The individual rounds soon fell into a pattern that summed up the bout as a whole. Shumenov came off his stool fast, threw hard punches that got the partisan crowd on their feet, only to give up momentum and be on the receiving end of accurate shots delivered from Campillo.
Campillo, much like the famous tortoise vs the hare, fought at his own relaxed pace. Much like a thoroughbred, Campillo allowed Shumenov’s hare to rush out to an early lead only to be caught and surpassed in less than two minutes flat.
The pro-Shumenov crowd was pleased early when their charge began the fight as if trying to erase any doubt from their first encounter. Shumenov was throwing punches with bad intentions, and while not many scored cleanly, his activity was enough to earn him an early 2-0 lead on all cards.
In round three, Campillo began to let his hands go, and it soon became clear that he was the man with the successful game plan. After four rounds the fight was even, which set up the best round of the fight.
Campillo smiled at Shumenov after withstanding another early flurry in Round 5. The action was non-stop, and momentum changed hands several times during a toss-up round that I gave the slight edge to the challenger simply because he had the benefit of having the influential crowd on his side.
At the midway point of the fight it was Capillo that had the extra gear. With each passing round Shumenov was becoming easier to hit. After seven rounds his legs seemed to be betraying him and after nine rounds I started to question if the fight should be allowed to continue.
Round ten was a gimme for Shumenov. It seemed as if he was given that round from his corner to prove he was still in the fight. It didn’t hurt that Campillo also seemed to be taking the round off.
Campillo did rebound in the eleventh and put Shumenov in the precarious position of needing a knockout to reverse the outcome of their first fight.
When the knockout did not come, the reading of the scorecards only seemed to be a formality. Even after giving Shumanov the close round five, I still had him on the losing end of a 116-112 decision.
The official judges did not agree. While Judges Levi Martinez and Patricia Morse-Jarman each scored the bout 117-111, they amazingly had them for opposite corners. Morse-Jarman had the bout in favor of Shumenov, as did Jerry Roth (115-113).
“I agree with the decision. I thought I won the fight, “ Shumenov said. “I’m not surprised by the decision. I had the better trainer and he told me what to do to win.”
Campillo countered with a statement that seemed obvious to those around me in Press Row, “I got robbed.”
With the victory Shumenov set a record by becoming a world titlist in only his tenth pro bout. While he deserves a ton of credit for digging deep after taking a beating in the ninth round, he simply did not deserve the decision.
The evening’s other televised card featured a classic crossroads bout between another Cuban super-prospect, Erislandy Lara as he stepped up against former “Contender Season Two Champ”, Grady “Bad Boy” Brewer.
While Lara does not possess the highlight reel offense that is part of the Yuriokis Gamboa arsenal, he does have the disciplined overall game that allows his own ceiling to remain out of sight.
Lara dominated this bout early and late. He fought well behind his southpaw stance, and delivered single shots to Brewer’s body, preventing the veteran from gaining any momentum.
Lara did get caught and momentarily buzzed by a looping Brewer right hand in round 4, but any momentum that Brewer hoped to establish was quickly erased courtesy of an accidental head butt that opened a cut over his left eye midway thru round 6.
Lara seemed poised to collect his tenth win courtesy of a wide unanimous decision, but before the scorecards were tallied, he turned up the offense and caught Brewer napping. When Brewer made it to his feet, he was immediately smothered by Lara’s attack, leaving referee Tony Weeks no choice but to halt the proceedings with only 16 seconds remaining.
Lara improved to 10-0, with six KOs; while Brewer’s eight fight win streak came to an end, as his record fell to (26-12, 15 KOs).
Eloy Perez Aces Tough Test on Undercard:
Eloy Perez (16-0-2, 4 KOs) and David Rodelo (14-2-2, 6 KOs) were originally supposed to meet on the undercard of Shane Mosley – Andre Berto on January 30th. Fortunately this fight was salvaged, especially for those who remained in their seats long enough to witness it.
Perez put all his tools on display early. His speed allowed him to get inside of the rangy Rodelo early, and then his technique allowed him to stay there without absorbing any punishment. After three fast-paced rounds, Perez was faced with the reality that he is now going to be entering the ring with a better breed of fighter. While previous opponents may have crumbled, Rodelo made adjustments and soon began to dish out some punishment of his own. His offense stepped up, as Perez’ slowed, and he clawed his way back to an even score on my card thru six rounds.
To Perez’ credit he was able to answer his own “gut-check” time. He returned to boxing beautifully in the seventh round, and then padded his lead over the final three rounds.
Official scores read 98-92, and 97-93 twice, all in favor of Perez.
Undefeated prospect Carlos Molina (10-0, 6 KOs) dispatched Missouri native Tyler Ziolowski (12-11, 6 KOs) in 54 seconds of a “blink and you missed it” bout. Well folks, I must have blinked because I did not see a shot that should have resulted in a knockdown, not to mention a knock out. It appeared as if Ziolowski was arguing a slip, but the protest ended when the fight was waved off. Very strange.
Ronny Rios (9-0, 5 KOs) went the distance to earn a unanimous decision against Willshaun Boxley (5-4, 3 KOs). Rios was the aggressor throughout, and logged important rounds against an awkward opponent effectively enough to earn scores of: 59-55, 60-54, 59-55.
Jessie Vargas (8-0, 3 KOs) looked solid while shutting out the limited Rickey Kinney (4-2, 3 KOs) on all three judges’ cards.
This entire fight card was presented by Golden Boy Promotions and KZ Event Productions.
