With the eyes of the boxing public having been affixed to Dallas in what was anticipation toward the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey mega fight that took place in Cowboys Stadium, Top Rank seized on an opportunity to showcase some of the up-and-comers, along side some vets. This was done through Friday night’s Top Rank Live card which took place at the Gaylord Texan Convention Center the night prior to Pacquiao and Clottey’s showdown.
Though the actual promoting of the Top Rank Live card was all but non-existent, the Friday night festivities provided some great action, which served as an appetizer to wet the palettes of the North Texas fight fans.
Richie Mepranum (13-2-1, 3 KOs) 10 UD Hernan “Tyson” Marquez (25-1, 18 KOs)
Scores: 99-91, 96-94, 98-92
Prior to this fight, Marquez was one of Top Rank’s highly touted young prospects. Having an undefeated record and a penchant for knocking out your opponent, and hailing from Mexico to boot meant that Marquez potentially could be a star in the Latino community. Not to say that this could not be the case, but Friday night Filipino Richie Mepranum successfully took a large amount of luster off of Marquez’s shine with his dominant performance.
Marquez came out the aggressor in the fight, and continued that trend throughout the fight. However, it was Mepranum’s speed and courage that enabled him to beat Marquez to the punch, and dominate the fight over the whole ten rounds. It was a great scrap; one that saw ebbs and flows in action, but in the end it was Mepranum’s will to win that proved too great.
Samuel Peter (34-3, 27 KOs) TKO 2 Nagy Aguilera (15-3, 10 KOs)
IBF Heavyweight Title Eliminator
Official time of stoppage: 2:24 in round two.
Nigerian heavyweight, Samuel Peter was once considered the heir apparent to the heavyweight throw, and the only heavyweight with a shot at dethroning the two-headed king of the heavies that are the Klitschko brothers. Unfortunately, after both brothers dominated Peter, the “Nigerian Nightmare” has been on the comeback trail in hopes of landing another title shot. Friday night presented another opportunity for Peter to recapture the buzz he once enjoyed. In his way stood Aguilera, but as we would soon find out, Aguilera would not be standing for long.
This fight was as one sided as you can get without tying Aguilera’s hands behind hid back. Peter jumped on his outmatched foe with the ferocity of a lion on a wondered gazelle. A barrage of vicious hooks put Aguilera down and out in the second. Aguilera is by no means a world beater, but Peter looked good.
Anthony Peterson (30-0, 20 KOs) TKO 3 Juan Ramon Cruz (16-8-1, 12 KOs)
Official time of stoppage: 1:11 in round three.
Peterson has steadily, and quietly worked to rise up the ranks of the lightweight division. Friday night, Peterson did what he was supposed to do: blast out an outgunned foe in easy fashion. In many ways, this was nothing more than a showcase bout, and in that aspect, Peterson looked impressive in peppering Cruz with a blistering array of jabs, hooks, and uppercuts. Cruz never had a chance, and Peterson exploited this to the fullest. It should be noted that Peterson injured his right hand in the first round, yet still went on to thrash Cruz.
Omar Henry (8-0, 7 KOs) TKO 1 Francisco Reza (5-2, 4 KOs)
Official time of stoppage: 0:33 seconds in round one.
Omar Henry is without a doubt one of the brightest young prospects in the Top Rank stable. Friday night he displayed why by blitzing Reza in less than a minute. Reza didn’t stand a chance; it was like taking a knife to a gunfight. Henry simply obliterated Reza.
In other bouts:
Dennis Laurente (34-3-4, 17 KOs) 8 UD Ben Tackie (29-12-1, 17 KOs)
Scores: 77-75, 77-75, 78-74.
Jose Benavidez (3-0, 3 KOs) TKO 3 Bobby Hill (1-4)
Official time of stoppage: 2:59 in round three
Andy Ruiz (3-0, 3 KOs) KO 1 Luke Vaughn (0-2)
Official time of stoppage: 1:55 in round one
Francisco Vargas (1-0) 4 UD Daniel Calzada (2-1, 1 KO)
Scores: 40-36, 40-36, 40-36
(Photo credit: Edward Garza)
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