17.03.06 – By Jim Amato: Coming in on one weeks notice Jesse Feliciano scored an upset majority decision win over former junior welterweight champion Vince Phillps. Phillips had upset Kostya Tyszu in 1997 to win the title. That was Kostya’s only loss until he ran into Ricky Hatton last year. Phillips has been in with the best in the world but now he is over forty. Still, on paper, this looked like just another day at the office for Vince. Wrong.
Feliciano came to fight and I think he surprised Phillips in the first two rounds with his strength and aggression. As ringside commentator Teddy Atlas noted, starting in the third round Vince seemed to make some adjustments to give himself more room and began to land his dangerous right hand. I felt Vince controlled the middle rounds but this kid was tough and he absorbed every right hand Vince landed.
Feliciano came on well in rounds eight and nine. He seemed to be the stronger of the two and even stunned Vince a couple of times. I thought Phillips did what a veteran should do in the tenth round, and, in my opinion, he did enough to win it. That gave him the decision on my card. The judges disagreed. One judge had it a draw while the other two had it 97-93 in favor of Feliciano.
Tough fight to judge but give Jesse full credit. He fought a hell of a fight. He is very strong and showed good whiskers. Phillips can still bang and Jesse took everything. I’d like to see where he goes from here. I’m also interested to see what Vince does. This was a fight he was not supposed to lose. It may be time to hang them up.
SIDE NOTE: John Ruiz was in the ESPN studios as a guest commentator. I’ve never been a big John Ruiz fan, to tell you the truth. On most occasions, his fights are rather boring. Nevertheless, he came across as a real nice guy who has his head on
straight. I don’t know what his future holds for him but I wish him well.