Castano Vs Lara
Brian Castano was looking for a breakout performance in his secondary junior middleweight title defense, and former longtime titleholder Erislandy Lara was seeking to rebound from a razor-close loss in the 2018 fight of the year.
Both accomplished their goal to some degree Saturday night, as their highly competitive and exciting fight was ruled a split draw before an announced crowd of 7,329 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
In his last three fights he has won over Emmanuel de Jesus, Michel Soro (Michel Soro vs Brian Carlos Castano) and Cedric Vitu (Brian Carlos Castano vs Cedric Vitu). Lara vs Castano is valid for the WBA World super welterweight title (Castano’s second. Erislandy Lara and Brian Castano raised their arms, both believing they had won a close, competitive fight. Castano retained his 154-pound title Saturday night when he and former champion Lara.
Judge Kevin Morgan scored the fight 115-113 for Castano, John McKaie had it 115-113 for Lara, and Julie Lederman ruled the fight 114-114, resulting in immediate discussion of a rematch.
ESPN scored the fight 115-113 for Castano, who was a bit busier and landed more and harder punches.
Castano got the draw with a strong late-fight kick. He won the final four rounds on Morgan's card to edge ahead of Lara, and he won the final three rounds on Lederman's card to get a draw from her. McKaie also gave Castano the last three rounds, but Castano came up just short on his scorecard.
With the fight so close and competitive, both men believed they deserved the victory.
'It was a good fight, a good clash of styles,' Castano, who retained his 154-pound title for the second time, said through a translator. 'I know I won the fight. I feel I was robbed. He's an elusive boxer. I knew that. I prepared for that. I think it was a good fight, but I won. I know I won. I landed more punches.'
Said Lara, also speaking through a translator: 'It was a great fight, but I saw myself winning eight rounds tonight. My punches were much more effective. He did have pressure, but I was dominating the pressure. I was definitely expecting that pressure because he waited a long time for this fight. Again, I demonstrated I'm not old. I'm still fine-tuned.'
According to CompuBox, Castano landed 195 of 863 punches (23 percent); Lara connected with 130 of a career-high 825 punches thrown (16 percent). Lara had never thrown more than the 609 he unleashed against Delvin Rodriguez in a decision win in a 2015 title defense.
The fight was by far the most significant of Castano's career, and while he may not have gotten his hand raised in victory, he competed straight up with Lara, who has long been one of the best in the division.
Lara (25-3-3, 14 KOs) had hoped to use the fight with Castano to rebound from a split-decision loss to Jarrett Hurd in their epic world title unification fight last April in which Hurd pulled out the win with a 12th-round knockdown. Lara, usually a master technician, still boxes extremely well, but at 35 he doesn't have the legs he once did, so Castano was able to eventually get to him, as Hurd did, with relentless pressure.
Lara, a Cuban defector living in Houston, controlled the distance and used his jab and movement well early on as he prevented Castano (15-0-1, 11 KOs), 29, of Argentina, from getting off combinations. But by the third round, the aggressive Castano's pressure began to have an impact. He was able to land more punches, especially to the body, and he continually shoved Lara off of him when he tried to tie him up.
Castano was able to put punches together and raised swelling around Lara's right eye in the fourth round. By the sixth round, it appeared as though the younger, fresher Castano was about to take over the fight as he forced Lara, a southpaw, to the ropes and unloaded short punches, many of which got through Lara's guard.
But Lara, a vastly experienced fighter, still had a few tricks in his bag. He had a strong eighth round when he turned aggressor and forced Castano back with a series of straight left hands -- his best weapon -- to the head.
So many rounds were close that both fighters clearly believed the fight was up for grabs down the stretch. But it was Castano who seemed to have a little more left in the final rounds. He had a very good 11th round as he ripped Lara with left hands to the body, a punch he had success with earlier in the fight but then abandoned before finding it again.
The 12th round featured constant back-and-forth, toe-to-toe action, and when referee Ricky Gonzalez separated them at the final bell, they both threw their hands up in victory. Then the fight was ruled a draw, and both fighters said they were open to a rematch.
'If he wants the rematch, I'll give him the rematch,' Castano said. 'I waited for him. Anyway, I can wait for him again if he wants the rematch. I would [give] him the rematch if he wants. I can also go ahead and fight any other champion that wants to fight me. I'm ready for whoever they put in front of me. Hurd or anyone else.'
Added Lara: 'If we have to fight him again I'll fight him. Hurd or Castano. Anybody. I'll have the rematch with both.'
On episode 254 of The Neutral Corner boxing podcast, host Michael Montero opined on the latest news in the fight world.
It was announced last week that Canelo Promotions, created by Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, has been granted a promotional license to promote events in the state of Nevada.
This brings Alvarez one step closer to a super middleweight unification bout with Billy Joe Saunders on May 8 in Las Vegas. It’s possible that fight could land at the brand new Allegiant Stadium, home of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders.
But first, Canelo must take care of mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim on February 27 in Miami. Alvarez is a heavy betting favorite against the Turkish fighter.
REVIEW:
There were three major cards around the world on Saturday, February 13.
In London, Mauricio Lara scored the upset of the year to date, stopping former featherweight titleholder Josh Warrington in the ninth round of their non-title bout. Fighting outside his native Mexico for only the second time, Lara dropped Warrington twice before referee Howard Foster intervened. Many observers felt the bout could have been stopped earlier.
In Las Vegas, top lightweight contender Richard Commey scored a KO 6 win over Jackson Marinez. In the co-main, American heavyweight prospect Jared Anderson improved to 8-0 (8 knockouts), also winning via knockout in the sixth round. A light heavyweight title fight between Joe Smith Jr. and Maxim Vlasov was set to be the main event but was postponed due to Vlasov testing positive for COVID-19.
In California, former junior lightweight titleholder Joseph Diaz Jr. lost his title on the scales, coming in 3.6 pounds over the division limit. After an entertaining scrap full of ebbs and flows, Diaz settled for a majority draw against Russian Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov.
PREVIEW:
Wednesday, February 17
Salita Promotions, ShoBox
Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, Connecticut
Vladimir Shishkin vs Sena Agbeko, 10rds, 168 pounds
Janelson Figueroa Bocachica vs Mark Reyes Jr, 10rds, 147 pounds
Saturday, February 20
Matchroom Boxing, DAZN
Wembley Arena, London
David Avanesyan vs Josh Kelly, 12rds, 147 pounds
TGB Promotions, Showtime
Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, Connecticut
Adrien Broner vs Jovanie Santiago, 10rds, 140 pounds
Otto Wallin vs Dominic Breazeale, 10rds, heavyweights
Robert Easter Jr vs Ryan Martin, 10rds, 140 pounds
Top Rank, ESPN
MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada
Miguel Berchelt vs Oscar Valdez, 12rds, 130-pound title fight
Esquiva Falcao vs Artur Akavov, 10rds, 160 pounds
Gabriel Flores Jr vs Jayson Velez, 10rds, 130 pounds
QUOTES FROM THE CALLERS:
Midwest Ceylon had some jokes regarding Canelo Alvarez getting his promoter’s license in Nevada. “He learned a lot more from Floyd Mayweather other than how to get embarrassed in a one-on-one fight,” he said. “I don’t see what the big deal is with Nevada granting him a promoter’s license, I got a marriage license in Las Vegas three, no actually four times.”
JB from Tampa disagrees with Montero’s prediction for the Kelly vs Avanesyan fight this Saturday. “Let’s go back to 2019 when Kelly fought Ray Robinson,” he said. “He got a draw against that guy, Robinson should have won. Then he beat Wiston Campos but he didn’t impress. Then I compare that to Avanesyan. I know he lost to Kavaliauskas (in 2018), but he went six rounds and that guy is a pretty solid fighter. And he beat Shane Mosley. Based on that, I’m going to go with Avanesyan.”
Sebastian from El Paso is annoyed with some of the commentators in UFC and boxing alike. He feels they too often exaggerate the accomplishments of young, largely untested fighters. “It’s just frustrating,” he said. “I think that’s part of the reason we got so many fans respecting the “0” more than the resume these days.”
Mark from Ireland wants to know what’s next for Joseph Diaz Jr. “I believe that Rakhimov is being ordered by the IBF to fight Kenichi Ogawa for their vacant junior lightweight title since Diaz was stripped,” he said. “I’ve heard that Tugstsogt Nyambayar is going up to 130 pounds, so they could throw him in there with Diaz – that would be a good fight. And I’d love to see Emanuel Navarrete against Can Xu, that’s a war.”
TIME STAMPS:
@6:49 News and Notes (Canelo Promotions)
@24:28 Fight Review
@1:08:52 Fight Preview
Michael Montero can be found on social media via @MonteroOnBoxing. His podcast “The Neutral Corner” can be seen every Monday on TheRingDigital YouTube channel, and heard on audio podcast platforms around the world.
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