Jose Pedraza Takes Ray Beltran’s Title by UD – Boxing News
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By Joshua “City” Brewer
Top Rank on ESPN was live from Glendale, Arizona, on August 25, 2018. The main event featured Ray Beltran, 35-8-1, 21 KO’s as he put his WBO world lightweight championship on the line against Jose Pedraza, 25-1, 12 KO’s. The 37 year old Beltran was making his first defense of the title he picked up in his last fight. The winner would be lined up to face pound for pound standout, Vasyl Lomachenko later this year.
Both fighters chose to use their jab early in round one as they each looked to set the tone. Pedraza saw some success with his jab to the body at times. Pedraza was able to open a cut on the left eye of Beltran in the second. Pedraza did a good job of timing Beltran using a stiff right jab. Beltran landed a hard right hand near the tail end of the round but Pedraza remained composed.
Beltran aimed to work the body of Pedraza in the third, but Pedraza remained keen on using his jab. Pedraza caught Beltran with a glancing left coming out of a clinch. Beltran came out more aggressive in the fourth and found some success to the body of Pedraza once again. Beltran landed a solid right hand near the 1:20 mark that seemed to snap Pedraza’s head. Beltran remained focused on staying on the inside and delivering hard blows.
Beltran landed a hard right hook in the fifth as he continued to stalk the less active Pedraza. Pedraza started to throw less as the rounds wore on. Beltran was boosted by chants of ‘Mexico’ as he applied his trade in the beginning of the sixth. Beltran started to look more and more comfortable. Beltran found success with the right hand against the ropes as Pedraza leaned in, landing uppercuts and hooks to both the head and body from in close. Beltran continued to press Pedraza in the seventh round with relentless pressure.
Beltran came out even more intense in the eighth and landed a solid right hand to the head of Pedraza. Pedraza continued to throw back and saw some success halfway through as he landed his right hook to both the head and body. Beltran, though, continued to dig into the body on the inside. The ninth and 10th rounds were controlled by Bertran with his grit on the inside as he continued to lure Pedraza into his game.
Pedraza landed a game changing left uppercut that dropped Beltran as Beltran recklessly stepped in in the latter part of the 11th round. Beltran was visibly hurt but able to answer the count. Pedraza pointed the punch right on the button. Pedraza looked to continue his offensive onslaught as the round came to an end. The 12th round saw Beltran come out more aggressive for the 12th but Pedraza was still himself dialed in. in the final 10 seconds of round 12, Pedraza unloaded a barrage of punches landing hard and clean to Beltran’s head as he laid against the ropes. Beltran was somehow able to hold on through the bell though it looked very bad for him in those seconds.
The fight officially went down as a unanimous decision victory with scores of 117-110 and 115-112 in favor of the new champion, Jose Pedraza.
In the co-featured bout of the evening, WBO world super bantamweight champion Isaac Dogboe, 20-0, 14 KO’s made short work of Hidenori Otake, 31-3-3 with a first round stoppage. This was Dogboe’s first defense and he did so in thrilling fashion on a major stage, ESPN.
Dogboe started in early with crisp and snapping punches that landed with ferocity. It didn’t take long before the writing was on the wall, a little more than halfway through the round, when Dogboe struck with a vicious left hook dropping Otake. Otake was visibly hurt but made the count. Dogboe once again jumped in and landed a set of combinations that forced Otake to drop his glove to the ground, a knockdown for those that don’t know.
Otake again was able to recover and when the action commenced he was visibly worse off than before. Dogboe continued to land his combinations and the referee was left with no choice but to step in and halt the fight as Otake no longer had any form of punch resistance. Dogboe didn’t waste any time calling out the top names, Daniel Roman and Rey Vargas. I say bring it on!!
Mikaela Mayer, 7-0, 4 KO’s, started quick in her fight with Hungary’s Edina Kiss, 14-8, 8 KO’s, and dropped her right a sharp right hand halfway through the first. Kiss was able to recover but never provided any any form of danger to Mayer who kept punching with long right and left hands. Mayer dominated the second and third with effective punching as the aggressor on the front foot. In between rounds the corner for Kiss stopped the fight as she was not able to continue. Officially, it went down as a fourth round technical knockout for Mayer. Mayer mentioned that she’s ready for world title fights in the post interview and to that I say, bring them on.
Another great night of boxing courtesy of Top Rank promotions. May boxing continue to thrive.
Cheers to all and see you next week as the Ringside Report show goes on.
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