Round by Round: Cruz Carbajal-Jorge Lacierva.

We bring you another result from the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California before the Juarez-Ramirez main event. Read on to find out what happened when Cruz Carbajal battled Jorge Lacierva in an IBF bantamweight title eliminator.

Round one: Lacierva hits Carbajal with a big right in the opening after Carbajal lands a good shot to body. Carbajal is wild and Lacierva is throwing big shots. Carbajal looks unschooled in comparison to Lacierva as he comes in crouched throwing looping punches that mostly miss and put him in bad position to defend against Lacierva’s counters and superior foot movement. Lots of big punches missed by both fighters. Carbajal lands a big right hand with Lacierva countering superbly. Round ends with Carbajal landing big right on the ropes. First round to Lacierva.

Round two: Lacierva looks like he’s trying to KO Carbajal. Carbajal lands a good right on the ropes but is still coming in wild. Lacierva is switching stances from orthodox to southpaw but it doesn’t seem to confuse Carbajal too much. Carbajal lands a big over hand right as he gets closer and closer. Lacierva is doing a good job of keeping Carbajal off balance with counter punches. Lacierva develops small cut in corner of eye but is using better ringcraft and boxing skills to win the rounds. Round to Lacierva.

Round three: Lacierva catches Carbajal coming in hard with a good left hook but Lacierva is starting to look tired from all the movement. Carbajal catches Lacierva with a right before Lacierva lands a huge right hand and the crowd goes wild. Lacierva begins to tee off on the off balance Carbajal. The round ends with Carbajal landing a good right hand and Lacierva misses a wild left hook. Another round to Lacierva.

Round four: Carbajal corners Lacierva but Lacierva ties him up. This pattern has been repeated throughout the first four rounds. Carbajal is just a power puncher with hardly any jabs. Lacierva is starting to lose some of the snap in his punches but does land two good left hooks in a row. Carbajal lands good left to the body and then follows with a right. Carbajal then hits Lacierva with a solid left while going forward and Lacierva goes to the ropes but Carbajal can do nothing with him. A drawn round.

Round five: Lacierva is on his bike, shifting just enough to keep Carbajal off balance and spearing Carbajal occasionally with sharp straight punches. Carbajal lands his best style of punch which is a tight overhand right while coming forward, seemingly off balance. Carbajal does it again. The distance is now closed with Carbajal getting very close and Lacierva’s movement is only when he has to. Lacierva lands a good left to the body but Carbajal responds with a hard lead right. Lacierva tries going to the body again and they then trade good right hands. Lots of blocked punches in this round as the fighters start to tire from the brisk pace.

Round six: Carbajal puts Lacierva on the ropes but again, can’t do much. Carbajal lands a hard uppercut and then a good right that hurts Lacierva. Carbajal lands a left as Lacierva begins to back up in earnest. Lacierva is trying to make Carbajal pay for coming in but Carbajal clearly has more left in the tank and isn’t hurt by Lacierva’s punches. Lacierva is now starting to show facial damage as Carbajal is now catching him steadily. Carbajal is landing looping punches from all angles and Lacierva is not throwing back, just trying to dance away but Carbajal is cutting off the ring. Carbajal traps Lacierva on ropes and goes to work, Lacierva is looking desperate and cant take the pressure . Lacierva’s nose begins to bleed and the round ends with Lacierva looking wilted.

Round seven: Fight is stopped between rounds as Lacierva’s corner stops it. Carbajal and his corner are elated and hug.

Carbajal now is Rafael Marquez’s mandatory. Marquez will destroy Carbajal within five or six rounds.

Richard Eberline can be reached at richardeberline@fastmail.fm