Juan Carlos Abreu picked up by far the most important win of his career Thursday night on Golden Boy’s ESPN series when he stopped former contender Jesus Soto Karass in the eighth round. The loss may very well send Soto Karass into retirement. Significant 19 year old prospect Ryan Garcia also picked up a win on the undercard.
Jesus Soto Karass (28-13-4, 18 KOs) looked every second of his thirty five years in the main event. The Mexican has never been an athletic fighter by any means, but these days it looks like he is moving through water instead of air as his legs and arms move slowly above the canvas. In moments he was still able to put Juan Carlos Abreu (20-3-1, 19 KOs) on the ropes and work his body as the Dominican is not an elite fighter himself, but overall he was just outboxed widely.
It only took basic movement and shots from the outside for Abreu to get the job done. By the middle rounds Abreu was on cruise control. The commentary team started talking about stopping the fight at the end of the fifth round. At the start of the sixth Abreu was starting to showboat a bit with his attack too as he felt so comfortable. Karass did manage to up his activity and do a little better in the sixth and seventh rounds though.
The eighth round brought the finish. First a right uppercut staggered Karass before another right hand put him down. He got up and was allowed to continue, but Abreu moved in aggressively for the finish and the referee had to save him from really being put out. With the loss, Jesus Soto Karass will likely take a long hard look at retirement. Juan Carlos Abreu should be able to play this win into a bigger fight.
Ryan Garcia (12-0, 11 KOs) got another early stoppage in the night’s co-main event. The 19 year old is the brightest prospect in Golden Boy’s big but largely middling stable and he did nothing to dull that shine here. He scored a picture perfect counter left hook knockdown in the first despite moving away in a position where a fighter cannot normally get that kind of leverage. The teenager then battered Cesar Alan Valenzuela (14-6-1, 5 KOs) around the ring in the third round, scoring another left hook knockdown and having the fight stopped right before the final bell.
Garcia isn’t perfect. I do have some reservations about how upright he is and how he doesn’t move his head, but he is extremely talented and still only 19 years old. You can’t teach speed or power and he has both in spades. As long as he keeps a level head and continues to develop, Golden Boy might have a next generation star on their hands right here.
Unbeaten 20 year old junior lightweight prospect Hector Tanajara Jr (12-0, 4 KOs) picked up an eight round decision win over Jesus Serrano (17-5-2, 12 KOs) to open the show. Tanajara won this comfortably, but he is far from a big time prospect. The young San Antonion is somewhat slow, lacks power, and has proven himself simple to hit. I am sure he will improve still, but I have a hard time projecting him as any sort of star.
