Las Vegas undercard report

By Darren Nichols

07/10/2007

Las Vegas undercard report

Steve Forbes W10 Francisco Bojado... The last time we saw Steve Forbes in the ring, the former “Contender” star ended up getting robbed against the undefeated Demetrius Hopkins on the undercard of the Juan Manuel Marquez-Marco Antonio Barrera match-up.  For Francisco “Panchito” Bojado, he was coming off two “easy” fights after his loss against Jesse James Leija more than three years ago.  Both had something to prove in their fight against each other Saturday night, and while Forbes was going to use his experience to defeat his opponent, Bojado had youth on his side.  Forbes came out in the first round as the aggressor, landing two left hooks that scored well to the side of Panchito’s head.  However, when the second round got underway, both fighters resorted to boxing on the inside near the center of the ring.  Forbes landed a beautiful left hook upstairs, but Bojado grabbed at his opponent’s waist allowing time to run out the clock, and keeping Forbes from landing any further punishment.  Through out the next few rounds, Bojado fought in flurries, while Forbes landed his left hook upstairs almost at will.  The sixth round was the fan-favorite as a war ensued in the center of the ring.  Panchito started landing left hooks of his own, which opened him up to Forbes’ right hooks and consecutive uppercuts.  With the round drawing to a close, Forbes received the appreciation of the fans more than his counterpart, but both fighters had earned the other’s respect because of their efforts.  The next two rounds, both warriors fought in spurts, throwing a ton of leather upstairs, landing some, and resting on a regular basis.  The tenth and final rounds saw the fresher Forbes land his hooks and uppercuts on a semi-regular basis, while Bojado was forced to hang on and fight only in spurts.  When final bell tolled, only one judge saw it in Panchito’s favor with a score of 96-94, while two other judges saw it in Forbes’ favor 97-94 and 96-94.  Forbes improves his record to 33-5, while Bojado drops to 18-3.

Librado Andrade TKO7 Yusaf Mack... What started out as a feeling out round, quickly became anything but, when Yusaf Mack landed a left hook to Librado Andrade’s head that practically gave him whiplash.  After receiving his mandatory eight count, and with his right eye already showing signs of being in a war, Andrade came out of the neutral corner expecting an onslaught from Mack, but found that he was landing the heavier shots.  The second round began where the first round left off with Andrade pushing his opponent back with monstrous hooks and shots to the body.  Mack found his best tactic against his taller opponent was to swing wildly hoping to land a lucky punch upstairs.  Even though Mack landed at times, Andrade used his superior boxing skills to duck these punches, and used Mack’s haymakers to his advantage by going to the body.  In the third round, after being warned by referee Jay Nady for leading with the head, Andrade went on a uppercut spree, landing more often than missing, and pushing Mack back against the ropes.  An all out brawl broke out in the final ten seconds of the round, when Mack turned the tables on Andrade with a quick combination upstairs, but Andrade came back to land a huge shot to Mack’s head to end the third.  The fourth round was another good round for Mack’s wild punches, which at times had Andrade in trouble.  However, Andrade dug deep, survived the punishment, and made it to his corner for the fifth.  Andrade came out for the next round boxing on his toes, using his jab, and pushing Mack against the ropes with his uppercuts and longer reach.  However, Mack responded by landing a wide two-hook combo to the body, followed up with a two-hook combo upstairs, possibly stealing the round from the work Andrade had done earlier on.  The sixth round was mostly a jab-fest, but Mack saw his best punch land with straight left that snapped his opponent’s head back once again.  Andrade got his chance to pay back all those times Mack had snapped his head back in the opening moments of round seven.  With Mack choosing to fight against the ropes, Andrade used his long right hand to give Mack some whiplash medicine of his own.  The seventh got even sweeter for Andrade, when, halfway through the round, Andrade landed a quick combination upstairs that put Mack on his seat.  When Mack rose, and Nady gave the go-ahead, Andrade pounced, dropping Mack again with a monstrous two-punch body attack.  After an eight-second rest, Mack once again faced pouncing opponent who saw the end was near.  Andrade got right on top of his opponent landed a quick flurry of punishment upstairs, dropping Mack with a right uppercut forcing Nady end the assault at 2:34 in round seven.  Andrade improves to 26-1 with 20 KOs, while Mack falls to 23-2-2 with 14 KOs.

Steven Luevano W12 Antonio Davis... The first two rounds for Luevano’s WBO 126-pound title saw both fighters trying to outpoint the other with the speed of their legs and fists.  But it was not until the final moments of round three that got the crowd in a frenzy as Luevano landed the first meaningful punch in the fight in the form of a straight right.  The punch wobbled Davis, but there was not enough time for Luevano to take advantage of his punching power.  The fourth round had both Luevano and Davis resorting back to their quick jabs and short hooks, with Davis going getting seated on the canvas by Luevano push rather than a piece of leather.  Davis’ face began to show redness due to his opponent landing the quicker jabs, and the two combatants spent most of the round taking turns landing one punch punishment in the form of a straight right cross.  Fast forward four rounds, which were simply jabbing contests, and it was apparent that the only way this fight was going to end early was if one fighter simply tired as the approached the championship rounds.  Luevano and Davis lacked the power against each other to put the other one on the canvas, and had to resort to a stick-and-move to win the favor of the judges.  Blood and swelling under the left eye of Davis started getting ringside officials’ special attention from the ninth round on, and Luevano used his quick right jabs followed by straight rights to hopefully get the fight stopped.  Excitement ran through the fans’ bones for the first time of the fight when Luevano landed a huge left hook to Davis’ head at the exact moment the bell sounded to end the eleventh.  Luevano did not come out blistering in the twelfth and final round they way he should have, and instead got into a jab war with the evading and backpedaling Davis.  The two danced around the ring until the bell finally sounded to end the fight, and when the judges had their say, all three saw it in favor of Luevano.  The champ improves his record to 34-1 with 15 KOs, while Davis drops to 24-4 with 12 KOs.