Saturday night at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, Calif., the network that won 26 Emmys (HBO) presented The Night of the Rising Stars II on its Boxing After Dark series, producing an aesthetic, if not financial, success. The concept of spotlighting blue-chip prospects on a tripleheader with all of the HBO bells and whistles is hopefully a keeper. ShoBox has been a big winner for Showtime on a relatively meager budget; imagine what HBO could do with it with better venues, production and marketing.
But on the night of prospects, it was 33-year-old Sergio Martinez, 44-1-1 (24), a relative unknown from Madrid, Spain, by way of Buenos Aires, Argentina, who turned out to be the true star of the evening. The southpaw was not widely known in America, fighting abroad for most of his career. He won a WBC title eliminator in April 2007, and had been awaiting his opportunity. Martinez has won 28 straight since his lone loss to Antonio Margarito in 2000.
James Kirkland, a sensation in Rising Stars I, was originally scheduled to reprise his role on the card at the increased pay rate of more than six figures. But he dumped promoter Gary Shaw, eliminating that possibility. Kirkland was still offered $125,000 to face Martinez but passed because of a prior commitment on ESPN.
Joel Julio was also offered a six-figure deal for the HBO card but elected to pass. Finally, Alex Bunema, 30-6-2 (16), a 33-year-old from Memphis originally from Kinshasa, Congo, accepted the opportunity to face Martinez for the interim WBC light middleweight title. Bunema's career was on a huge surge this year with KO victories over Roman Karmazin and Walter Matthysse.
In the final analysis, Kirkland and Julio may have made the right decision. It's unlikely that either is ready for Martinez at this point. Martinez repeatedly popped his jab and boxed beautifully, landing hard lefts for eight rounds. Bunema hit the deck in Round 3 after a combination and served essentially as a human punching bag for the duration of the fight.
At the end of Round 8, referee Raul Caiz Sr. stopped the fight on the advice of the ringside physician. It was an excellent call. Bunema was taking a steady beating from Martinez and had virtually no chance of winning.
Statistically, Bunema fared as poorly as it looked in the ring. He was outlanded 212 to 31 in total punches and 111 to 19 in power punches. To allow a guy who was losing every round and was being outpunched on a nearly 7:1 ratio to continue on would have been irresponsible on the part of all concerned.
Sergio Martinez won't be sneaking up on future opponents. He started Saturday as the opening bout on a card of prospects and now everyone knows what the insiders already knew.
It was HBO's choice to feature the highly touted Yuriorlis Gamboa in the main event. A 2004 gold medalist for Cuba, his was the name the network was paying for to put the card together. So the veterans opened the card and were paid accordingly.
However, Martinez was so impressive in his victory that it's a good bet that he'll be back on HBO, and in a main event. This guy would be trouble for anyone at that weight limit, and if he does get his rightful shot against titlist Vernon Forrest, I like his chances. In fact, with Martinez's footwork, hand speed, and driving jab, a rematch with Margarito could be interesting.
As for the Rising Stars, Alfredo Angulo, 14-0 (11), stopped Andrey Tsurkan, 26-4 (17), in the 10th round for his 10th straight knockout in an action-packed junior middleweight bout scheduled for 10 rounds. Angulo is the real deal. He comes out fighting and doesn't stop until the fight is over, dishing it out while taking your best.
The two combined for 230 punches in the first round. Both of Tsurkan's eyes were swelling by the third round, and Angulo was cut over the right eye. But Angulo's sustained work rate was having an impact by Round 4 and he just grew stronger as the fight went on. If Tsurkan or his people though that Angulo's inexperience would cause him to weaken late, they were dead wrong.
Actually, if anything, the fight could have been stopped two or three rounds before its end. Angulo corner man Rudy Hernandez deserves props for his excellent work in making the cut a non factor.
