Rubio 'Vanda-lizes' Mandalay
WBC No. 1 middleweight next for Chavez, Jr.

Ringside report & photos by Chris Cozzone

Sealing a second chance for a world title, top contender Marco Antonio Rubio tattooed the heavily-inked, always-gutsy Matt Vanda over five rounds for a TKO triumph at the tail-end of the WBC convention, last night at Mandalay Bay’s South Pacific Ballroom in Las Vegas. With a room filled with conventioneers and former kings – from Tony DeMarco to Marvelous Marvin Hagler – Rubio preyed on the “Predator,” busting him up with powerful jabs and right hands until referee Kenny Bayless called off the slaughter.

The card topped off a seven-bout card promoted by Sampson Boing and Promociones del Pueblo that ended just minutes before midnight.

From the opening clang, Rubio’s plan was simple: step and jab, use the right, bang with the left. It might’ve worked with just the jab for Rubio’s left had Vanda’s head pivoting back like a Pez dispenser. Mixing up the jab with rights and the St. Paul foe started to show the wear and tear as early as the third. By the end of the fourth, it was just a matter of time how long Vanda was going to last.

Though continually going back, Vanda tried to dissuade Rubio by blasting back with big shots to the body, and an occasional left hook on the chin. Rubio took everything Vanda had to offer and kept at ‘im. Mixing up uppercuts and short rights, Vanda was staggered several times in the fifth, until the ref stepped in with the official stoppage time of 2:42.

Having lost out on the scales by coming in a pound-and-a-half heavy, Rubio might not have won the door prize of a belt the WBC offered up in the form of their Latino-flavored shade of green, but he’ll get the grand prize: a shot at Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and his WBC middleweight belt early 2012. The winner of that bout will have to face Sergio Martinez, who sat ringside last night. Earlier in the week, the WBC ordered Chavez to fight Martinez or give up the green – looks like a compromise has been struck and Chavez has bought himself some time with Rubio.

Be careful what you ask for, many are saying.

Rubio picks up his tenth straight win, post-Pavlik two years ago, climbing to 53-5-1, 46 KOs. Vanda falls to 44-14, 24 KOs, losing three of his last five bouts.

Fortuna(te) win over Roman

Despite the heavy booing after the verdict was read, there’s not too many who are going to argue that the Dominican Javier Fortuna proved to be the better boxer against former title challenger Miguel Roman, of Juarez.

Keeping at range and landing the harder punches while dancing and occasionally showboating his opponent through seven of the ten rounds, Fortuna outclassed Roman. But in the last three rounds, Fortuna was fortunate to get out alive.

A distance, high-pressure fight in the pocket is where Roman thrives and for most of the bout, Fortuna was his worst nightmare. It was bad enough to be taken down with a body shot in round one, but Roman had to endure the slick, speedier southpaw at range for most of the fight, pot-shotting him with harder punches while round after round escaped him. Denying Roman his preferred mauling, brawling phone booth tussle, Fortuna had the fight in the bag and the minor title at stake – some sort of hybrid Silver intercontinental Latino, something or other strap at 130 – already belted around his waist.

Fortuna’s only injury was a point off in the fourth for a low blow, though Roman, too, received one two rounds later for rabbit killers.

After seven rounds of windmilling his way at Fortuna, all to no avail, Roman, somewhat bloody and bruised, was outclassed – but Fortuna was outgassed.

No longer whoo-hooing like you were probably hearing upstairs where Cirque Du Soleil's Michael Jackson tribute was being staged, Fortuna clinched – actually it was more like draping, for he was like a drowning man a sea, having lost his legs and his sail. Wide-eyed and having never once given up his mission to batter and bruise the body before him, Roman renewed his efforts to steal back the bout – and he nearly did it.

Fortuna went down in the eighth, though ref Joe Cortez did not rule it a knockdown – it could’ve been – and he ran through the ninth in scared straight survival mode. In the tenth, Fortuna fought back in spots, the best exchanges of the fight, but Roman edged the round and could not score a finish or knockdown for all of Fortuna’s hugging.

Though clearly winning over the crowd, Roman lost on the cards to Fortuna, scores of 97-90, 96-91 and 96-92.

Fortuna remains undefeated, 18-0, 13 KOs, in his first big test while Roman falls to 37-9, 28 KOs, ending a four-bout ‘W’ streak since his first world title shot in ’11.

Slam “Poetry”

Returning from a four-year layoff, female featherweight Laura “Poet of the Ring” Serrano (17-4-3, 6 KOs), of Mexico City, needed four rounds to shake off the rust – but it wasn’t enough to score more than a majority draw with tough Ela Nunez (10-11-2, 2 KOs), of Jamestown, N.Y.

The first round was somewhat tactical, a lot of shadowboxing, but in the second, the two went toe-to-toe, jerking the conventioneers awake, for they’d been lulled to sleep by the previous fight.

Though the third was close, Nunez had the edge through the fourth, letting Serrano wade in, then slamming her with the harder shots.

In the fifth and sixth, it was all Serrano, suddenly outclassing a tiring, clumsier Nunez.

The judges were split, 59-55 for Serrano, and 57-57 on the remaining two cards, ruling it a majority decision. Fightnews had it for Nunez, 3 rounds to 2, with the first even.

“Turbo” taxed

Despite losing three straight bouts and being of an apparently alternate ethnicity, Ronnie "Turbo" Warrior (13-6-2, 10 KOs) of Oklahoma City had the green light by the green-belt crew to fight for the WBC’s Latino welterweight title against Panama’s Azael Cosio (13-1-2, 10 KOs).

On paper, they might’ve just given Cosio the belt and spared the crowd, but the fight was marginally better than it should’ve been.

For five rounds, Cosio actually had to break a sweat and figure out his opponent, who, merely smothered and hovered, round after round. It looked like an easy night at the get-go, Cosio hammering down Warrior with a clouting left in the first, but the Oklahoman showed uncanny ability to suffocate the pondering Panamanian, who mulled over his possibilities for a few rounds before spinning out of the slow dance to hammer away at Warrior.

Warrior became increasingly worried as the fight wore on, and was clearly weary going into the sixth. Cosio nearly had him out with two knockdowns. In between rounds, Warrior’s corner threw up the sponge.

Rogers frees up Freeman’s ‘L’ column

In something of a snoozer, unbeaten junior middleweight Samuel Rogers (11-0, 6 KOs), of the Virgin Islands, outclassed previously unbeaten Jamar Freeman (9-1-2, 5 KOs), of Wilson, N.C., for a minor WBC belt.

By the late rounds, ringsiders were calling this the “fight that would never end,” for neither fighter looked all that wiling to engage but in spots. Rogers was clearly the better fighter, but his wait-and-counterpunch strategy made for long yawns while Freeman was content to jab and make rah-rah noises doing so, though once in a while he would let loose with a left that left a resounding smack on a surprised Rogers. Actually, Freeman was on his way to winning his first big round in the third (the only really pleasing round) when Rogers turned it around, staggering him with big left hooks in the last 30 seconds.

Freeman was in trouble in the third, eighth and, finally, in the tenth, when Referee Russell Mora waved off the fight at 2:10 in what appeared to be a premature stoppage.

Badou jacks Collins

In the opening bout, the only quickie of the night, Las Vegas light-heavyweight Badou Jack (9-0, 8 KOs) needed just 2:27 to destroy Ohio’s Adam Collins (10-5, 7 KOs).

Jack jolted Collins hard enough to dump him on the canvas three times before he went down for good.

Jackson tars and feathers Leatherman

In the final bout of the evening, ending just minutes before midnight, Virgin Islands’ John Jackson (12-0, 11 KOs) picked up a youth belt at welter by throwing the leather at previously-unbeaten Keandre Leatherwood (9-1, 6 KOs), of Birmingham, Ala.

It was an odd, sloppy fight, with Jackson biding his time waiting for the right opportunity to hammer in a counter punch and Leatherwood, trying to figure out how to get inside without getting hit.

Leatherman got tagged early while rushing in, and he backed off while Jackson inched his way forward, waiting for another opportunity without creating any of his own. In the third, Leatherman, hurt by Jackson, tried to rip his head off with an MMA move Dana White would probably have frowned upon – losing a point in the process.

Outclassed by Jackson, Leatherman couldn’t figure a way in, or out, until Jackson had him hurt in the sixth, at which point referee Robert Byrd called off the one-sided affair at 1:31.