Boxing at its weirdest as a sport reared its head last night in Studio City, California. The judges turned into a split decision in favor of former titlist Argenis Mendez (24-5-1, 12 KOs) over Ivan Redkach (20-3-1, 12 KOs) that probably shouldn’t have went his way mathematically given a few questionable referee calls. Yet, he also clearly won the fight.
Over the course of the bout Mendez peppered his aggressive Ukrainian opponent with clean shots. Redkach was always game to attack, but he struggled to land clean with anything but his head. With that he landed regularly. In the third round he lost a point for it. Over the course of the fight he landed enough head butts to lose a point for sure, but at that point it was a curious decision to take one that soon from veteran referee Raul Caiz Jr.
Furthermore, in the seventh round, Redkach appeared to score a flash knockdown just before the final bell. His Dominican foe did not seemed hurt at all when he popped back up, but Mendez was punched and fell over. This was ruled a slip. In this fight Redkach both had a point taken away that felt like it happened too quickly and did not have his knockdown properly scored.
If those two moments were handled appropriately by Caiz Jr, Redkach would have won the fight on points. He still shouldn’t have, however, as the cards were way too close to begin with. I had it seven rounds to three for Mendez and I felt quite generous towards Redkach with that card. Even if he doesn’t lose the point and scores the knockdown, he loses 96-93 on my card. I don’t think you can fairly score it much closer for him. Boxing is weird.
For both fighters this was a very important fight. With the loss Ivan Redkach really has no career momentum to speak of at this point and is rapidly in danger of turning into a journeyman. Mendez, a former world titlist, is revitalized and will find himself in back with bigger opportunities sooner rather than later.
On the undercard Brandon Figueroa (12-0, 8 KOs), brother of former titlist Omar Figueroa, won a wide eight round unanimous decision over Mexican club fighter Luis Saavedra (7-3, 3 KOs). At this point in his very young career, Figueroa is a crude brawler who has not figured out how to use his long frame on the outside. He is only 20 though. The fight was entertaining, but from a prospect perspective Figueroa cannot get hit that much as he continues to step up.
The show opened with current top fighter Luis Santa Cruz’s cousin Antonio Santa Cruz (5-3, 2 KOs) losing a six round decision to Mexican Jonathan Torres (8-5-1, 2 KOs). These guys are just club fighters here and the television spot was only given because Leo Santa Cruz was technically the promoter of this PBC show, but at least it was a very fun fight. Antonio Santa Cruz, 20, is not a prospect and in fact had not a single amateur fight. It showed.
