Bantam weight Andre Wilson and welterweight Orlando Lora were supposed to be the heavily favored fighters of the night. After all, Wilson’s opponent Leonilo Miranda took the fight on only two days notice, and he had suffered losses in his last two fights. He was KO’d by Orlando Cruz in 2009 and came up short in a SD loss to Gilberto Bolanos, which also took place in 2009.
The one thing that was immediately apparent at the opening bell was the fact that Mirando was bigger. He looked stronger, and had the height advantage, but their reach was about the same. Mirando started out right away as the aggressor and pressed the action.. However, he seemed to throw wide punches, and Wilson appeared to the slicker of the two, and it looked as though Wilson would soon time Miranda’s efforts and step inside with shorter, straighter shots.
Miranda’s best efforts came in the form of long punches to Wilson’s body. In addition to wanting to hurt Wilson with the body shots. It also seemed that Miranda intended to disguise his efforts a bit, and soon would be leaning in as if a another body shot was coming, only to turn the punch into a head shot. He did try it a few times, but just missed making contact with Wilson’s chin.
However, in the second round, Miranda did manage to tag Wilson, and that was just when Wilson seemed to show signs of beating Miranda to the punch on occasion. Miranda still won the round because he was busier. By the third round, Wilson started to hold more. He was definitely being bothered by Miranda’s attack, which continued right up until the bell. Wilson’s nose.was bleeding by the end of the round.
Wilson looked pretty good starting the fourth round. He was moving well and countering. Miranda suffered a cut under his right eye as the result of a accidental head butt. Wilson deserved the round.
He also started out the fifth in good fashion, but then got caught with a long straight left, and he started to hold. Miranda pushed him off and continued with his attack. By this time, it was obvious Wilson did not hit hard enough to keep Miranda off of him. Miranda’s punches were much more effective, and Wilson kept moving to his right, which was right into the power of the southpaw Miranda.
In the sixth, a sharp left put Wilson down. He beat the count, and answered, “Yes” when Referee Lou Moret asked if he wanted to continue. However, before action could be resumed, Wilson voluntarily took a knee, and the referee had no choice but to stop the action. The official time was 43 seconds of the sixth round.
In the main event, David Estrada proved Orlando Lora isn’t ready for the big time. Lora failed to use an effective jab, which allowed Estrada to move inside and work him over. Lora is tough, though, and on occasion had Estrada backing up. But, he just wasn’t effective, and soon Estrada would again gain the upper hand.
Estrada did a good job mixing up his punches. He would flurry to the body and then go to the head, which confused Lora. In addition, Lora just wasn’t fast enough to punch in between Estrada’s combinations, so he was a pretty good target. He was bleeding from the nose by the second round. Out of frustration, he tried to transition to the southpaw stance, but it didn’t help.
By the fourth round, Lora looked like he was tiring, and he was getting a little sloppy. He also sustained a cut under the left eye that was deemed the result of a head clash. But, there was no doubt Estrada was landing a lot of punches.
By the fifth round, Estrada appeared very comfortable and focused. He continued to enjoy a speed advantage, and stayed with his tactic of going up and down with his shots. Lora was in trouble. By this time it was obvious, Lora was not fast enough, sharp enough or elusive enough to be a real threat to Estrada. Ring annoucer Teddy Atlas had the fight as a shutout up to this point.
Lora was still proving to be tough, but his face was a mess. Round seven proved to be more of the same, and the fight was mercifully stopped between rounds as RTD. Estrada’s effort earned him the vacant WBC FECOMBOX welterweight title.