By David Finger at ringside
Unbeaten WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr. (27-0, 21 KOs) will make the inaugural defense of his world title against challenger Derrieck Cuevas (27-2-1, 19 KOs) on Saturday night at the Bleaulive Theater at Fontainebleau in Las Vegas. Norman hurt Cuevas in round two, then finished him in round three with a knockdown after barrage of punches. Time was 2:59.
In a grudge rematch, WBO female welterweight champion Mikaela Mayer (21-2, 5 KOs) defeated Sandy Ryan (7-3-1, 3 KOs) again via ten round unanimous decision to retain her world title. Mayer outworked Ryan to pull away to a 97-93, 97-93, 98-92. Mayer beat Ryan by majority decision in their first fight.
Mayer wins in bloody scrap over Ryan in rematch
WBO women’s welterweight champion Mikaela Mayer, 146, was all to familiar with her English opponent Sandy Ryan, 145.5, when the two women stepped in the ring tonight in Las Vegas at the Fontainebleau Resort and Casino. After all, Mayer and Ryan battled it out back in September in New York, a fight that Mayer won by way of close majority decision to capture Ryan’s WBO belt. Mayer undoubtably knew she had a tough, scrappy opponent who would never take a backward step and would get stronger as the fight went on.
Well, Sandy Ryan more than lived up to that reputation. Ryan marched forward for the better part of ten rounds and refused to let Mayer catch her breath. Mayer undoubtably wanted to use her reach advantage from the outside, but Ryan was always coming forward and Mayer elected to stand and throw some heavy combinations to derail and discourage her English opponent.
Well, it didn’t stop Ryan, but Mayer had the endurance to continue to pile on the pressure for the better part of eight rounds and pile up points. The dominance would continue until a cut over her left eye in round eight emerged, which seemed to bother her enough to allow Ryan to capture the last two rounds.
With Mayer in control in the opening five rounds most ringsiders who saw the first fight were keenly aware that Ryan tended to get stronger in the second half of a fight. But Mayer continued to pile on pressure and showed tremendous endurance of her own and only widened her lead going into round eight. But after a clash of heads opened up a cut over the left eye of Mayer, her ability to stand and trade with Mayer was compromised and Ryan seemed to do just enough to capture the final three rounds. But after the solid lead that Mayer built up, it proved too little too late by the end of round ten. All three judges had Mayer winning comfortably with two judges scoring the fight 97-93 while one judge scored it 98-92. Fightnews also scored the fight 97-93 for Mayer. With the win she now sees her record improve to 21-2, 5 KOs. Ryan, whose stock doesn’t take much of a dip after her gritty performance, now sees her record stand at 7-3-1, 3 KOs.
Norman dominates Cuevas in first title fight
Undefeated WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr., 146.7, looked all the part of a superstar after he scored a devastating third round TKO over Puerto Rican contender Derrieck Cuevas, 146.3, in his first title defense at the Fontainebleau Resort in Las Vegas.
Cuevas looked to be a moderately safe first title defense before the opening bell. He had not fought in over a year and had a somewhat underwhelming resume. But he was a proud Puerto Rican fighter with some legitimate skills and once the bell sounded he showed that he was a fighter who had every intention of leaving Las Vegas with a world title belt. He seemed to catch Norman with a solid body shot in round one and was not at all rattled by Norman’s power in the opening round. The Puerto Rican seemed to be slowly gaining confidence in round two as he appeared willing to swap leather with Norman. That was until a left hook wobbled him late in the round and sent him stumbling into the ropes. Cuevas avoided going down, but just barely.
By round three Norman seemed to recognize that similar opportunities and openings would eventually emerge, and he stalked his opponent patiently. The third round started slowly as a result but it would end in explosive fashion when a left hook, right cross, left hand combination sent Cuevas crashing to the canvas in the final seconds of the round. Cuevas got up but apparently didn’t do anything to convince referee Thomas Taylor that he was in any condition to continue, prompting Taylor to wave off the fight at 2:59. There was no complaint from Cuevas at the stoppage and he looked utterly discombobulated after the fight was waved off, indicating that the stoppage was almost certainly appropriate. With the win Norman improved to 27-0, 21 KOs while Cuevas falls to 27-2-1, 19 KOs.
Carrington smokes Vivas in WBC eliminator
NABF and WBO Intercontinental featherweight champion Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington, 125.3, made a statement in a WBC featherweight eliminator as he made quick work of Texcoco Mexico’s Jose Enrique Vivas, 125.8. Carington would stop the Mexican inside of a minute in round three. Vivas was troubled early by the jab and counterpunching of the Atlanta, Georgia native. But he continued to try and press the action and close the gap. But the beginning of the end came just past the halfway point of round two when a pair of right hand followed by a right uppercut and then a straight right dropped Vivas. The Mexican rose on wobbly legs. A vicious barrage upstairs had referee Raul Caiz Jr. considering waiving the fight off then and there but Carrington either punched himself out or decided not to take an unnecessary risk and eased up on the gas. That is, until the ten second warning, which prompted Carington to fire off a right uppercut at the bell that landed right at 2:59 of the round. Vivas, to his credit, tried to press the action in round three but it was clear he was still somewhat rattled from the previous round. Nonetheless he seemed willing and able to continue. But when a left hook landed at 0:53 of the third round referee Caiz decided the bludgeoning was not worth the risk to Vivas and waved the fight off. With the win the #1 ranked Carrington almost certainly sets himself up for a world title fight in his next fight as he sees his record now stand at 15-0, 9 KOs. Vivas goes back to the drawing board with a record that now stands at 23-4, 12 KOs.
Emiliano Vargas continues to impress
One of the hottest prospects in boxing continued to turn heads as junior welterweight Emiliano Fernando Vargas, 138.6, destroyed tough journeyman Giovannie Gonzalez, 138.3, by way of knockout at 2:08 of round two. There was few who questioned that Vargas would emerge victorious, but some wondered if the gritty Gonzalez could take Vargas into the later rounds. But Vargas dominated from the opening bell and scored a devastating knockdown halfway through round two when a right uppercut followed by two right hands landed for Vargas. The three-punch combination was punctuated with a picture-perfect left hook that sent Gonzalez to the canvas on his back, where he remained for over ten seconds. With the win Vargas, who is scheduled to return to the ring on May 4th, improves to 13-0, 11 KOs while Gonzalez sees his record drop to 20-8-2, 15 KOs.
Tiger Johnson roars against Castaneda
Undefeated welterweight prospect Tiger Johnson of Cleveland, Ohio made a huge statement in his first fight in Las Vegas since 2022 as he dominated the normally durable Kendo Castaneda of San Antonio, Texas. Johnson, 146, looked absolutely dominant en route to a fifth round TKO. Castaneda, 146.8, was game early on but it was abundantly clear that he had no answer for the speed of Johnson and Johnson capitalized on that advantage like a seasoned pro. A pair of knockdowns in round five prompted referee Raul Caiz Jr. to wave the contest off at 2:00 of the round. With the win Johnson improves to 15-0, 7 KOs while Castaneda falls to 21-9, 9 KOs.
Undercard
In the first fight of the afternoon to kick off the Mikaela Mayer v. Sandy Ryan fight card at the Fontainebleau Casino in Las Vegas, 18-year old former four-time national amateur champion Emmanuel Chance, 119.4, scored a shutout unanimous decision over San Bernardino’s Miguel Guzman, 118.7. Guzman was game and moved forward, but was simply not able to match the quick fisted Chance’s punch output. There were no knockdowns as Chance won the fight by a score of 40-36 on all three scorecards.
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In the second fight of the afternoon, junior lightweight prospect Dedrick Crocklem, 128.6, stopped Dionne Ruvalcaba at 2:50 of the opening round to see his record improve to 2-0, 2 KOs. Crocklem was in complete control of the fight but Ruvalcaba never seemed to be in any serious trouble at any point in the fight and had been punching back when the referee stepped in and waved off the fight with ten seconds remaining in the opening round. Ruvalcaba’s record falls to 2-2, 1 KO.
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