Xander Zayas v Jorge Garcia Perez ESPN Sat. 26th - The last show

To me this is much more about the finale and reality that as it stands, this will be the very last network boxing on ESPN...not to mention as far as in the States...the last boxing held on network tv. A reality that the sport and wide swath of fighters have benefited from and grew with since the 1940's. If you've come up as a fan prior to the 00's and 90's you cannot help but emphasis that and have to sit with it a moment. Maybe a few moments. There was a run of years from early to late 90's and a short bit in the 00's that on any given week locally that broke down as such

Monday...Fight night at the Forum or Madison Square Garden boxing. Usually a couple cards a month regularly. The Forum cards were absolute gold.
Tuesday...USA Tuesday Night fights. They were seasonal and ran majority of the year. Did replays of every card the same night. Also the first place I've seen that would replay portions or selected fights of the previous weekends PPV. You just didn't get better than this absolute randomness that they aired.
Wednesday...Nothing with regular programming where I was but on occasion ESPN would air there instead of Fridays.
Thursday...ESPN would move cards back and forth and try to work around other major sports, NBA, NCAA etc. so often had cards that night.
Friday...With rare exception Fridays were stacked. Boxing on FS1, FNF cards on ESPN ran majority of the year. Univision aired cards. Telefutura the same.
Saturday...Well no shit ;D. HBO was king. Showtime was running on a regular basis. Early on you had cards maybe twice a month, but they were "events". Later they started going head to head which was frustrating but also put promotions doing real competition. You were often left flicking back and forth, some of us even had 2,3 TVs set up in different rooms :-X. And they always did replays on Sunday mornings and some nights. You also had Solo Boxeo cards on any given Spanish channel. You also had on any given weekend afternoon fights on free stations like NBC, ABC or CBS. Not all at once by any means but they were known as "the big 3" in the States. Where it all originated.
Sunday...The majority of Sundays on Univision they would air international title fights. 1 or 2. From everywhere, Argentina, Thailand, UK, France, Japan etc. It was the rare chance for fans in the States to see fighters globally. Boxing was still in the confines of boarders pre internet of course. You read about them in one of the many mags we coveted but unless you were trading tapes, you just didn't see that many boxers from so many different countries. Pre internet was...just different.

So basically...regular scheduled boxing a minimum of 5 nights of the week. In one fashion or another, it was consistent programming well beyond all the big names but you discovered guys that wouldn't even get the airtime today. Put me down in the "more exposure grows the sport" category. Ok excuse the ramble, other than dating myself badly and moaning over obsolete media :-X. I'll always contend that the loss of regular basic network coverage has stunted the sports big picture and overall growth, for more than fans calling themselves hardcore fans. More so for the fans who have yet to actually discover it. You simply do not "stumble" across random fighters now flicking channels or discover platforms with the same consistency. Ok moan over ;D

So Xander Zayas takes on #2 Garcia and it will definitely, on paper, be his toughest fight to date. And Zayas really needs that as he sits at #1 without doing a ton of scalp collecting. If we're being honest. The Wbo is vacant and Crawford is officially gone come Sept. so now is the time for Zayas who looks to grab the vacant belt in a still very deep 154. Should be a good solid match this one.

Bruce Shu Shu Carrington back at it going for the interim belt v 14-0 Mateus Heita out of Nambia. Not too familiar with Heita but while he has fewer fights than Shu Shu, he has also had a handful of scheduled 12 rounders. Small details may or may not come to mean much but when it comes to rounds Shu Shu has gone the 10 round distance exactly one time. For a superb talent who has seemingly been fast tracked to a belt you just have to keep an eye on it. Love to see a competitive fight here and hope we see just that. Here's to hoping the tv era goes out with an absolute bang.

Reece Bellotti vs Ryan Garner

Cracking first 2 rounds.

Ryan Garner with hints of a hungry younger Ricky Hatton.

The irony is canceling Espn+ and missing a couple of the undercard fights ;D. Juanma Lopez DeJesus the younger son of Juanma Lopez goes to 3-0 by absolutley steamrolling Jorge Gonzalez. Impressive southpaw hand speed but soooo early on.

Emiliano Vargas kicking it off vs one Alexander Espinoza out of Ecuador. Vargas is very calm cool and collected in general until the bell rings. Tooons of cannon fodder on the record of Espinoza so wouldn't blink. Somehow this is for a junior title but alrighty. Vargas will be a very fun watch moving forward.

Right hand off the dome of Alexander and he melts down onto all fours. Fight over under 1 minute. It's great, but they really have to keep their cool celebrating set ups like this ;D;). Great right hand turned over perfectly. Time for some real meals for young Vargas.

Crazy to think on it and comparable points for Vargas and his dad Fernado Sr at 3 years point. Actually good they are not clamoring to match him the same as Fernando Sr was also thrown in very heavy very early in career and it caught up. At same point he had already faced and beaten Anthony Stephens, Winky Wright, Yori Boy Campas, Raul Marquez and Ike Quartey :-X. Very impressive run for just 3 years.

Mateus Heita oozing some confidence leading up here. Not ruling him out as a banana peel at all but time for Carrington to put it all together and fight with his head, stay level stay smart.

Early impression, Heita kinda stiff in the hips. Rigid. Let's see.

Shu Shu round 1. There is something on these subtle shots from Heita. This will become very interesting when he opens up.

Round 2 Heita. Looking like the type of guy who know multiple angles when those long arms get rolling.

Round 3 Shu Shu he's pressing more but also leaving some holes on the way in. Heita is a live dog. Smart using his reach and uppercuts when Shu Shu backs to the ropes.

Ohh nice right uppercut counter by Shu Shu catches Heita but he ate it well. Left hook off the temple dings Heita. Carrignton starting to put the punches together. Takes 4th round.

Carrington showing smart feet and sliding off well. Picking shots. Under left eye of Heita welling up tiny bit? Carrington bulls him to corner end round and just touches repeatedly. Feels like a subtle gear shift here. 4-1 Carrington.

5-1 Carrington. Still do not like that small step ahead that Shu Shu does with nothing in front of it. Just steps in but showing punch selection now and 'feeling' himself. Decent end of round Heita forcing Shu Shu to corner and clubbing away.

May be his hope here, Heita, make it physical make it ugly if you have too. His jab has been all but nullified though. Actually going Heita in 7th. Nothing great very close but did more work. 5-2 Carrington

Slow and peaceful 8th here, see this as a much tighter round. They're saying Shu Shu is pulling a shut out but he's also leaving a lot of empty air and doing some watching. Heita busier but Shu Shu with cleaner sharper shots. 6-2 Shu Shu

Fights gone a little bit ehhh if we're honest. Shu Shu winning 8-2 but not pressing advantages and looking like he's content to paint by numbers.

9-2 Shu Shu. Very quiet 11th and into the final round where crowd is pretty mellow. I wanted Shu Shu to press these advantages. He looks way to content imo but yes winning clearly. Heita is a tricky tough nut but has only been that since maybe the 5th. 12th to Shu Shu

Have 118-110 at the end.

119-109 x2...120-108 Carrington new interim champ.

Main event intros I swear this new form and look Zayas just stepped out of Stand and Deliver ;D. Be in and out on this end I hear echos.

Early action Zayas 1st round and Garcia lands in 2nd. Zayas moving smart and shot a couple of lasered right hands leaving Garcia in a lurch in that 2nd. This will heat up nicely.

Zayas 3-0 into 4th. Faster cleaner moving smarter. Garcia legit a step behind in every category so far. He feints on right and back with left to body and shoots right clean. He's picking spots here in 4th. Right hand clips Garcia end of round. It's all Zayas.

Zayas buzzes him in 5th and also uses shoulder bumps to position him and reset. Takes a shot. Zayas having it all his way and Garcia looks like a spectator.

Zayas clipped with a couple of silly wide shots in 6th but responds right off with big right hand. 6-0 Zayas needs to stay sloppy punch aware late though.

Can't see anything but Zayas 8-0 into 9th. Zayas getting Peter pan feet on occasion but he's working everything. Nice crooked right upper from outside gets Zayas clean but Zayas staying mobile and keeping his head. 8-1 Zayas.

9-2 into the 12th. Zayas unraveled a little bit still has some holes but staying the course. Garcia robotically behind most of the fight but got in some clumps. Minor feel of keep-away by Zayas last rounds. Oddly ends at the same score as co main and same feeling...118-110 Zayas.

Scores in 116-112 118-110 and 119-109 Unanimous dec Xander Zayas. Tons of emotion in that corner for him. Glad he got it looked improved. But work to be done it doesn't end, for any fighter, and 154 is a shark tank. Let's make these unifications

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ5ABY_j7a8

man, xander holds a lot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pccCcgpr5Yk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSk4GxcnYo0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VulbI6E1Cbc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8MvcYJbgj0

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Spicoli

To me this is much more about the finale and reality that as it stands, this will be the very last network boxing on ESPN...not to mention as far as in the States...the last boxing held on network tv. A reality that the sport and wide swath of fighters have benefited from and grew with since the 1940's. If you've come up as a fan prior to the 00's and 90's you cannot help but emphasis that and have to sit with it a moment. Maybe a few moments. There was a run of years from early to late 90's and a short bit in the 00's that on any given week locally that broke down as such

Monday...Fight night at the Forum or Madison Square Garden boxing. Usually a couple cards a month regularly. The Forum cards were absolute gold.
Tuesday...USA Tuesday Night fights. They were seasonal and ran majority of the year. Did replays of every card the same night. Also the first place I've seen that would replay portions or selected fights of the previous weekends PPV. You just didn't get better than this absolute randomness that they aired.
Wednesday...Nothing with regular programming where I was but on occasion ESPN would air there instead of Fridays.
Thursday...ESPN would move cards back and forth and try to work around other major sports, NBA, NCAA etc. so often had cards that night.
Friday...With rare exception Fridays were stacked. Boxing on FS1, FNF cards on ESPN ran majority of the year. Univision aired cards. Telefutura the same.
Saturday...Well no shit ;D. HBO was king. Showtime was running on a regular basis. Early on you had cards maybe twice a month, but they were "events". Later they started going head to head which was frustrating but also put promotions doing real competition. You were often left flicking back and forth, some of us even had 2,3 TVs set up in different rooms :-X. And they always did replays on Sunday mornings and some nights. You also had Solo Boxeo cards on any given Spanish channel. You also had on any given weekend afternoon fights on free stations like NBC, ABC or CBS. Not all at once by any means but they were known as "the big 3" in the States. Where it all originated.
Sunday...The majority of Sundays on Univision they would air international title fights. 1 or 2. From everywhere, Argentina, Thailand, UK, France, Japan etc. It was the rare chance for fans in the States to see fighters globally. Boxing was still in the confines of boarders pre internet of course. You read about them in one of the many mags we coveted but unless you were trading tapes, you just didn't see that many boxers from so many different countries. Pre internet was...just different.

So basically...regular scheduled boxing a minimum of 5 nights of the week. In one fashion or another, it was consistent programming well beyond all the big names but you discovered guys that wouldn't even get the airtime today. Put me down in the "more exposure grows the sport" category. Ok excuse the ramble, other than dating myself badly and moaning over obsolete media :-X. I'll always contend that the loss of regular basic network coverage has stunted the sports big picture and overall growth, for more than fans calling themselves hardcore fans. More so for the fans who have yet to actually discover it. You simply do not "stumble" across random fighters now flicking channels or discover platforms with the same consistency. Ok moan over ;D

So Xander Zayas takes on #2 Garcia and it will definitely, on paper, be his toughest fight to date. And Zayas really needs that as he sits at #1 without doing a ton of scalp collecting. If we're being honest. The Wbo is vacant and Crawford is officially gone come Sept. so now is the time for Zayas who looks to grab the vacant belt in a still very deep 154. Should be a good solid match this one.

Bruce Shu Shu Carrington back at it going for the interim belt v 14-0 Mateus Heita out of Nambia. Not too familiar with Heita but while he has fewer fights than Shu Shu, he has also had a handful of scheduled 12 rounders. Small details may or may not come to mean much but when it comes to rounds Shu Shu has gone the 10 round distance exactly one time. For a superb talent who has seemingly been fast tracked to a belt you just have to keep an eye on it. Love to see a competitive fight here and hope we see just that. Here's to hoping the tv era goes out with an absolute bang.

---

Thanks for the info, although it's pretty much bad news. I too grew up loving boxing when it was regularly shown on HBO, Showtime, ESPN, and a few other networks. PPV's were a nuisance, but I would gladly shell out the $$ for a well put together card. Championship fights have always been among my favorite events in all of sports.

Yet slowly but surely, they're all gone. Now you say ESPN is getting out of the game. That is beyond sad. What are we left with? I'm still holding out on paying for DAZN, mostly because of principle, but also because I've been able to catch fights on ESPN or sometimes TNT (I think). I might be in the minority. But I miss Jim Lampley... and Larry Merchant (as annoying as he could be)... and Michael Buffer... and Jimmy Lennon Jr. (although I saw he's still around)... and Max Kellerman. I miss the fanfare and prefight hoopla on HBO and Showtime.

I swear boxing is one of those fan pursuits that does everything in its power to drive away fans. Crappy judging. Shady matchmaking. Meaningless trinkets. Eyebrow-raising rankings. Protecting of divas. Yet with every fight misjudged by corrupt and/or inept judges (or both)... us masochist fans just keep coming back for more.

But now they're being taken away from the networks. Leaving us to consume the product in whatever form THEY say we will consume it. They know hardcore boxing fans are hard to push away.

Crap...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Spicoli

Scores in 116-112 118-110 and 119-109 Unanimous dec Xander Zayas. Tons of emotion in that corner for him. Glad he got it looked improved. But work to be done it doesn't end, for any fighter, and 154 is a shark tank. Let's make these unifications

---

Thanks for the RBR. I did see the fight after all. A son-in-law got it on his phone, and mirrored it to the TV where we were all staying. Major points. ;D

I thought Xander did pretty well. Garcia was definitely no slouch. Like most Mexican fighters, he has a tough beard. Xander isn't exactly a murderous puncher, so there was little chance of him getting the knockout victory. Also, there is the fact that Xander had yet to go 12 rounds. I feared he might gas in the end... but he comported himself pretty well. I thought his movement and ring generalship were excellent. He got tagged a bit more than I would've liked, but in the end you gotta show you can take a punch. No matter how good a boxer you are, you're always going to get hit with your share of punches. I thought he spoke well, before and after the fight. Yes... he's definitely got some work to do. 154 is, and has usually been, a division packed with talent. So Xander needs to continue his progress. Still... he's only 22, and now the youngest of the currently active champions.

Nice having another champion. :)