Round by Round: Fernando Montiel vs. Evert Brisceno.

The first world title fight held at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas last night featured WBO super flyweight champion Fernando Montiel in action against late substitute Evert Brisceno. The Nicaraguan Brisceno stepped in at extremely short notice for troubled former world champion Eric Morel who looks set to face

sexual assault charges and therefore could not be deemed worthy of a license to fight. Before the fight, Brisceno had fought merely two weeks ago and this was an element that many may think to be a disadvantage, but as the fight wore on, it became clear that the tough challenger would use it as a plus against the classy and much-heralded champion who was expected to showcase his skills to the millions watching worldwide.

The following is how it all went down punch for punch, round by round, brought to you exclusively by SaddoBoxing.com.

Round one: Brisceno comes out bulling the champion with the jab and Montiel counters with a right hand and some sharp jabs of his own. Montiel sticks to going for the right hand and is jabbing very well. Montiel tries the quick left jab-left uppercut combination to some effect. A solid left-right combination from the champion lands. Montiel seems content to have Brisceno come to him while using smart footwork and defense to keep out of trouble and set Brisceno up for sharp counter-punches.

Score: Montiel 10-9.

Round two: Montiel stands his ground more and catches Brisceno with some stinging shots. Montiel is the sharper puncher and Brisceno simply follows him around the ring hoping to land something to upset the champion’s rhythm. Brisceno lands a solid right hand inside that seems to stun Montiel momentarily. Montiel responds with a great uppercut through the middle of Brisceno’s defense.

Score: Montiel 10-9.

Round three: Brisceno comes forward and is chopped up by some slicing hooks and uppercuts from Montiel. Brisceno answers back with a solid left hook. Brisceno looks as if he is feeling the pace of the fight already and Montiel is very happy to counter and and steals the eye with many slashing hook and uppercut combinations. Brisceno lands some glancing shots while Montiel is backing up but doe slittle else to dent the champion’s form.

Score: Montiel 10-9.

Round four: Montiel lands a snappy 1-2-3 combination. Brisceno is tough but showing little variety and cannot break into Montiel’s space to make an impact at this point. Montiel is throwing a great punch output but for the most part in this round, Brisceno adopts a tighter defense and is able to numb the effects of most of the punches.

Score: Montiel 10-9.

Round five: Brisceno is timing the counter left hook over Montiel’s right hand and it catches the champion many times here. Another good series of punches land for Brisceno in the form of a left followed by a left-right. Montiel dancing and looking in good form but landing much less suddenly. Montile starts to turn it on with jabs and right hands but Brisceno just keeps coming with that hook time and again. Montiel steals in with a solid combination to the head. Brisceno is the more consistent fighter in this round.

Score: Brisceno 10-9.

Round six: Montiel scores a good counter right after a lull in the action. Then the fight turns dirty and the referee pulls them apart for a warning. This is a quieter action round for the most part. Brisceno seems to be coming on at this point but Montiel still manages to take the round with the harder shots landed in greater numbers.

Score: Montiel 10-9.

Round seven: Brisceno backs up the champion and bangs away with some hard shots. Montiel does not stay trapped for long and gets in with some big body shots of his own. A hard right hand staggers Brisceno. Brisceno fights back hard when he is hurt. It is a much better fight when Montiel decides to stand with the challenger and they get into a trading session but Montiel is still the more effective fighter right now.

Score: Montiel 10-9.

Round eight: Montiel is obviously the more accomplished boxer but he cannot truly hurt Brisceno who seals this particular round with several counter left hooks and right hand shots to the head.

Score: Brisceno 10-9.

Round nine: Brisceno backs the champion up again and does well when they trade. Montiel’s left lands hard. It is a scrappy round that Montiel wins with a series of great head shots including an absolute peach of a right hand that rocks Brisceno’s whole body.

Score: Montiel 10-9.

Round ten: Brisceno is trying but Montiel’s defense and footwork is still fresh enough to keep him out of serious trouble. Brisceno’s counter left gets in for him. There is no truly definitive action here to seperate them as they land some good head shots in fairly equal measure until the end of the round when it appears that Montiel has the better of the exchanges.

Score: Montiel 10-9.

Round eleven: Both are tired and easily pushed down in clinches. Brisceno lands a series of clean head shots on the champion who is tired now and less evasive than in the earlier rounds. Brisceno looks the stronger of the two at this stage and has managed to absorb the best that Montiel has offered thus far.

Score: Brisceno 10-9.

Round twelve: Brisceno is aggressive and caught by counters by Montiel on the way in. This is a good action round to close the fight as Brisceno’s corner must have filled their man with some depseration to go out and do a number on the champion. Brisceno has to eat more counters but gets a few counters of his own in and certainly managed to score with more clean head shots than he himself would have hoped for against a champion of Montiel’s apparent reputation.

Score: Even 10-10.

Official scores: 118-110, 117-111 and 117-111 all in favor of the winner and STILL champion, Fernando Montiel.

Writer’s note: It has to be said that this was a wasted opportunity for Montiel who I suppose can hardly be blamed because of the opponent switch at short notice. Brisceno came in and did as well as he could, he lasted longer and managed to be more effective in spots I imagine because he had just fought two weeks ago and was fighting fit. I am not sure how deserving Eric Morel would have been having been trounced by Martin Castillo recently, but there was much talk about Montiel’s appearance on this card and the final performance was decidedly disappointing. Montiel will not likely have much trouble in securing a position on a high-profile under-card by the end of the year when he should look to make more of the opportunity to impress.

Jim Cawkwell can be reached at jimcawkwell@yahoo.co.uk