The Worldwide Boxing Magazine Site	Got your free t-shirt yet?
	articles from the magazine ...

February 2001 Each month we bring you a selection of articles from the current and past issues of BOXING MONTHLY. To buy the magazine, see our subscription or back issues pages, or use our world distribution map to find a news-stand copy. Why not use our Interactive Forum to express your own boxing comments and opinions!

	CASAMAYOR Questions about Joel Casamayor, the first Cuban defector to win a world professional title, remained largely unanswered after his ninth-round hammering of a brave but ultimately outgunned Roberto Garcia in their super featherweight title fight in Las Vegas on 6 January.

Joel Casamayor, the first Cuban defector to win a world professional title - Get Big Pic True, as Casamayor’s Los Angeles trainer, Joe Goossen, told me afterwards, the nine rounds KO will look good in the record books. What did not look so good is the way that Casamayor backed up without punching. Nor the way he seemed to become rattled under pressure and resorted to down-and-dirty tactics that led to Las Vegas referee Kenny Bayless telling the judges to deduct a point from the Cuban’s score. But, say this for the 29-year-old Casamayor: when he stepped up the pace and really let the punches fly, as he did in the sixth and again in what was to be the final round, he had Garcia rocking and reeling. Garcia, almost out in the sixth, seemed to be fighting his way back despite blood flowing from a cut over his right eye, but then, in the ninth, the big left hands from out of Casamayor’s southpaw stance caved in the challenger, who went down twice. The second time, referee Bayless signalled the finish, after 74 seconds of the round. So we can say that Casamayor, who was making the second defence of his World Boxing Association title in the 130lbs (9st 4lbs) division, was a qualified success, He looked somewhat devastating in two of the nine rounds but beatable in the other seven. So beatable, in fact, that Las Vegas judges Duane Ford and Dave Moretti each had Garcia in front after eight rounds, with scores of 77-74 and 76-74 respectively, while Montreal arbiter Guy Jutras saw the fighters dead-level, 76-76. There were rounds that Casamayor gave away simply because he wasn’t fighting. It looks good when a boxer makes an opponent miss, as Casamayor did to Garcia throughout, but it has to be reinforced by punching. And so Garcia, the 25-year-old former International Boxing Federation champ from Oxnard, California (with gym mate Fernando Vargas providing encouragement at ringside), was able to get into the fight and — for five rounds anyway — actually appeared to have a good chance of pulling off the first upset of what many believe is the true new millennium. Even though the picture changed dramatically in the sixth, it took Casamayor until the ninth to bring matters to a close. Apparently he was following instructions from the corner not to rush things, but to me it seemed that Casamayor was a bit too calculating — almost over cautious, in fact. He told us afterwards, through his confidant Luis De Cubas, that he would have knocked out Garcia in the sixth had not the referee called a time out to signify the one-point deduction from the Cuban’s score (for hitting on the break), thus giving Garcia a reprieve. Perhaps so, but the laid-back rounds in the seventh and eighth make one wonder about Casamayor’s passion. I had travelled to Vegas in anticipation of seeing the undefeated Casamayor make a crushingly convincing statement as to his merits as a fighter. It was, in the end, crushing enough, but overall his display could not be called convincing. The packed, pro-Garcia crowd of about 1,800 at the Texas Station Gambling Hall in North Las Vegas — about 10 miles northwest of the famous Strip — cheered every time the Mexican-American challenger threw a punch. It was not until the sixth that the Cuban Olympic gold medallist finally showed what he can do as he practically raced across the ring to deliver a series of thudding left-handers. One of these blows seemed to spin Garcia’s head around, and I was astonished that he stayed up. The challenger held on, and Casamayor petulantly hit him with a left as the referee stepped in to break the clinch. Casamayor protested at the one-point deduction that followed, but he had been asking for it all night, starting in the second round when he hoisted Garcia off the canvas (although mercifully he did not throw him down). I also saw a back-hander, low blows, use of the shoulder — and in the fourth the Cuban pushed Garcia back

Also available to read from issue: Magazine Contents: Full details of the February 2001 issue - the complete contents listing. World Rankings: See where the top fighters were rated when February 2001 went to press... MORALES With Naseem Hamed looming large in the background, the all-Mexican featherweight title showdown between undefeated Erik 'El Terrible' Morales and World Boxing Council champ Guty Espadas in Las Vegas on 17 February takes on a greater significance. ROY JONES JUNIOR In mid-January the undisputed light-heavyweight champion Roy Jones Jr, jetted into Mexico City to collect a lifetime achievement award, in the shape of a bulky Aztec calendar-style plaque. He also was presented with the first of the new-style “personalised” World Boxing Council championship belts. Jones’s belt featured portraits of Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali as well as his own likeness. In a relaxed and friendly mood at the belt presentation, the normally reclusive Jones made time for a chat with Boxing Monthly’s man in Mexico, James Blears. VIEW FROM NEW YORK BY STEVE FARHOOD Don't be fooled by occasional working visits from superstar fighers, New York boxing has never been in such a bad way

On sale on the last Thursday of every month Next issue out on [an error occurred while processing this directive] Ensure you never miss a copy . . . buy your subscription or back issues here.