By Christopher Roche: “Contender 3” star David Banks looked to confuse Edison “Pantera” Miranda in the early going last night on ESPN’s “Friday Night Fights.” Miranda, now fighting at super middleweight, methodically stalked Banks, and arguably gave away the first two rounds. Banks showed some nice counter work in the early going, and the self-taught Oregonian proved he has decent skills.
However, those first two rounds were elementary because two-thirds of the way through round three, Miranda unloaded a right hand missile that detonated on the side of Banks’ head.
Banks fell through the ropes, and his feet kicked up in the air. The scene was almost frightening to watch. Banks was sprawled out from Miranda’s amazing shot, but he actually stumbled to his feet around the count of ten. He then staggered over to his stool and plopped down. The fight was devastatingly over, at the official time of 1:59 in round three.
The 24 year-old Banks was stopped for the first time in his career, and he fell to 15-4-1, 2 KO’s. Miranda, 27, improved to 30-2, 26 KO’s.
Pascal vs. Pittman
Canadian Jean Pascal was in cruise control for the first six rounds of this bout, as he tried to zero in on his future date with Miranda. Despite Pascal’s superior speed, Omar Pittman, of Philadelphia, put a scare into Pascal in the seventh.
Pittman landed a hard left hook and staggered Pascal in the aforementioned seventh round. Pascal held on for the rest of the frame. He did not land any punches over the latter third of the round.
Pittman landed another hard left hook in the eighth that appeared to scrape Pascal’s eye. Pascal pawed at his face as if he was cut, and Pittman kept on outworking him, and Pittman landed a hard right hand to close the round.
Pascal regained control in the ninth, and he dominated the tenth, on his way to a convincing unanimous decision. The scores were 98-91 (twice) and 97-92. Pittman dropped to 15-4-1, 8 KO’s and Pascal stayed perfect at 21-0, 14 KO’s. The bouts were held at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, FL.
Telefutura: Mora vs. Ruvalcaba
Sergio Mora stayed unbeaten in a very quick sixth round stoppage over Rito Ruvalcaba. After five rounds, Mora finally landed a hard shot on Ruvalcaba, who had not fought in over three years, and Mora staggered his opponent. The referee stepped in to stop the fight, but he fell down after bumping into Mora.
Mora threw another combination, but Ruvalcaba came back at him. The referee, after dusting himself off the canvas, was still intent on stopping the fight. Even though Mora was backing up, and Ruvalcaba was throwing a punch, the fight was stopped at 1:22 of round six. Mora improved to 20-0-1, 5 KO’s and Ruvalcaba fell to 31-9, 27 KO’s. The bout was held at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in Cabazon, California.
ESPN Television Highlights
Allan Green was the in-studio guest on ESPN. Here were two of his best quotes:
1) “Jean Pascal is a joke. He should be locked up for impersonating a fighter.”-Allan Green, before the Pascal vs. Pittman fight.
2) “The hardest I have ever been hit is by Jerson Ravelo.”- Allan Green when responding to Brian Kenney’s questions about Miranda’s power, after Miranda destroyed Banks. Green was in with both Ravelo and Miranda, and he mentioned Ravelo’s power twice on the broadcast and said he hits harder than Miranda.
Wladimir Klitschko stopped by the broadcast table and mentioned that he was sparring with Irish middleweight Andy Lee. Klitschko and Lee are both trained by Emanuel Steward. Klitschko said that Lee has speed that is helpful in training, and Lee is stopping by Klitschko’s camp again on Sunday. In addition, Lee is a southpaw, much like Klitschko’s next opponent, 2000 Olympic silver medallist Sultan Ibragimov. Their fight is scheduled for February 23 at Madison Square Garden.