CRUZ v. BURGOS!

[Mars_ax]

Fun time at the show last night. I got my grubby hands on a press pass and the lady was nice enough to allow my friend to use the same pass. The ball room was packed as Tiberi, a local Delaware fighter, was fighting on the undercard. Below find a little blurb I wrote up about it when I returned home after the fight and I'll attach some pictures I took of the main event as well.

Earlier tonight, February 24, 2012, Juan Carlos Burgos and Cristobal Cruz entertained a packed house of approximately 1,500 boxing fans at the Dover Downs Hotel and Casino in Dover, Delaware, and fans around the country viewing ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights, with a high energy scrap. As Burgos and Cruz are pressure fighters, it was an easy bet that their bout would be filled with back-and-forth action—Burgos and Cruz did not disappoint. When the dust settled after ten milling rounds, it was the relentless Burgos that remained standing as the victor.

Burgos, aged 24, four fights removed from suffering his sole loss against current WBC featherweight champion, Hozumi Hasegawa of Japan, entered the ring a (-600) favorite. However, as an experienced, former featherweight titlist, with a win over current featherweight champion, Orlando Salido, and having faced tough competitors such as Zahir Raheem and Steve Lueveno, Cruz, aged 34, did not come to the first state to lie down.

The first round was quiet for both fighters. The next few rounds saw much of the same; Burgos, in white shorts, pocketing close rounds with sharp jabs snapped to the face of Cruz, in green shorts. Burgos fought these rounds off his back foot, with Cruz pressing the action. Cruz was aggressive, but Burgos won the rounds by throwing intermittent combinations and flicking the jab.

As the sixth stanza opened, Burgos appeared livelier and began to land his jab between the guard of Cruz. Then, out of the blue, a strong left hook by Burgos sent Cruz to the canvas hard. The first ten-eight round of the fight.

The seventh and eighth rounds saw Burgos add to his lead. In round nine, Cruz dropped Burgos down with a stiff jab against the ropes. It was an exciting round for Cruz with Burgos in retreat shaking the cobwebs off from the knockdown. By the end of the round, you could feel the crowd’s support begin to shift to the man from Tijuana with the green shorts.

Soon after the bell ran for the last round, Burgos hit Cruz low, causing the Delaware crowd to boo loudly. Angry from the low blow, Cruz returned, pushing Burgos back with winging punches. The round ended with Cruz and Burgos trading blows for the final seconds. All three judges scored the fight for Burgos with Julie Lederman and Steve Weisfeld scoring the fight 96-92 and Pierre Benoist had it 98-90.

On the televised undercard, Manuel Perez earned an inspiring upset with a unanimous decision win over Edgar Santana 96-94 on all three judges’ scorecards. Perez, round-in-and-round-out, consistently landed more punches. When the decision was read, and the hand of Cruz raised, fans from the small wonder, in a right display of class, loudly applauded Cruz, the journeyman who had just scored the biggest upset of his career.

Great report Rant-Cat, I think you've missed your calling, you need to become a fight reporter.
As for the fights, I thought Perez/Santana was the better fight of the night, Cruz-Burgos just wasn't as good.

cheers

I agree, but I think it's because I had higher expectations of Cruz-Burgos and Perez-Santana went about opposite of what I expected, always a fan of the dog beating the odds.

Exactly, I was happy for Perez, this should get him some better paydays.

[killersheep]

Fun time at the show last night. I got my grubby hands on a press pass and the lady was nice enough to allow my friend to use the same pass. The ball room was packed as Tiberi, a local Delaware fighter, was fighting on the undercard. Below find a little blurb I wrote up about it when I returned home after the fight and I'll attach some pictures I took of the main event as well.

Earlier tonight, February 24, 2012, Juan Carlos Burgos and Cristobal Cruz entertained a packed house of approximately 1,500 boxing fans at the Dover Downs Hotel and Casino in Dover, Delaware, and fans around the country viewing ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights, with a high energy scrap. As Burgos and Cruz are pressure fighters, it was an easy bet that their bout would be filled with back-and-forth action—Burgos and Cruz did not disappoint. When the dust settled after ten milling rounds, it was the relentless Burgos that remained standing as the victor.

Burgos, aged 24, four fights removed from suffering his sole loss against current WBC featherweight champion, Hozumi Hasegawa of Japan, entered the ring a (-600) favorite. However, as an experienced, former featherweight titlist, with a win over current featherweight champion, Orlando Salido, and having faced tough competitors such as Zahir Raheem and Steve Lueveno, Cruz, aged 34, did not come to the first state to lie down.

The first round was quiet for both fighters. The next few rounds saw much of the same; Burgos, in white shorts, pocketing close rounds with sharp jabs snapped to the face of Cruz, in green shorts. Burgos fought these rounds off his back foot, with Cruz pressing the action. Cruz was aggressive, but Burgos won the rounds by throwing intermittent combinations and flicking the jab.

As the sixth stanza opened, Burgos appeared livelier and began to land his jab between the guard of Cruz. Then, out of the blue, a strong left hook by Burgos sent Cruz to the canvas hard. The first ten-eight round of the fight.

The seventh and eighth rounds saw Burgos add to his lead. In round nine, Cruz dropped Burgos down with a stiff jab against the ropes. It was an exciting round for Cruz with Burgos in retreat shaking the cobwebs off from the knockdown. By the end of the round, you could feel the crowd’s support begin to shift to the man from Tijuana with the green shorts.

Soon after the bell ran for the last round, Burgos hit Cruz low, causing the Delaware crowd to boo loudly. Angry from the low blow, Cruz returned, pushing Burgos back with winging punches. The round ended with Cruz and Burgos trading blows for the final seconds. All three judges scored the fight for Burgos with Julie Lederman and Steve Weisfeld scoring the fight 96-92 and Pierre Benoist had it 98-90.

On the televised undercard, Manuel Perez earned an inspiring upset with a unanimous decision win over Edgar Santana 96-94 on all three judges’ scorecards. Perez, round-in-and-round-out, consistently landed more punches. When the decision was read, and the hand of Cruz raised, fans from the small wonder, in a right display of class, loudly applauded Cruz, the journeyman who had just scored the biggest upset of his career.

Great report Rant-Cat, I think you've missed your calling, you need to become a fight reporter.
As for the fights, I thought Perez/Santana was the better fight of the night, Cruz-Burgos just wasn't as good.

cheers

I agree, but I think it's because I had higher expectations of Cruz-Burgos and Perez-Santana went about opposite of what I expected, always a fan of the dog beating the odds.

Exactly, I was happy for Perez, this should get him some better paydays.

At todays FNF pay rates I'm thinking a better payday for him will be a 24 pack of bud.

He deserves a decent pay day after that.

[Rantcatrat]

Are those red tats or scars on Edgar Santana?

[killersheep]

Are those red tats or scars on Edgar Santana?

Those are tattoos on his body and bruises on his face, strange that it's the same color.

[Rantcatrat]

Thanks to Killer and Finito for giving me insight to Burgos and Cruz prior to going to the fight. It made it more interesting. I appreciate it.

[FinitoElDinamita]

Any young fighter, even the veterans, can have an off-night and everybody has their kryponite.. Plus, as I told my boy Rant earlier, Cruz aint no punk and dude lays down for nobody.. I knew he was coming to fight and give Burgos some problems so that fight didnt surprise me one bit..

I still think Burgos is the truth but maybe he should go back down to 126 and face Mikey Garcia... I would pay $100 to see that fight..

Juan Carlos Burgos has some flaws such as his inability to straighten out his right hand but he's still young and full of potential.. He can work out those flaws, no problem.. He comes from a family of boxers and dude is a natural fighter.. he just knows wsup..

Juan Carlos Burgos is a mutherfuckin bad bad man and I hope to see him face Mikey Garcia at his best weight.. I would pay $100 to see that.. Fuck a Floyd-Pac..