By: William Holmes
Golden Boy Promotions teamed up with Miguel Cotto Promotions to put on a show at Complejo Ferial, Ponce in Puerto Rico on ESPN.
The opening bout was between former sparring partners Edwin Rodriguez (8-4-1) and prospect Juan Carlos Camacho Jr. (6-1) in the super flyweight division.
Photo Credit: Hector Santos Guia/Miguel Cotto Promotions, LLC, Golden Boy Promotions
Both boxers appeared to be very familiar with each other and Rodriguez was more than willing to exchange with his more hyped opponent.
Camacho was able to land some nice looking combinations in the early rounds but Rodriguez applied effective pressure and was consistent with it. Camacho’s right eye began to swell as the fight progressed and Rodriguez’s effectiveness also got gradually better.
Even though Camacho was the prospect with a higher ceiling, Rodriguez was able to pull of the victory. The judges scored it 58-56, 58-56, and 57-57.
The co-main event of the night was between Nate Green (9-0) and Emanuel Rivera (17-2) in the bantamweight division.
Rivera appeared to be the better boxer of the two and even dropped Green in the second round with a crisp right hand.
Green had his moments but was hurt more often than he was effective. Even though most in the crowd thought Rivera did enough to win the judges scored it for Green with scores of 77-74 on all three cards.
The main event of the night was between Alberto Machado (18-0) and Carlos Morales (16-2-3) for the NABO and NABA Super Featherweight Titles. This bout was purposely designed to capture the spirit of classic Mexico vs. Puerto Rico boxing rivalries.
Machado controlled most of the bout with relative ease. He scored a knockdown in the second round and was never really in trouble. Morales put up a good fight in the final round, but it was too little too late as Macahdo won the decision victory.
The judges scored it 99-90 99-90, and 98-91 for Machado.
Afterwards Macahdo stated, “I felt good in the ring. I needed this for my career. I put myself to the test because almost all of my fights had been y knockout, and I’m happy with the victory. Carlos Morales is a tough fighter who used everything in his arsenal and pushed until the end. Hopefully I will not be rated no. 2 or no. 3 with the WBA, and it is a matter of meeting with my promoters, taking time to rest and seeing what comes next. “
