Jhonatan Romero Upsets ShoBox Regular Chris Avalos
SANTA YNEZ, Calif. (Dec. 2, 2011) – Anthony “The Dog” Dirrell recorded his ninth consecutive stoppage after Canadian Renan St-Juste could not continue to fight following what appeared to be a separated left shoulder at 2:54 of the fourth round in the ShoBox: The New Generation main event. The evening’s opener featured Jhonatan “Momo” Romero scoring a 10-round split decision over Chris “The Hitman” Avalos in an action-packed super bantamweight bout by the scores of 96-93, 96-94 for Romero and 95-94 for Avalos. The doubleheader originated from Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, Calif., just up the 101 Freeway from where International Boxing Federation (IBF) bantamweight titleholder Abner Mares and Joseph King Kong Agbeko will battle in a highly anticipated rematch tomorrow on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING LIVE at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) on SHOWTIME®.
After a measured first couple of minutes, Dirrell (24-0, 21 KOs), of Flint, Mich., established his power by backing up St-Juste (23-3-1, 15 KOs) with a right hand late in the opening round. The southpaw St-Juste, who also boasts some fuel in his fists, repeatedly loaded up with his left hand and missed wildly. Facing a 5-inch heigh disadvantage, the shorter St-Juste failed to get inside on Dirrell. Ever patient, Dirrell dictated the fight’s pace and seemlessly switched between orthodox and southpaw stances.
In the fourth, an awkward clash caused a head butt to Dirrell’s forehead that sent him to the ground. Seemingly incensed, Dirrell stood up, regained his composure and proceeded to attack his opponent. After taking a few shots, St-Juste attemped to hold on to his surging opponent but Dirrell merely spun him around. St-Juste began to wince in pain while clutching his left shoulder. Referee Jack Reiss ended the bout when St-Juste informed him that he could not continue. Replays showed that St-Juste’s shoulder was injured during the awkard clash and not from Dirrell’s post-head butt attack.
Although the bout was stopped short, Dirrell looked good through four rounds while taking his largest step up in competition. The victory awards Dirrell the distinction of mandatory challenger for the World Boxing Council (WBC) 168-pound title, currently held by Super Six World Boxing Classic Finalist Carl Froch.
”I’m coming, Super Six. You all better watch out. ’The Dog’ is coming,” Dirrell emphatically stated after the bout as he celebrated with his family, including his brother and former Super Six participant, Andre Dirrell.
The telecast’s co-feature provided more punches and rounds than the headliner but less certainty about the outcome. Avalos (19-2, 15 KOs) – making his ShoBox-record sixth appearance – scored a knockdown just before the end of the first round with his patented power punches against the ropes. The quicker Romero, of Colombia, rebounded in the second session by staying mobile and timing Avalos’ punches to catch him coming in.
Avalos, of Lancaster, Calif., achieved most of his success with powerful combinations while Romero’s right uppercut served as his most valuable asset. The seventh round turned into a slugfest with both fighters refusing to hit the canvas. Avalos continued to display to ShoBox fans that his chin is almost as solid as his right hand.Avalos caught Romero with a head shot in the eighth that seemed to hurt the Colombian. Avalos went for the kill but was unable to stop his opponent. Romero bounced back with a very successful ninth after looking exhausted in between rounds.
As the fight came to a close, the boxers raised their arms in victory but it was only Romero (20-0, 12 KOs) who was able to keep his arms upstretched when the outcome was officially announced. The vocal crowd booed the decision.
The event was promoted by Gary Shaw Productions, LLC.
Tonight’s telecast will replay on Thursday, Dec. 8 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME Extreme and will be available on SHOWTIME On Demand from Dec. 5 through Dec. 18.
Curt Menefee called the action from ringside with Steve Farhood serving as expert analyst. Gordon Hall is the executive producer of ShoBox with Richard Gaughan producing and Rick Phillips directing.
For information on SHOWTIME Sports Programming, including exclusive behind-the-scenes video and photo galleries, complete telecast information and more, please go to the new SHOWTIME Sports website at http://sports.SHO.com.
About ShoBox: The New Generation
Since its inception in July 2001, the critically acclaimed SHOWTIME boxing series, ShoBox: The New Generation has featured young talent matched tough. The ShoBox philosophy is to televise exciting, crowd-pleasing and competitive matches while providing a proving ground for willing prospects determined to fight for a world title. The growing list of fighters who have appeared on ShoBox and advanced to garner world titles includes: Leonard Dorin, Scott Harrison, Juan Diaz, Jeff Lacy, Ricky Hatton, Joan Guzman, Juan Urango, David Diaz, Robert Guerrero, Kelly Pavlik, Paul Malignaggi, Kendall Holt, Timothy Bradley, Bernard Dunne, Yonnhy Perez, Yuri Foreman, Andre Ward, Cornelius Bundrage and, most recently, Rodrigo Guerrero.
About Showtime Networks Inc.
Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ and FLIX®, as well as the multiplex channels SHOWTIME 2™, SHOWTIME® SHOWCASE, SHOWTIME EXTREME®, SHOWTIME BEYOND®, SHOWTIME NEXT®, SHOWTIME WOMEN®, SHOWTIME FAMILY ZONE® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ XTRA. SNI also offers SHOWTIME HD™, SHOWTIME 2 HD™, THE MOVIE CHANNEL HD™, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL ON DEMAND™ and FLIX ON DEMAND®. SNI also manages Smithsonian Channel™, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution. All SNI feeds provide enhanced sound using Dolby Digital 5.1. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV®.
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
