The fourth time was the charm for Ray Beltran tonight on ESPN. He can now finally call himself a world titleholder thanks to his win over Paulus Moses to claim the vacant WBO lightweight title in a very fun fight to watch. Egidijus Kavaliauskas also picked up a career best win in the co-main event with a sixth round stoppage over David Avanesyan as well.
It became clear quickly in the main event that Paulus Moses was going to fight the exact fight that Ray Beltran wanted him to. He stood right in front of the Mexican brawler and traded punches. He wasn’t getting the better of it either. Beltran really began digging his left hooks viciously to the body in the second round. Paulus would flash nice jabs and the occasional straight right, but he wasn’t staying at a range where he could use those tools consistently. Having 39 year old legs probably wasn’t helping.
The tone of the fight shifted a bit in the third as the Namibian former secondary titleholder was able to fight at range a bit more. His right hand really started to land consistently and he won the round with it. Beltran went back to his corner bleeding over his left eye. The fourth brought high quality and relatively even action. Both men got good work in. I scored it for Beltran based on him landed the flashiest shot that slightly staggered Moses.
A right hand again staggered Paulus at the start of the fifth. Beltran was a little wild and didn’t capitalize, however. He did eat some big right hands in response though. In fact, I scored it for the Namibian based on his better volume of work. Both men were cut by the end of the round. I also thought Moses did some great work in the sixth, particularly with a beautiful and violent one two near the end of the right. At the halfway point I had the fight even, but I will note several rounds were very close.
Beltran got his jab going in the seventh, but Moses landed a few more power shots. His right hand just could not miss. Again, it was a really close round, but I shaded it to Paulus Moses to make it three straight for him. Ray broke the streak in the eighth, however, as he clearly landed the better work. This was mostly because his 39 year old opponent slowed down a lot, but a round won is a round won.
Moses must have been saving up for the big right hand he landed to start the ninth. For the first time, he briefly seemed to hurt Beltran. This only seemed to motivated his Mexican spirit, however, as Ray Beltran suddenly began following up being drilled with some of his best work of the fight. What an excellent fight this turned out to be. It was another super close round. The tenth round wasn’t close for once. Paulus Moses was starting to appear exhausted and he mostly got beat up. I had the fight scored five rounds a piece going into the championship rounds.
The body work that Ray Beltran had been investing all night looked like it might win him the fight in the eleventh. He just kept digging and digging, clearly weakening the 39 year old standing in between him and his world title. A few times in the round Moses’s legs didn’t look great, but they were still holding him up going into the final round. The Namibian showed some heart early on fighting through exhaustion in the final frame, but the body work froze him. Both men left everything they physically had in the ring, but Ray Beltran having just a little more in the tank made the difference on my card.
I scored the fight 115-113 for Ray Beltran. The official cards came back 117-111 twice and 116-112 for our new WBO lightweight champion, Raymundo Beltran.
The co-main saw Top Rank house fighter and emerging contender Egidijus Kavaliauskas (20-0, 17 KOs) pick up a career best win against fellow contender David Avanesyan (23-3-1, 11 KOs) via sixth round stoppage. This was a nice, technical fight fought at range, though I admit I thought it would be more action oriented. Through the first three rounds, the fight was relatively even with Avanesyan having more success as a southpaw. Starting in the fourth, however, “The Mean Machine” began timing his Russian opponent a bit better behind his jab.
A big right hand in the sixth round from the Lithuanian clearly bothered Avenesyan and for the first time Kavaliauskas lived up to his nickname. He went on a constant assault and battered the former secondary titleholder with both hands until the referee stepped in. I initially thought that it might have been a little quick, but I quickly changed my mind when Avanesyan almost collapsed immediately. It was the first time he had been stopped. This was a very nice performance for The Mean Machine as he moves up the welterweight rankings towards a title shot.
2016 US Olympic silver medalist Shakur Stevenson (5-0, 2 KOs) cruised to an easy eight round decision over 24 year old Texas club fighter Juan Tapia (8-2, 3 KOs) to open the broadcast. The decision came back as an 80-72 shut out on all three cards and rightfully so. The first couple rounds were a little slow, but Shakur figured out his game as he went on. By the mid-rounds he was in control with his range and sharp shots from that distance, particularly his jabs and straight lefts.
Despite the win, however, I am not completely sold on Shakur Stevenson as a guaranteed future star. There was talk during the broadcast of his team trying to get him a world title by his twelfth pro fight, but I don’t think that will happen. In an era of major amateurs moving up the rankings quicker than ever after turning to the paid game, I think it is especially important to remember Shakur is a more traditional 20 year old prospect. Right now he has no in fighting skills, is inconsistent with keeping his range, and does not turn his shots over to get power on them. All of this should and probably will be improved, but he is going to need time to develop. He isn’t there yet. He definitely has the talent to get to the top. It is just going to take some work.
