Three of the sport’s hardest hitters and most entertaining warriors are all in action tonight with a great Showtime boxing tripleheader. Keith Thurman, Lucas Matthysse and Omar Figueroa all take center stage this evening. Will all of them emerge with another highlight-reel worthy win?
Follow along with our results coverage here to see how the bouts play out.
Thurman vs. Diaz Results
Keith Thurman moved to 23-0 (21 KOs) when Julio Diaz’ corner stopped the fight after 3 rounds. Though Diaz was coming off his best round, the action had been controlled by Thurman up until that point. With the win, Thurman, 145.5, stays in the sweepstakes for big fights at 147. Diaz, meanwhile, falls to 40-10-1 (29 KOs).
A feeling-out process broke open later in the first round when a Thurman right hand and uppercut rattled Diaz. Thurman, rather than going for the gusto, showed some patience and tact as he moved around the ring and picked his shots. Each fighter landed big punches in the round’s last 10 seconds.
Diaz opened with a clubbing right, but Thurman landed some nice shots to the body in response. Thurman exploded with a sparkling 3-punch combo that Diaz definitely felt. A sudden left uppercut wobbled Diaz. Then a Thurman check-hook landed near the ear, an equilibrium/delayed-reaction shot that put Diaz down. Before the third, Diaz’ corner, led by his older brothers, gave him an earful.
Diaz, 34, showed some spirit in the 3rd, pursuing Thurman and landing a series of right hands and a handful of jabs. One right appeared to have Thurman buzzed momentarily, but he quickly regrouped. He landed to the body and slammed Diaz with a huge right. Diaz responded with fire and again had Thurman looking a tiny bit wobbled. It was a fun round.
But alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Following the third round, Diaz’ older brother and head trainer Joel Diaz informed referee Jack Reiss that Julio could not continue with a busted rib. Just when it was getting good.
Matthysse vs. Molina Results
Lucas Matthysse, 35-3 (33) overcame a pair of knockdowns beat John Molina by 11th-round TKO in an absolutely thrilling fight. It became uncomfortable at the end with Molina taking an increasingly one-sided battering. But it was a classic, with the more versatile and hard-punching Matthysse digging deep to overcome the heavy-handed Molina. Molina went down in the 10th and again early in the 11th. Time was 22 seconds into the 11th. Molina falls to 27-4 (22).
A slow opening round broke open when Molina, 139.25 landed a heavy right that had Matthysse, 140, doing a little dance. Mathysse came back at the end, but it was a sign of things to come. In what would set the tone for the fight, Matthysse was working well, using movement and combinations on Molina. But then the Californian would lash out with a powerful right. One such shot dropped Matthysse in the 2nd. The Argentine was holding on at the end of the round and Molina ran out of time.
Matthysse got back to boxing well in the 3rd against the more-rigid Molina. Then suddenly Matthysse emerged with a huge cut. Referee Pat Russell ruled it a head-butt and even though it looked bad, it wouldn’t be a factor for the rest of the fight. When they were waved back into action, both guys slugged it out until the final bell.
The more athletic Matthysse banged Molina around in the 5th. It was all Matthysse until Molina caught him in a corner with clubbing right to the side (back?) of the head. Toe-to-toe brutality ensued until the end of the round. the 6th round featured more-contained two-way action, with Matthysse doing the majority of the punishing. More two-way trading at the end of the round.
By the 7th, Molina started to get beaten up and it became a bit hard to watch. He still had his power and was lashing out defiantly, but the bulk of the action featured Matthysse doing all the hurting. Brutal exchanges took place, with Matthysse slamming shots on the fat of Molina’s head. But the resilient Molina fired back enough to keep it form being a rout. The 8th featured captivating trench warfare, both gunning away freely in frenzied mayhem. A push that followed a Matthysse onslaught dropped the battered and bloody Molina and it was ruled a knockdown.
The beating continued into the 10th, with Molina’s durability almost on a Rocky Balboa level. The violence was cranked up a notch, as Matthysse really zeroed in to finish Molina. Incredibly, he waves Matthysse on, who obliges him with more shots.
After close examination in the corner, Joe Goossen made the incorrect decision to allow Molina to continue. Thankfully, the fight only lasted 22 more seconds. Molina was dumped after another series of shots. A great comeback for Matthysse, while Molina’s stock surely goes up. For a 10-1 underdog, he didn’t do too badly for himself and came pretty close to winning early in the fight. Definitely, a candidate for Fight of the Year.
Figueroa vs. Belmontes Results
Omar Figueroa won a split decision over Jerry Belmontes after 12 uneven rounds of action. Figueroa moves to 23-0-1 (17 KOs), while Belmontes fell to 19-4 (5 KOs). Both weighed 134.75. Scores were 115-113, Belmontes, and 116-112 and a far-fetched 118-110 for Figueroa. ProBoxing-Fans had it 115-113 Belmontes.
It was a bizarre fight for many reasons. It went from thrilling to downright boring at times. Figueroa, the supposed bomber, relied on volume, while the light-hitting Belmontes relied on more showy potshots. Figueroa switched stances throughout, while Belmontes switched approaches dramatically–from flying around the ring to engaging Figueroa at trench warfare. Figueroa would throw 130 punches in some rounds and 25 in others. It’s a hard fight to describe and the scoring was understandably all over the place.
Belmontes opened with nice combos, flashing fast hands and movement. In the second, he peeled off quick shots inside, smothering Figueroa. The action in the first two rounds suggested a possible classic and the ebbs and flows of this fight were already in evidence.
Belmontes went to the outside again in the third, then quickly was back inside. It was better for Figueroa, who was able to throw a ton of punches and get into the points column. Belmontes appeared to nose a suddenly inactive 4th round. Then Figueroa, using a pitty-pat punching style that contrasted the style he had shown in previous fights, seemed to take the 5th. For long stretches of the fight, both men stood shoulder to shoulder, with the ref letting them go at it.
Figueroa threatened to get some separation from Belmontes in the 6th, as his sheer workrate was winning the day. Belmontes was holding his own, but the smothering style was working for Figueroa. More isolated bursts in the 7th, with Belmontes re-affirming himself at the end with some spirited combos. Smartly, Belmontes started moving more and Figueroa’s punch-count dropped precipitously. The 8th and 9th rounds were more tactical, but Figueroa was showing signs of visible frustration. By the 10th, Figueroa had slowed down to a crawl, with Belmontes controlling matter, maybe more from a ring generalship standpoint, as he also wasn’t throwing a ton of shots himself.
Belmontes appeared to edge the final two rounds, but the activity was so little, that it was hard to endorse either fighter. In a strange fight, it was Figueroa who ended up the winner. The decision is hard to argue with any real passion. At the same time, Figueroa’s stock likely dropped, as he is clearly a notch below the top 135-pounders in the world.
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Be sure to check back later on for more post-fight aftermath and analysis, and thanks for coming by for our live Matthysse vs. Molina and Thurman vs. Diaz results coverage!
