Solo Boxeo: Jauregui Wins NABF 135 Title

Former IBF lightweight world title holder Javier Jauregui survived a late knock down to win the NABF 135 lbs. belt on Friday night, after he unanimously out-pointed gritty Mexican Miguel Angel Huerta over 12 hard-fought rounds at Cicero Stadium in greater Chicago, IL.

Jauregui 53-14-2 (36) the trigger happy former world champion was met this evening by Huerta, 26-9-1 (18) an equally aggressive and heads down Mexican battler. A closely fought, grinder of a boxing match was expected and both guys delivered – treating fans to a wonderfully spirited 36 minutes of action that could have seen the fight go either way.

About ten seconds went by in the first round before a punch was thrown – a left jab by Huerta – but after that watershed there was nothing stopping either man. Both fighters pounded each other to the head and body with short, crisp punches – Jauregui scored beautifully with uppercuts and combinations to the head, but Huerta responded with a thudding body attack and connected with his fair share of power upstairs in a very close frame.

The combatants set the tone in that first three minutes for, what would be, an exciting but extremely hard-to-score twelve rounder. After a feisty opening exchange in the second, Jauregui clubbed his opponent with a right hand at around the thirty second mark. The shot initially knocked Huerta off balance, but he refused to allow the veteran to take advantage as he immediately fashioned a powerful four punch sequence – forcing Jauregui to retreat. Huerta enjoyed the better of the frame from then forward. His punches landed cleanly and in greater volume than the 34-year-old – most notably at the two minute mark when he scored heavily as Jauregui covered up against the ropes.

Huerta continued to harass his fellow countryman with a high volume attack in the third, but Jauregui was defending better and landing crunching, single shots to the body and head of the 30-year-old throughout the round – his improved accuracy in this frame trumping the work rate of Huerta.

Jauregui ate a big straight left hand at the outset of the fourth frame – the punch catching him flush on the chin as he backed out of an exchange. As Huerta attempted to capitalize, however, Jauregui caught him beautifully with power shots that swung the momentum in his favor. Throughout the remainder of the round, Huerta tried to out-do his opponent when responding to combinations, but Jauregui’s punches were much more eye-catching – the exception being a stray left hand that caught Huerta low at the end of the frame which prompted a warning from referee Curtis Thrasher.

In the middle rounds, Jauregui looked like he had begun to take control of the bout. In the fifth and sixth, he landed with his best sustained flow of punches thus far against the jaw of his opponent. But, like before, Huerta fought back with thudding and well worked shots of his own. Even so, Jauregui’s fists, it seemed, were doing more damage and he started to look comfortable and rhythmic for the first time.

Huerta surged forward in the eighth frame, doubling his already impressive efforts in an attempt to halt Jauregui’s recent success. He tagged his opponent against the ropes on several occasions and, although he was connecting with some meaty punches upstairs, Jauregui responded with heavy shots of his own and urged Huerta to keep coming – gesturing to his chin with both hands to show that he was ready for anything that came at him.

Huerta obliged and, after another closely fought round in the ninth, he dropped Jauregui in the tenth with a left hand that caught the former champ off balance and sent him tumbling to the deck. Jauregui was unhurt but, given the dogged and competitive nature of the contest, he must have been worried that a 10-8 score would prove crucial in the outcome. Huerta, however, would not wait for Jauregui to make up for lost ground and he easily won the remainder of the frame behind a terrific output of scoring punches.

Jauregui did not panic, even after spending the first third of the penultimate round retreating and absorbing leather from Huerta. Instead he calmly adjusted, shot single punches against the head of Huerta from range and moved effectively away from much of his opponent’s power for the remainder of the fight. On the few occasions that they campaigned on the inside in the 12th and final round, both men cancelled each other out by landing a similar caliber of punch in comparative volume.

All three judges scored the fight in favor of Jauregui by relatively wide margins. Taking the tenth round knockdown into consideration, two of the judges saw fit to give eight rounds to Jauregui whilst the third gave him ten rounds. This is undoubtedly a fair way to see the fight but, given the nature of the contest, one could easily flip the round count without much complaint.

Scores: 115-112; 115-112; 117-111