Updates: Nery saga continues while Rivas defeats Larios in Cuernavaca
Fuerza vs Fuerza plus Box Azteca Team is headed to Cuernavaca.
Who do you usually pull for, the Underdog or the Favorite?
On Saturday, undefeated Sonoran boxer Pedro “Roca” Campa and two-time former female world champ Yazmín”Rusita” Rivas were the headliners on what promised to be an exciting Zanfer Boxing Show being held at the Centennial Stadium in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico, against rivals seeking a triumph to boost their careers to the next level. As far as local TV, the show was transmitted by the Casa del Boxeo on Azteca 7.
The one favorite, Pedro “Roca” Campa (27-0-0, 21 KO’s) was risking his unbeaten record against the hard-throwing Carlos “Torito” Jiménez from Morelia, Michoacan, whose record was a bit deceiving. Early on in Jimenez’s career, he was mismanaged and often took on the best of the best before he was ready. After you sprinkle in more than a few controversial decisions: a tie to Javier Mercado in December of 2012, a majority decision loss to Juan José Martínez in August of 2013 and a majority decision loss to Patricio Moreno in May of 2016 plus take into consideration the majority of his career most of his rivals were the in-house favorite, you can see Jimenez’s career had turned into a dead-end. Frustration and anger had been building up for some time. Then, in his most recent performance, on July 29, 2017, the undervalued Jimenez (10-8-1) surprised Sergio “Bam Bam” Torres (26-8, 20 KOs) by clearly winning a unanimous decision. That win should have sent a message to La Roca, that having your way with Jimenez is something that’s been remanded to the past.
Meanwhile, Campa, the native of Guaymas, Sonora, was coming off a tougher than expected unanimous decision victory in May over the equally experienced Juan Carlos ¨Zozo¨ Rodriguez and he was doing a lot of talking about laying the groundwork for his title shot in 2018. The quote from the 24-year-old Campa said as much: “We are now ready to win it all, to give it everything we have, and thanks to Fernando Beltrán and his company Zanfer, we will get our opportunity to fight for a world title in 2018.”
It’s never too late to turn your career around, so says the hard-throwing underdog Carlos “Torito” Jiménez (r) from Morelia, Michoacan who is looking down at the former, undefeated contender Pedro “Roca” Campa.
Update: On Saturday evening October 21, 2017, Campa suffered a surprising seventh-round stoppage loss to Jimenez. Plain and simple, Campa could not match the more determined Jimenez’s output or the accumulative effect of his more powerful and better leveraged overhand rights. Jimenez was waiting to counter; he was the one initiating the exchanges. Then, towards the end of the seventh, a counter left hook to the head dropped Campa flat on his back, which prompted referee Laurentino Ramirez to stop the fight.
After her victory over Yareli Larios, Jazmin “Rusita” Rivas gets a ride around the ring. In no way is she ready to have people start talking about her as a has-been.
In the main event, junior featherweight Yazmin Rivas won a 10-round split decision over the youngster Yareli Larios. Even though both ladies had their moments, Rivas was the one landing the more telling blows and scoring repeatedly with the big right hands to the head. One judge did score the bout 97-93 for Larios, but the other two had Rivas ahead 96-94 and 97-93, who now improves to (37-10-1, 10 KOs).
The veteran Yazmín “Rusita” Rivas (l) ended up defeating the youthful Yareli “Chololita” Larios (r), experience (47 bouts) vs youth (12 bouts).
At this time, Rivas, the 29-year-old former WBC World Female Bantamweight champion is determined to show the world that she still has the ability to be among the best in the world, and by defeating Larios on Saturday night, she showed the boxing world she’s not ready to be a stepping stone for a 19-year-old.
(photos, top) Jazmin Rivas’ record now improves to 37-10-1 with 10 KOs. (bottom, right) Yareli Larios (now 12-1, 2 KOs) is the daughter of the two-time world champion Oscar “Chololo” Larios.
On the undercard
19-year-old Super Featherweight Bryan Gonzalez (5-0, 3 KOs), the pride of Cuernavaca faced a stiff test from 18-year-old Andrés “Fantasmo” Robles (4-1, 2 KOs) from Queretaro, Queretaro, Mexico. The results of the other fights are still unknown.
The latest Luis Nery update:
Just as the former Japanese Champion Shinsuke Yamanaka found himself surrounded by challengers hoping to knock him off his perch, Luis Nery will soon discover what it’s like to be in that hotspot.
On Thursday, it was announced that the 22-year-old, 5’5″ Luis Nery (24-0, 18 KOs), the southpaw phenom from Tijuana, fresh off his 118-pound WBC World Bantamweight Title win by a fourth-round knockout of Shinsuke Yamanaka in Kyoto, Japan, will be fighting Arthur “King Arthur” Villanueva (31-2, 17 KOs) from Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, Philippines on November 4, 2017, at the Gas Mart Stadium in Tijuana.
Think big! With the layout of the Gas Mart Stadium being a baseball diamond, the groundskeepers/administrative staff should have a great many options as to where they’ll be placing the show’s Boxing Ring for their sell-out crowd.
Since Nery is still having to deal with that adverse (positive) test for the banned substance Zilpaterol in a random test conducted by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association as part of the WBC’s Clean Boxing Program, this upcoming match at the and the results from this match will certainly be under much scrutiny. In his defense, Nery stated he must have eaten some contaminated meat, which has been a problem for many athletes in Mexico.
How might a detective or chemist go about tracing such a discovery?
Zilpaterol hydrochloride is a β2 adrenergic agonist and under its trade name, Zilmax, it is used to increase the size of cattle and the efficiency of feeding them. Zilmax is produced by Intervet, a subsidiary of Merck & Co. and is marketed as a “beef-improvement technology.” It is typically fed in the last three to six weeks of a cow’s life, with a brief period of three days for withdrawal before death which allows the drug to ideally leave the animal’s tissues. Merck reported that Zilmax-fed cattle do not produce beef with a difference in taste or quality compared to cattle not fed the drug, but various studies have found a slight reduction in tenderness, an increase in shear force, and a lower percentage of intramuscular fat.
Processor adoption and bans
Tyson Foods was the first among the largest U.S. meatpackers to adopt Zilmax. On August 6, 2013, they banned Zilmax-fed cattle from its processing plants after cattle began arriving with missing hooves in large numbers during hot weather. The drug is now banned in China, Taiwan, Russia, and many countries in the European Union.
If the appearance of Zilpaterol rears it’s head again, it sure sounds like the doctor’s office who handles the blood work for the Tijuana Boxing Commission will have some additional, involved testing to do for all upcoming shows. The latest news releases from Merck of Friday, October 20, 2017, make it sound like they are still in the developmental stages of how to use this product: https://www.agweb.com/article/merck-animal-health-provides-update-on-zilmax-five-step-plan-announces-next-steps-news-release/
If the U. S. Food and Drug Administration has done their due diligence and banned Zilpaterol that of course should be a good enough indicator/warning to all.
