7th August, 2015. Dubai, UAE: Welter: Jason Pagara (36-2) W TEC DEC 8 Ramiro Alcaraz (15-5-1). Super Bantam: Albert Pagara (24-0) W TKO 1 Jesus Rios (31-8-1,1ND). Super Light: Jimrex Jaca (40-8-4) W PTS 8 Pablo Montiel (21-6).
Jason Pagara vs Ramiro Alcaraz
Pagara has to fight with the handicap of a cut but gets the technical decision. Things started badly for Pagara when he initially found southpaw Alcaraz an awkward opponent and also suffered a cut on his left eye lid in the first round. That was balanced out by the referee deducting a point from Alcaraz over the clash of heads that caused the cut. He settled down in the second hurting Alcaraz with left hooks. The cut was bothering Pagara and giving Alcaraz an edge in some of the action. Pagara survived a doctor’s inspection in the fourth and was again outscoring the Mexican in the fifth. The sixth was close with Alcaraz matching Pagara but the Filipino got a break when they both punched on after the bell but the referee only penalised Alcaraz so another point deduction against the Mexican. Early in the eighth the action was temporarily suspended after a low punch from Pagara but when it resumed the blood from the cut was affecting Pagara’s vision and the doctor advised the referee to stop the fight and it went to the score cards. Scores 78-72, 77-73 and 76-74 all for Pagara. Although he deserve the victory it looked much closer even with the deductions than the first two cards showed. The 27-year-old “El Nino” has lost only one of his last 25 fights, to Rosbel Montoya, and he got revenge with an inside the distance win in a return. He is No 2 with the WBO at light welter. With No 1 Lucas Matthysse fighting Viktor Postol for the vacant WBC title that will put him in line for a shot at champion Terrance Crawford. Alcaraz felt he was robbed in this one and the deductions were harsh but that won’t show on the records. He sprang a big upset when he beat Antonio Lozada (32-1) in 2013 but lost a still creditable split decision in a return fight.
Albert Pagara vs Jesus Rios
Younger brother Albert looks a great prospect and he blew away Rios in impressive style. Pagara was quickly stalking Rios and shook him with a right cross/left hook combination. Rios backed up to the ropes where Pagara nailed him with that right cross/left hook combination again and Rios slumped down to the canvas against the ropes. He got up but still looked very shaken. The referee had a good look at Rios then let the fight continue. Pagara stepped in and landed a series of head shots from both hands. Being pinned against the ropes Rios only went down slowly so took some of those punches on the way. Once down he was finished and the referee immediately stopped the fight without a count. Rios was in a distressed condition and needed medical help and some oxygen before recovering. The 21-year-old Filipino looks the goods and now has 17 wins by KO/TKO and is rated IBF 5/WBC 10. Difficult to know if he can go all the way as so far he has faced good but not dangerous opposition but he talent and power. The fight was to be a defence of his IBF Inter-Continental title for Pagara but Rios failed to make the weight and gave up trying when he finally managed to get down to 124lbs which was still 2lbs over the limit.
Jimrex Jaca vs Pablo Montiel
Jaca has to get off the floor to win this one. The Filipino veteran was doing as he pleased with Montiel for three and a bit rounds. In the fourth the Mexican landed a counter that put Jaca down. The referee did not have a god view and ruled it a slip. The downside of that for Jaca was that he did not get an eight count to help him recover and later in the round Montiel scored a genuine knockdown flooring Jaca with a left hook. Jaca was badly shaken and took the step of spitting out his gumshield three times to get a breather and was lucky not to be penalised. Despite the trouble he had in the previous round Jaca came out firing for the fifth and had Montiel in trouble at the end of the round. The sixth was about even but Jaca staged a strong finish over the last two rounds to earn the decision. Scores 78-74 twice and 77-74 for Jaca. The 32-year-olod Filipino “Executioner” was knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez in a fight for the interim WBO feather title but then accumulated 11 wins in a row before hitting a bad patch and he was 0-2-1 going into this one. Montiel has only lost once by KO/TKO but this was his first fight for 14 months.
