Хайме Осуна Кристиан Канжелосиг буулган авч ялалт байгууллаа

Boxing is showbiz. Bouts take place at resort casinos. Fighters talk trash to attract viewers. Boxing promoters have more in common with Broadway producers than general managers or owners of baseball teams (excluding George Steinbrenner). And boxing wouldn’t be as popular as it is without the great personalities of Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson. And then there’s Rocky.

It is nearly impossible to watch a bout today without a nod to the fictional Philadelphia club fighter who first appeared on screen in 1976. Rocky Balboa, a million-to-one underdog given a shot at the heavyweight title, represents what attracts so many to boxing. He doesn’t expect to win; he just wants to go the distance, to last 15 rounds in the ring with Apollo Creed, something that no fighter had done before.

28-year-old Cristian Cangelosi, a Sicilian middleweight prospect who now fights out of Brooklyn, was introduced to the Rocky films by his father. Like so many boxing fans, myself included, Rocky represented something more than just the sport itself but something family could bond over.

Cangelosi formed an admiration for the sport through his father, a fan of both the Rocky films and the sport overall. After a successful amateur career on Italy’s national team, Cangelosi, known as “The Sicilian Flash”, was unbeaten in his first fourteen professional fights. Prior to Saturday night, Cristian Cangelosi had never fought on a major television broadcast. But due to Brandon Figueroa missing weight and falling ill just hours before the bell, Cangelosi versus Osuna moved from off-camera to the TNT/DAZN broadcast. Cangelosi had been given the opportunity to showcase he was a legitimate middleweight prospect in front of a national audience.

His opponent, undefeated Mexican Jaime “Monstruo” Osuna (11-0, 5 KOs), posed one of his biggest challenges so far. The two unbeaten middleweights entered the ring with a combined record of 24-0-1, each eager to prove themselves as serious contenders. As they stepped into the ring, they both seemed somewhat out of place in the bright lights of the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, a five-star resort and casino where chandeliers draped the lobbies. A place where serious prizefighters are expected to put on a show.

In the first round, Cangelosi was caught multiple times with Osuna’s hammering right hand. As the Sicilian Flash anticipated the punch, Osuna taunted him with his right, only to catch him with a blinding left hook towards the end of the round. Osuna continued through the second, using his right hand to punish Cangelosi, who seemed timid with his jab. But by the end of the round, a thin layer of blood was flowing out of Osuna’s eye after Cangelosi landed a combination to his head. Even with the cutman working at it, red blood dripped down the Mexican fighter’s chest as the bell to start the third round rang. Cangelosi used this momentum to take control of the ring and win the round.

However, the fight remained mostly even in the middle rounds. In the fifth, Osuna stunned Cangelosi with a straight right to the head after Cangelosi landed a combination that didn’t appear to rattle Osuna. Cangelosi began slowing down, biting down on his mouthpiece in exhaustion. For a moment, it seemed uncertain if Cangelosi would survive the round.

But in the sixth, Cangelosi turned things around and came out strong, landing a combination to the body before Osuna countered with a left of his own. Cangelosi continued to apply pressure, digging away at Osuna’s cut and landing quick combinations into the seventh. He ended the round sending a right that rocked Osuna, making it his best round of the night up to that point. However, it was uncertain if Cangelosi’s success in the later rounds would be enough to overcome Osuna’s strong start. Cangelosi controlled the ring for much of the opening two minutes of the final round, even as the two prospects shared exchanges. In the final ten seconds, Osuna was rocked yet again by a strong right, but it was too little too late, even with the final two rounds going the Sicilian’s way.

In his major television debut, the Rocky-inspired Cangelosi went the distance but lost a majority decision. Many of the television announcers thought it was a draw and others even thought Cangelosi’s control in the latter half of the match was enough for him to earn the decision. Those who didn’t watch will see Osuna as a climbing undefeated prospect and Cangelosi as somebody who may not be ready to take the next step. A narrow decision takes these fighters’ careers in different directions.

Later in the evening, the main event did not go the distance. It ended in a last second knockout punch that landed almost simultaneously with the final bell.

Unbeaten Ermal Hadribeaj put up a strong showing against the WBC Super Welterweight champion, Sebastian Fundora, who boasted an approximate eight inch height advantage. Hadribeaj proved to be the stronger fighter on the inside in the early fight before tiring out in the middle rounds, choosing to stay standing in his corner rather than taking a seat on a stool. Maybe they thought it was a testament to his heart. But in the final ten seconds of the fight, Hadribeaj’s legs weakened beneath him and Fundora landed a punch that he threw as the final bell rang. Referee Thomas Taylor ruled it a knockdown and shortly after, a knockout, as Hadribeaj struggled to regain his feet—more than three minutes after the round started. If this were basketball, replay review would have said the shot went off after the buzzer.

The knockout gave Fundora his fourth stoppage in a row. Many who watched the fight thought that ruling it a knockdown was a bad call. Nonetheless, it means that it’s been over two years since any fighter has gone the distance with Fundora. Whoever said boxing wasn’t a game of inches wasn’t at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on Saturday night. –Conor Comfort

The post Going The Distance: Osuna Survives Cangelosi appeared first on The Fight City.