazier.
Ricky Hatton was 38-0 and selling out the MEN Arena in England before he fought for his first title. In boxing you are literally fighting for your money- and people still do get killed in the ring. So it is totally understandable why boxers "pad their record".
That being said, being an undefeated prospect, every time you go out and fight someone you should beat it is your opponent's Super Bowl. Fernando's fight last night was "easy" because he made it look easy. A lot of people have Daniel Jacobs ranked/rated ahead of Fernando and he beat Walker by a decision.
When it comes time for Guerrero to take on people in the top ten he needs to be ready. I think Prize Fight and Hal know what they are doing and will make that fight at the right time. Until then enjoy the ride. Rarely does a fighter retire undefeated, so enjoy the bliss now...
You made my point , He was ranked lower due to the competition he has 18 wins I've seen people fight for world championships with that record. I'm not saying he's ready for that but the competition is not up to par as reflected by ranking. In most cases when a fighter steps and wins a tough fight you see his stock rise it just makes me wonder if the trainers have somethings that may be an issue that they feel might leave him vulnerable and are waiting to improve those skills.
To all the experts on how to move a boxer, look up the first 25 fights of Pac-Man, 23 fights of Hopkins and 25 fights of Hagler. In fact look at Roy Jones, Sugar Ray Robinson, Hearnes or just about any great fighter. Then explain why you do it a different way with the champions you have created. I think they are doing it exactly like they should.
7:47 They were ranked a lot higher expert ! You should learn a little about the sport before you spew ignorance !
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