Ringside Boxing Report: Matt Godfrey – Felix Cora
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In front of a crowd of 4,320 at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, Matt “Too Smooth” Godfrey took on Felix “Bad News” Cora Jr. for the NABF and NABA Cruiserweight titles on a ESPN Friday Night Fights telecast.
The Providence R.I. based Godfrey came into the fight with an undefeated record of 14-0 (8) and the support of the crowd. Godfrey also holds the NABA Cruiserweight belt which he put on the line against Cora.
Former NABF and USBA Cruiserweight champion Felix Cora Jr. was looking to rebound after suffering his first loss as a pro. After a nice win over Darnell Wilson, Cora was knocked out by Vadim Tokarev in 2006.
The fight began slowly with both men looking to get a sense of his opponent’s rhythm and game plan. In round one, Godfrey was more assertive on the offensive end. Cora Jr. showed good movement and seemed to keep Godfrey from getting too comfortable by slipping punches and making him self difficult to hit.
However, Cora Jr. failed to put together any kind of offense to go along with his defensive skills. Godfrey won the first round by simply being more aggressive.
The action picked up in the second with both men starting to let their hands go. Godfrey managed to get Cora Jr. up against the ropes and ripped off a devastating combo, sending him crashing to the canvas.
After a long count, which Cora Jr. somehow managed to beat, he rose to his feet. Immediately Godfrey pinned him on the ropes and unloaded a painful flurry, causing Cora’s head to snap back repeatedly. Referee Eddie Claudio stepped in and stopped the fight before any more damage could be done.
Godfrey circled the ring in victory receiving cheers from every section of the arena. Godfrey proudly posed with his belts following the fight. With this decisive victory over a top notch opponent, the unbeaten fighter further solidifies his place among the elite cruiserweights in the world.
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In an exciting co-feature, welterweight Israel “Pito” Cardona, 36-6 (28), faced off against Juan Manuel Buendia, 13-1-1 (8). The hometown favorite, Cardona failed to impress as all three judges scored it 79-73 for the busier Buendia.
At certain points in the fight, Cardona actually dropped his hand to his side and ate steady combos from Buendia. Although “Pito” never appeared to be badly hurt, he only fought in spots and was constantly on the losing end of exchanges in this one.
Buendia simply out hustled Cardona. He beat him to the punch and overwhelmed him with his work rate. Neither man hit the canvas but the outcome of the fight was clear, long before the judges scores were announced. For the less experienced Juan Manuel Buendia, it was a nice win against such a seasoned veteran as Israel Cardona.
Some other interesting action saw heavyweight prospect Jason “Big Six” Estrada improve to 8-1 (1) with one no contest after punishing Zack Page for six rounds.
Light heavyweight Chris Traietti remained undefeated and moved to 7-0 (4) after decisively beating Randall Pogue, 8-7-1 (2). Pogue was down once in the seventh, but managed to go the distance. Both wins were by way of unanimous decision.
Super middle Angel Camacho improves to 5-0 (3) after scoring a majority decision victory over Lewis Robinson. Super middle Manuel Lopes and lightweight Ella Nunez also came up with wins. Lopes moves to 2-0 (1) and Nunez picks up her first win moving to 1-2 (0).