MANUEL Flores and Jorge Chavez fought to a majority draw after an intense clash of styles, deemed unsplittable by the three judges. Two of the judges totalled 95-95, with the third posting for Chavez’s work at 97-93 in this Fantasy Springs Casino headliner. Chavez will walk away from this Golden Boy card feeling that he has done enough to get the win. It appeared that way from a distance.
Not even one week since a more high-profile Manny returned to the ring, boxing to a draw with Mario Barrios in Las Vegas, this Manny, on a considerably lower end of the boxing ladder, was also forced to settle for a stalemate encounter. After half an hour of nip-and-tuck action, it’s Chavez who will be feeling hard done by, given his perceivably greater accuracy.
“Stop touching gloves, you gotta go to work,” old-school DAZN analyst Gabe Rosado stated, after the pair ended round three with some unnecessary respect. This was a fight that both men would need to dig deep to win. ‘Gucci’ Flores whipped in heavy lefts to the body as Chavez waited to counter.
The rounds zipped by, momentum flowing between Flores’ body work and Chavez’s return fire uppercuts to the head. Referee Thomas Taylor told both men to watch their feet in round five as the phonebox fighting led to some potential fumbles. Chavez appeared to be getting the better of it. Flores’ head trainer let go with a volley of F bombs after round six.
“Chavez is in the zone, you can just see it, man,” purred Rosado as the Mexican’s moves became increasingly silkier. Flores turned the heat up in the ninth as his predicament finally dawned. Not content with stepping off and jabbing, Chavez stood inside and let the flurries go, battling through a slight cut.
Surprising everyone, not least Flores, with his propensity to box, Chavez’s stand-off boxing strategy seemed to have earned him a win. It was not to be. Well supported Flores’ slate suffered a second, albeit minor, blemish as he moves to 20-1-1 (16 KOs). Chavez is now 14-0-1 (8 KOs).
In the chief supporting contest, Jordan ‘The Patriot’ Panthen suffered his first pro loss, going down by majority decision to Farid Ngoga. After 10 fast-paced rounds, judge Jerry Cantu could not split them at 95-95, overruled by Ron Scott Stevens, 96-94, and Fernando Vilarreal, 97-93 in favour of the underdog.
Commentator Gabe Rosado was immediately concerned about Panthen’s heavier, wider shots, expecting him to burn out down the stretch. Calmer Ngoga soaked everything up, picked his moments and earned more rounds, leading to a victory that leaves both men at 11-1, exiting the ring with contrasting emotions.
