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While most eyes in Las Vegas are looking forward to the upcoming mega fight next week, Crown Boxing Inc. and the Orleans Hotel and Casino showed this past Friday night that there is more to an entertaining night of boxing than million dollar promotions and endless hype.
In the Mardi Gras Ballroom of the Orleans Hotel & Casino, a capacity crowd was treated to an exciting night of boxing, featuring a world championship bout for the GBU title between “Amazing” Layla McCarter and Melissa “Hurracan” Hernandez as the co-main event.
This was a rematch of a February bout in which the champion McCarter retained her title after stopping Hernandez in the eighth round. Hernandez, while not originally scheduled for this fight, stepped in on short notice to take the opportunity.
It was evident from the very beginning, however, that Hernandez had no intention of simply playing the role of a fill in. She was there to avenge her only loss and capture the belt that she failed to only a couple months earlier.
For those who have not kept up with women’s boxing, I will tell you that it has come a long way over the last several years. They are fighting full three minute rounds now, and perhaps not coincidently, these women were in excellent shape and impressively sharp.
Round one opened with Hernandez coming out very aggressively and attacking the champion. Despite doing her best to offset this aggression with her movement and counterpunching, McCarter found herself on the defensive and moving backwards for most of the round.
Round two continued much as the first, opening with Hernandez landing a left hook that immediately got the champion’s attention and setting the tone that would continue not only for the round, but the rest of the fight. Hernandez’ body movement and bobbing proved extremely effective as she moved forward, and as a result the champion found herself struggling to offset the challenger’s high energy and relentless attack.
While landing an occasional counter punch, McCarter was continually on the defensive and fighting to stay off the ropes. During these first two rounds, while the champion had her moments and fought courageously against the more aggressive challenger, “effective aggression” seemed to be working against her as the challenger was able to dictate the pace of the fight and dominate the action.
Opening round three, Hernandez again started very aggressively with a clean right cross and a left hook. While the challenger still maintained a very high energy level, McCarter was finally able to begin timing Hernandez more effectively and about a minute into the round but together her best combination of the fight to that point, sending Hernandez back and halting her attack for the first time of the night. While it was the most effective period thus far for the champion, the round ended with Hernandez regrouping and finishing strong.
Round four opened with a Hernandez left hook again, as she was determined to stay aggressive and keep the pressure on the champion. By this time, however, the wave was beginning to subside as McCarter’s timing of the challenger was beginning to improve considerably. While this round was filled with big shots by both fighters, and saw much back and forth action, it was the champion who took control by regularly landing the bigger, cleaner punches.
After four very active rounds, the pace began to slow in round five as the demands of the bout began taking its toll on both fighters. Rounds five through seven saw a back and forth contest, with neither fighter dominating throughout, but periods in which the challenger’s continued aggression would score, then periods when the champion’s counter-punching seemed to dominate.
While the fight continued to produce several exciting exchanges, the highlight of these rounds was when the champion jolted the challenger with a strong combination midway through the seventh.
The eighth and final round opened to chants for the local favorite, “Layla, Layla, Layla.” Both fighters, sensing a close contest, fought hard to make the round their own. Midway through, the crowd was treated to a furious exchange in the corner with both fighters doing everything they could to make a decision unnecessary.
There would be no early ending to this one, however. The final bell would end the fight, even as the action was continuing in a familiar fashion, with the champion against the ropes fighting off Hernandez.
Melissa “Hurracan” Hernandez improved to 7-1-1 (2) in a majority decision with scores of 76-76, 77-75 and 78-74, claiming the GBU Lightweight world championship. “Amazing” Layla McCarter fell to 23-13-5 (5).
The other co-main event saw Friday “the 13th” Ahunanya attempting to work his way back into heavyweight contention against journeyman Earl Hayes in a bout scheduled for six rounds.
The first round opened with Hayes attempting to establish his jab and Ahunanya measuring his opponent for the upcoming bombing raid. In the first round, and in fact throughout the entire fight, Ahunanya dispensed with the subtleties of boxing, such as the jab, and focused his attack on lead right crosses, left hooks, and explosive counter punches.
As the first round unfolded, Ahunanya’s effectiveness increased as the power punches started coming more frequently and Hayes’ jab became less and less useful for keeping him at bay.
In the second round, Ahunanya gained momentum as his opponent seemed unable to deal with his power. Hayes was reduced to jab and move for most of the round as he became unwilling to accept the consequences of Ahunanya’s counter-punching.
While absorbing heavy shots to the body and head, and taken very much out of his intended game plan, Hayes’ appeared to take the shots well and didn’t seem to be in any serious trouble.
The third round, the best of the fight, saw Hayes doing his best to maintain his jab while Ahunanya continued the onslaught. About two minutes in, the best punch of the fight landed for Ahunanya. He connected with a solid right hand and Hayes, visibly staggered, stumbled back to the ropes.
Ahunanya followed with an all out attack, trying to end it right there and add another ko to his record. While taking several tough punches, Hayes showed no signs of surrender and was eventually able to escape from against the ropes and regroup. By the end of the round he appeared much more composed and ready for more action.
After the excitement of the third round, both fighters seemed tired and the action slowed accordingly. Ahunanya’s power shots, while still coming, lost much of their steam. It was here that Hayes found the opportunity to finally establish his jab.
The final three rounds became more of a technical boxing match, seeing Hayes work his jab with increasing effectiveness, and Ahunanya landing big shots regularly, but never able to put Hayes in trouble again.
Friday “the 13th” Ahunanya improved to 21-5-2 (11) in a unanimous decision with scores of 59-55, 60-54 and 60-54. Earl Hayes fell to 15-24-1 (10).
Undercard results:
Lightweight Johnny “the Cobra” Taunton improved to 2-0 (0) in a majority decision with scores of 38-38, 39-37 and 39-37. Oscar “Wonderboy” Marin dropped to 3-2-0 (1).
Lightweights Ronald Hurley, 1-1-1 (0), and Terrance Jett, 2-6-1 (1), fought to a majority draw with scores of 39-37 (Hurley), 38-38 and 38-38.
Super Middleweights Rodrigo Agular improved to 2-1 with a fourth round TKO. Richard Bingham dropped to 1-4 (1).
