Broner breaks down Escobedo

Rafael's remarks: What was already considered a predictable mismatch on paper was just that in the ring in the main event of an ill-conceived "Boxing After Dark" card on HBO. The nature of the mismatch was only exacerbated by Broner's utter disregard for living up to his contract and failing to make weight -- twice! While Escobedo, a 2004 U.S. Olympian who had struggled against top competition as a pro, made the contract limit of 130 pounds at Friday's weigh-in, Broner was an unapologetic 133.5 pounds. He never truly tried to make the weight, instead tweeting pictures of junk food during his training camp and then jumping off the scale and immediately drinking water.

Broner had been scheduled to make the second defense of his world title against Escobedo but was stripped at the scale for his failure to make weight (although the belt would be on the line for Escobedo). As bad as that was, it was worse on Saturday when Broner failed to make weight again at a special morning weight check that the Escobedo camp had insisted on to make sure Broner had not ballooned to high weight, which give him an even greater advantage. Instead of weighing the prescribed 140 pounds -- 10 more than the contract weight -- Broner was 143.2, again missing weight. That set in motion a day-long negotiation on whether there would even be a fight (and HBO telecast). In the end, Golden Boy and Broner adviser Al Haymon bought Escobedo off with a hefty raise on his $150,000 purse. He got an extra $30,000 from the $60,000 fine assessed by the Ohio commission, plus another large, undisclosed chunk of change (perhaps as much as another $220,000) to go through with the fight. It was hard to blame Escobedo for fighting for what was -- by far -- his biggest payday, especially with a newborn child at home. Escobedo, 30, of Woodland, Calif., will never see that kind of dough again. But it is a sad commentary on the sport when rules can so blatantly be ignored so long as somebody is willing to pay.

When Broner and Escobedo finally made it to the ring, it was a one-sided thrashing. Broner has all the talent and charisma in the world and even the potential to be the pound-for-pound king, but fights like this, and the prima donna attitude that he displayed by showing zero remorse for not living up to his contract, make you wonder if he already has a severe case of entitlement at age 22. But one thing is clear: He can fight.

His mannerisms in the ring and fighting style are incredibly similar to those of his idol, Floyd Mayweather Jr. Broner took Escobedo apart in ruthless fashion. The speed and power difference between them was stark. Broner landed a steady diet of uppercuts and body shots and was never in any trouble. He walked Escobedo down, bloodied his nose and face and was simply hammering him virtually at will in the fifth round. Finally, with Escobedo eating a lot of leather, trainer Joel Diaz stepped up onto the ring apron with a white towel, and referee Gary Rosato called it off at 2 minutes, 42 seconds. The outcome was utterly predictable and basically a waste of the fans' time and HBO's money.

Escobedo had dropped down from lightweight a few fights ago to see if he could reignite his career after a tough stay in that division. It would have been nice if he had a chance to face a junior lightweight. For his trouble, besides the extra cash payment, Escobedo is likely to remain in position to challenge for the now-vacant belt, even coming off the defeat. As for Broner, he will campaign now at lightweight, where he is a good bet to win a title and dominate opponents for as long as he is in the weight class.

Rafael's remarks: Thurman, 23, of Clearwater, Calif., is a big puncher and a prospect trained by Dan Birmingham, a former trainer of the year best known for his work with Winky Wright and Jeff Lacy. Although Thurman is an interesting prospect with a big personality, his gift of an HBO appearance was not even remotely earned. He got it for one reason: his connections, namely adviser Al Haymon. It certainly wasn't on the merit of his record, which is misleading because 10 of his 17 wins were against opponents with records .500 or below.

Originally, Thurman was supposed to face the smaller Marcos Maidana, the former junior welterweight titlist coming off a lopsided loss to Devon Alexander. That was a questionable fight to begin with, but it came as little surprise when Maidana, with no real incentive to face the unknown Thurman, ultimately declined the fight. HBO, determined to keep Thurman on and to keep Haymon happy (as opposed to its subscribers), accepted Golden Boy's find of Lora, a 31-year-old journeyman from Mexico who took the fight on two weeks' notice. So Thurman, without ever having even a low-profile TV fight, got the HBO platform to show what he could do against a mediocre opponent. Lora's so-called credentials for the fight included a six-round draw in June against a 7-2-2 opponent, a six-round decision against an 11-27-2 opponent in the fight before that and a lopsided 10-round-decision loss to Paulie Malignaggi before that.

Lora's fight with Thurman, while mildly entertaining, was utterly one-sided, as Thurman displayed good power to the head and body. Lora ate a ton of right hands and body shots before simply quitting. In the sixth round, Thurman put together a nice left-right combination that dropped Lora to the seat of his pants. Lora made it to his feet but simply walked to his corner and quit. He was talking to his trainer and taking out his mouthpiece while referee Ken Miliner was still administering the eight count, but he then called it off at 1 minute, 37 seconds when he realized Lora was calling it a day. All in all, a good performance for Thurman against a D-level opponent. It proved little other than it's nice to have connections.

In another undercard bout, which HBO aired highlights of, lightweight prospect Omar Figueroa (19-0-1, 15 KOs), 22, of Weslaco, Texas, scored a unanimous decision against Dominic Salcido (18-4, 9 KOs) on scores of 98-92, 97-93, 97-93. Salcido, 28, of Rialto, Calif., had not fought since a decision loss in October 2010 and has dropped four of his last six fights.

Rafael's remarks: In December, Paez Jr., the son of the former featherweight titlist Jorge Paez Sr., won a majority decision against Chavez, the son of Hall of Famer Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. and younger brother of middleweight titlist Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Chavez and Paez both won an interim bout after their initial meeting before fighting each other again in a rematch that was hotly anticipated in Mexico. With both of their famous fathers at ringside, Paez, 24, again beat Chavez, 22, in another action-packed fight that had the crowd roaring. Although the scores were quite close, Paez seemed to dominate the fight, which aired in the United States on Azteca America. Paez, who was very aggressive, won his fifth fight in a row thanks to his relentless use of combination punching that constantly pushed Chavez back. Chavez was game, but he had few answers for Paez. The quicker Paez swelled Chavez's face in the first half of the fight, and he seemed on the verge of at least dropping Chavez in the later rounds. But give credit to Chavez for hanging in there, although the scores should have been much wider in Paez's favor. Paez and Chavez are both very limited in terms of their skills, but they consistently make entertaining fights, especially against each other.

Rafael's remarks: Vazquez, 24, of Costa Rica, holds one of those low-rent WBA interim belts (Takashi Uchiyama is the organization's full titleholder), which he claimed in November and was defending for the first time against 34-year-old Mexican veteran Lacierva, who has always come up short in his most notable fights. In three previous world title bouts, Lacierva lost an eight-round technical decision in 1999 to Hall of Famer Mark "Too Sharp" Johnson for a junior bantamweight title and unanimous decisions to Celestino Caballero (for a junior featherweight title in 2007) and Billy Dib (for a vacant featherweight belt in 2011). Lacierva gave a good effort against Vazquez, but Vazquez was too strong for him to handle. Lacierva's "best" moment came in the seventh round when, while Vazquez was draped over his back in a clinch, he nailed Vazquez with a right hand in his left knee without female referee Romina Arroyo seeing what had happened. Vazquez went down to the mat in what was ruled a slip. In the ninth round, Vazquez's power was too much for Lacierva, who ate two left hands to the head and a left to the body for a knockdown to all fours. He beat the count but was down moments later from another body shot. This time, Arroyo counted him out at 1 minute, 45 seconds.

Rafael's remarks: Perez, 29, of Venezuela won one of the WBA's pointless interim belts in December with a fourth-round knockout of Fernando Castaneda and signed with Golden Boy Promotions with a bit of fanfare earlier this year. But the exciting Perez did not make it through his first defense, a Fox Deportes main event against Mexico's Cano, 22. On paper, this looked like it would be an excellent action fight, and it was just that -- until the abrupt ending. Cano, whose only loss came on a 10th-round knockout to Erik Morales in September when Cano filled in on short notice in the vacant title bout, and Perez slugged it out with little regard for defense. There were plenty of exciting exchanges as they traded clean shots back and forth. Both of their faces were showing signs of the combat by the fourth round; each was bleeding. They didn't let up until a terrible accidental head butt cut the fight short with about a minute left in the seventh round. Cano emerged from the head clash with a horrific cut over his right eye. It was bleeding profusely, was quite large and seemingly deep. It was reminiscent of the brutal cut Vitali Klitschko suffered in his memorable heavyweight championship battle with Lennox Lewis. The fight was obviously stopped and sent to the scorecards, and Cano won the majority technical decision. It is a real shame this fight ended the way it did. Let's hope we get a rematch when Cano's cut heals.

Rafael's remarks: In May 2010, Mendez claimed a majority decision against Honorio to win a vacant regional belt in a fight that ultimately helped Mendez land a shot at a vacant world title against Juan Carlos Salgado in September. Mendez lost a tight decision. Honorio, 32, of Mexico, also got an eventual title shot against Salgado and lost a majority decision in April. Meeting again in the main event of Telefutura's "Solo Boxeo Tecate" for the right to earn another shot against Salgado as the mandatory challenger, Mendez, a 26-year-old New York based Dominican Republic native, got the better of Honorio again. The action was hit or miss -- mostly miss in late rounds that were filled with grappling and holding -- but Honorio was the aggressor, while the slicker Mendez elected to box and pick his sports to fire punches. He also did a nice job of picking off a lot of Honorio's shots with his gloves. Mendez, a much better boxer than the mauling, fouling Honorio, seemed to be in control in the ninth round when referee Frank Santore Jr. took a point from Honorio for rabbit punching, just one of his infractions. The last few rounds included a lot of sloppy action and way too much holding, leading to booing from the crowd and warnings from Santore. Honorio lost another point in the 11th round for again hitting behind the head, which he did a lot. In the end, Mendez won the clear decision and will move on to a likely September rematch with Salgado.

Rafael's remarks: What is the point of a gruesome mismatch like this? There is none, but at least it was over quickly, as Guzman, 36, a former junior featherweight and junior lightweight titlist from the Dominican Republic but based in New York, blew out Pimentel, who never had any chance. Guzman, who has missed weight multiple times and also was busted for using a banned substance in a 2010 fight, sat out nearly a year after that debacle. Since then, he has reeled off three knockouts against pathetic competition as he tries to get into another meaningful fight (which could be difficult, considering his persona non grata status at the major boxing networks in the United States). Nonetheless, the talented Guzman soldiers on in one mismatch after another. Pimentel wilted under the first serious pressure of the fight, going down from a right hand to the body and a left that seemingly grazed him on the way down. Pimentel clearly had no intention of continuing, and referee Sam Burgos counted him out at 2 minutes, 4 seconds. Pimentel, 32, of Mexico, dropped to 2-7 in his last nine fights, with six of the losses in that stretching coming via knockout.

Also on the card, Hollywood, Fla., welterweight Ed Paredes (31-3-1, 21 KOs), 27, dropped badly faded former junior welterweight titlist Vivian Harris (29-8-2, 19 KOs), 34, of New York, in the 10th and final round and stopped him later in the round, at 2 minutes, 21 seconds. Sadly, Harris is 0-5-1 in his last six fights, with four of the losses coming by knockout. He's a guy who simply needs to stop boxing for his own good.

Rafael's remarks: Although this was for one of those preposterous WBA interim belts, it resulted in a knockout of the year contender, as Chaves, 26, scored a highlight reel destruction in his hometown against El Massoudi, 34, of France, who was making the first defense of the vacant trinket he won by way of a 12th-round TKO of countryman Souleymane M'baye last July. Fighting 53 weeks after his last fight, Massoudi got blown out, as he was stopped for the third time in his four defeats, this time the victim of a resounding knockout. In the second round, Chaves landed a thudding right hand to the chin that dropped Massoudi into the ropes. Chaves got a bit carried away and fired a couple more shots while he was draped in the ropes and falling to the mat. Massoudi got to his feet quickly, but he went down moments later on what referee Uriel Aguilera ruled a questionable slip. But there was no doubt about the next knockdown, which ended the fight. Chaves caught Massoudi flush on the jaw with an overhand right that jackknifed his body and sent him crashing to the mat sideways in exaggerated fashion for a spectacular knockout, as Aguilera called it off at 1 minutes, 15 seconds without bothering to count.

Rafael's remarks: In November 2010, Burgos, 24, of Mexico, was in a terrific featherweight world title bout in Japan against Hozumi Hasegawa but lost a competitive unanimous decision. Burgos ought to be in the picture for another title shot, this time at junior lightweight, after winning his fifth fight in a row against the previously undefeated (although untested) countryman Vazquez, 26, who was fighting in the United States for the first time. Fighting in the "Friday Night Fights" main event, Burgos, who turned pro at 16, looked good, but took some time to get rolling. Vazquez got off to a quick start by being aggressive and landing solid shots in the first and second rounds. But any notion of a brewing upset was shot down in the third round, when Burgos caught and staggered Vazquez with a left hook. Burgos continued to attack, throwing -- and landing -- a ton of punches over the next several seconds as he battered Vazquez around the ring. Vazquez was trying to fight back but to no avail. Burgos continued to tee off, and eventually referee Tony Weeks had no choice but to step in and call off the fight at 1 minute, 50 seconds with Vazquez defenseless against the ropes. What a great finish for Burgos, who deserves a bigger fight in the near future.

Rafael's remarks: Freitas-Jones is the nephew of former lightweight and junior lightweight titlist Acelino "Popo" Freitas and made his pro debut in smashing fashion with his uncle (and current Brazilian congressman) working in his corner. Freitas-Jones, just 19, started boxing at age 10 because he was inspired by the sensational junior lightweight title fight his uncle won via a bloody 12th-round knockout against Jorge Barrios in 2003. Popo was known for his tremendous power, and Freitas-Jones showed pop too, albeit against a soft touch. Freitas-Jones backed Espinoza into the ropes and began to hammer him. He unloaded numerous punches, including multiple flush left hooks and a big right hand that forced referee Tony Weeks to step in and stop it at 2 minutes, 11 seconds, with Espinoza was falling to the canvas. Sacrificial lamb Espinoza, 24, of Las Vegas, lost his fourth fight in a row (three of which have been by first- or second-round knockout). The reason he was signed for the fight -- on one day's notice -- was that he would likely get knocked out and make Freitas-Jones look good. Mission accomplished.

Rafael's remarks: The "ShoBox: The New Generation" main event on Showtime was the epitome of a crossroads fight between the prospect, Hovhannisyan (a little older than your average prospect at 30), and the former titleholder, Acosta, looking to right the ship. Hovhannisyan, a native of Armenia now based in Glendale, Calif., scored a solid win against Archie Marquez 13 months ago but then had a technical draw with former featherweight titlist Cristobal Cruz last August and was coming off an 11-month layoff. Acosta, 34, of Venezuela, lost his lightweight world title to Brandon Rios by 10th-round knockout in a sensational fight in February 2011 and has been up and down since, winning a low-level fight and then losing decision in an interim title bout to Richard Abril in October. So Acosta was coming off a nine-month layoff.

This was a fast-paced, fan-friendly fight in which both men hit the deck. But Hovhannisyan did just enough to win the deserved decision -- the best win of his career -- despite Acosta's spirited bid. Hovhannisyan leveled Acosta with a clean right hand to his ear with 5 seconds left in the first round. Acosta went down hard and took a few seconds to collect himself before beating the count. He is very lucky the round was coming to an end because he was awfully shaky. In the fifth round, Acosta scored a flash knockdown when he forced Hovhannisyan to touch his right glove to the mat after cracking him with a clean right hand. It was a competitive fight all the way and ended with Hovhannisyan and Acosta battling toe-to-toe in the final round. Good fight.

Rafael's remarks: Originally, junior middleweight Julian Williams of Philadelphia and Sid El Harrak of Santa Clarita, Calif., were to meet in the scheduled eight-round "ShoBox" co-feature. But El Harrak withdrew with a knee injury on Tuesday, giving Morales, 23, of San Ardo, Calif., and Santiago, 21, of Las Vegas, a chance to move up into the co-feature slot and gain television exposure. Morales took advantage of his good fortune by turning in a dominant performance in the lopsided victory in a crowd-pleasing fight. He beat Santiago, who is trained by Roger Mayweather, with a steady body attack (outlanding him to the body 76-31, according to CompuBox) and a big edge in power punching. He was credited with landing 225 of 481 power shots (47 percent), while Santiago landed just 124 of 399 power shots (31 percent). Morales, who went eight rounds for the first time in his career, scored the lone knockdown of the fight with a well-timed counter right uppercut that caught Santiago coming in during the third round. Adding to Santiago's tough night was the bloody gash he suffered on his forehead on an accidental head butt with only a few seconds left in the fight.