Mark E. Ortega
January 5, 2014
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| Fights like Ward-Sanchez prove you can't write a fighter off before a fight is over. |
In the main event, Argenis Mendez (21-3-1, 11 knockouts) was defending his IBF 130-pound title against Barthelemy. Last year, Barthelemy won an unpopular decision over Arash Usmanee in ESPN2's opening broadcast (Usmanee fights in next week's main event against Juan Antonio Rodriguez).
Barthelemy got off to a great start as he fought from the proper range with Mendez unable to answer. In the second round, Mendez was floored in the final 30 seconds. Mendez was in big trouble but with very little time left, seemed a good bet to make it to his corner.
Unfortunately for Mendez, Chicago-based referee Pete Podgorski wasn't on top of his game. When the referee hears the signal indicating there are ten seconds left in the round, he is supposed to be ready to break up the action at the bell. Podgorski must have been caught up in a ring card girl's eyes at ringside or something, because he was in no position to jump in. Because of this, when the bell rang, Mendez was tagged by a few extra shots that put him down a second time.
I watched the broadcast at a bar. The owner of said sports bar is a former Ohio native, so every television was tuned to the BCS bowl game that featured Ohio State. I was in the back corner watching Friday Night Fights sans sound, so I couldn't confirm with my own ears that the shots came way late until later on.
Instead of a foul being assessed, Mendez was instead given a count. He was unable to beat the count, therefore losing his belt, the only bargaining chip he had to try and get a fight against a big name in the division.
Some on Twitter afterwards were saying that Mendez was on his way to losing and therefore it isn't such a big deal. Though Mendez looked far from his best, this is the same guy that starched Juan Carlos Salgado last year in one of the more memorable knockouts I can recall in 2013. Boxing is unlike any other sport, where the scoreboard means nothing until the final bell is reached. There is no such thing as an insurmountable lead, as fights like Micky Ward against Alfonso Sanchez have taught us in the past. Mendez could very well have gotten to his corner, recovered, and come back with a knockout of his own.
Now onto another subject regarding Mendez. Late last night, the Twitter account to boxing site Livefight tweeted the following:
With this in mind, it was easy to see how Mendez was weight drained and not himself last night. But put yourself in the shoes of Mendez. For years he fought mostly in obscurity, finally winning a version of a world title last year. Even with a belt, he wasn't getting calls for major fights, but at least had a bargaining chip. If he were to move to a new weight division without the backing of a major promoter or big time manager, his chances of landing a big fight become even more limited. Obviously, health has to come first, but it is easy to understand why it becomes a difficult decision for a fighter to make.
As far as the result of last night's fight, I personally believe it should be overturned to a no contest with an immediate rematch ordered by the IBF. While Barthelemy should have stopped when the bell came, a majority of the blame lies with the incompetency of the referee, and to some extent, the ringside officials.
TRUAX-DURAN
The opening fight last night was an intriguing middleweight scrap between local favorite Caleb Truax and the well-traveled Ossie Duran. Duran has always been a personal favorite of mine, a hard-nosed fighter who took on so many up-and-comers, often on short notice. This was no different, as Duran got the call just a few weeks out from the fight.
Truax was coming off a quality year where he stopped Don George (though I attribute this mostly to George being a walking corpse at that weight) and was expected to get through Duran with a bit of ease. Duran was coming off the first truly poor showing of his career, where he was stopped for the first time ever by Mat Korobov, a prospect that Top Rank had nearly given up on. Duran showed Friday that there is still life in him yet, earning a unanimous draw of 95-95 thrice.
Truax was supposed to face unbeaten middleweight Brandon Gonzales at one point, but the fight was scrapped when Gonzales suffered an injury. Gonzales himself struggled against Duran and received a bit of a gift in getting the decision. Now with a common opponent between the two, the matchup becomes a little more interesting and downright acceptable as a future Friday Night Fights later this year. RingTV's Doug Fischer tweeted me he believes Gonzales wins that one with ease, but I'm still not convinced he's well conditioned enough to outhustle Truax, though he surprised me against Thomas Oosthuizen last year in his HBO debut.
Last thing, it felt like a Twilight Zone episode seeing Mike Tyson in a suit and tie disputing a foul in a boxing ring, but that goes to show how far Mike has come in recent years.
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