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By: Sean Crose
The Forum in Las Angeles, California hosted “Superfly II” on Saturday as a variety of top super flyweights and flyweights battled for acclaim and supremacy in two of the sport’s most exciting divisions. The opening bout was between Donny Nietes,40-1-4, and Juan Carlos Reveco, 39-3, for the WBO flyweight title strap. The first round was fast paced, if uneventful. Reveco wasn’t able to do anything notable in the second, but Nietes certainly wasn’t walking away with it – at least not yet. Indeed, the crowd started to boo in the third due to the lack of action.
Photo Credit: HBO Boxing Twitter Account
The crowd continued to boo in the fourth, but Nietes was effectively jabbing, then going to Reveco’s body. Reveco was, however, able land effectively to the body himself. Sure enough, the HBO team was loathe to give Riveco credit, but he still managed to land solidly at times in the fifth. Things got interesting in the sixth, as both men nailed each other. Nietes not only edged it, however, but had Riveco clearly hurt and stumbling at the end of the round.
And, in the seventh, Reveco was sent down to the mat. It was enough for Reveco’s corner, which stopped the fight.
Next upth, e colorful Carlos Cuadras, 35-2-1, faced McWilliams Arroyo, 16-3, for the WBC silver super flyweight strap. Both fighters were left waiting in the ring until the paramedics, who had left with Reveco, returned. Once the fight was able to start, Arroyo asserted himself right off the bat by landing hard. The second round, however, saw Cuadras rock his man late in the chapter. The third saw Cuadras again assert himself with hard landed shots. It was intriguing, though, and anyone’s to win.
Things remained intriguing in the fourth. It was a rough, hard hitting affair. Arroyo rocked his man at least twice in the fifth. Cuadras, though, kept things intense. The sixth was close, as was the seventh, a round that saw Arroyo starting to showboat. The eighth was also a tight round, though Arroyo may have edged it with better shots. The ninth and tenth kept up the tempo. Both men were tired, true, but certainly didn’t seem as tired as they probably should have been. Again, it was a tough fight to call. The judges ended up ruling it for Arroyo by majority decision.
It was time for the main event. Juan Francisco Estrada, 36-2, met the conqueror of Chocolatito Gonzalez, the 44-4-1 Siskaret Sor Rungvisai for Sor Rungvisai’s WBC World Super Flyweight title. Both men fought a sharp, gunslinger cold first round. The second round was also exciting – but Estrada started showing his sharpness by landing clean and on target. By the third, Sur Rungvisai started working the body – hard. Rungvisai continued to hammer the body in the fourth – and Estrada was starting to show the effects. He wasn’t slipping away from the Thai slugger as fast as he had been. By the middle rounds, Sur Rungvisai’s power was telling the tale. Estrada was brave and game but the power of Sur Rungvisai’s power was telling the story.
Estrada nailed Sur Rungvisai in the eighth, firmly inserting himself back into the fight. Sur Rungvisai returned the favor, though. It was some kind of fight. Estrada continued to ride his momentum in the ninth. Sur Rungvisai came back strong in the tenth, but it remained a tight, thrilling affair. Estrada had his moments in the eleventh, but it may not have been enough to take the round. The final chapter was explosive for Estrada.
It wasn’t enough. Sur Rungvisai won a majority decision.
