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You will not believe this fight fans, the second bout of tonight’s HBO Lation’s “Boxeo De Oro” boxing series, featured yet another young prospect. Jonathan Oquendo, 123-pounds, is Puerto Rico’s newest boxing promise. Oquendo, who faced Elvis Martinez, is a stand up orthodox fighter who is quick, and seems to have good boxing fundamentals as he covers up well, and countered Martinez’ shots with sharp, hard, straight punches. Jonathan showed some good head movement, and occasionally switched to southpaw with ease. He seems to have good footwork as he danced around the ring, sidestepping a lot of the incoming offensive. In the second, Martinez pressed the issue, and tried to crowd Oquendo, but the Puerto Rican was very sharp in landing a straight right hand counter. Martinez was game, but the difference in natural talent started to tell, late in the second round as Jonathan started to land hooks and crosses at will. The much more experienced Martinez, who had fifteen more fights than the Puerto Rican, was just not able to effectively launch an offensive.
Martinez came out in the third, and started showed some determination as he plotted forward and let his hands go. He had a lot of success, but was still outgunned by Oquendo. The Puerto Rican landed some hard hooks to the head as the round closed. Martinez came out and continued his aggression, as Jonathan moved around the ring, countering whenever he could. Midway through the round, Oquendo became more aggressive and started to land some solid body punches. Martinez tried to hold his ground and stem the tide, but Oquendo kept coming, shooting hard left hooks to the solar plexus. As the fight progressed, Johnathan continued his aggression and all-out body assault. Martinez drastically slowed down as his ribs were under siege. He began to hold on for dear life as the young Oquendo continued to apply pressure and work the body. Elvis went into full survival mode and held on for most of the latter part of the fight and heard the final bell. Oquendo picked up a unanimous decision victory. The Puerto Rican showed some great hand-speed, solid footwork, and a nice array of punches in his offensive arsenal. The problem I saw was that he is too patient at times, and tends to not sit down on his punches. He would also do much better if he employed a jab, instead of just walking in. We will keep a close eye on this young pugilist.
Contact Sergio Martinez at srg_mrtnz@yahoo.com
