Jesus Cuellar Overpowers Ruben Tamayo Halting Him in Five Rounds

In a special Saturday edition of Showtime Boxing on ShoExtreme, Jesus Cuellar took on Ruben Tamayo in the main event of a quadruple header made up of mostly Al Haymon fighters, live from the Little Creek Casino Resort in Shelton, Washington.

The Argentine Cuellar, coming off his destruction win over Juan Manuel Lopez, entered the fight looking to make a third successful defense of his interim WBA featherweight title against Tamayo, who came into the fight with two wins in 2014.

The slugger Cuellar started the fight with an intense pace and pushed the action. Tamayo, the boxer in the fight, tried countering from the start but had trouble keeping Cuellar from closing the distance and remaining in his range.

Cuellar sent Tamayo to the canvas in the 4^th on a left to the body, a shot that had a delayed reaction on Tamayo. Tamayo, presumably still feeling the effects from the body shot, couldn’t regain his composure and was sent to the canvas for a second time in the round on a barrage of punches. Tamayo made it to his feet again and barley survived the round.

After being checked by the doctor in between rounds, Tamayo entered the 5^th on his last leg and Cuellar needed less than two minutes before finishing Tamayo with a couple more body shots, a left and a right, to retain his interim title.

 

Russell Jr. def Martin UD 10 (featherweight):

Gary Russell Jr. was back in action for the first time since suffering his first career lost to Vasyl Lomachenko back in June of this year. He took on Christopher Martin in a scheduled 10 round affair.

Martin, who is definitely in the top 5 best opponents Russell Jr. has ever faced, was completely overmatched. At one point, Russell Jr. was obviously getting the kind of work in that suggests he wanted to get in rounds.

Russell Jr. was never in any serious danger in the fight, although Martin did trap Russell in the corner in the 5^th round and tried to tee off, but it was clear that Russell was allowing Martin the benefit of the doubt and eventually took control of the round.

The opponent wasn’t up to Russell’s level, but that didn’t stop Russell from trying to showcase as much as possible. He tagged Martin to the head and body and mixed his attack very well. Russell, as always, showed incredible footwork and landed flush, although he never tried to press the attack or seek the stoppage.

After going the distance, the judges correctly gave Russell Jr. the unanimous decision with the scores of 100-90 twice and 99-91.

 

Williams def Freeman TKO 8 (Junior Middleweights):

Julian “J Rock” Williams overwhelmed his opponent, 29 year old Jamar Freeman, in what ended up being Williams’ fourth win this year.

Freeman had little to offer the talented “J Rock” and even when he landed it was clear his power wasn’t going to be a factor. With little concern for his opponent’s power, “J Rock” walked through the counter assault and landed meaningful shots in return.

Williams hurt Freeman with a right hand in the 7^th, a round that saw Freeman down twice, that had a delayed reaction. Freeman was caught on the chin and took a knee, a reaction you usually see from devastating body shots.

Williams only needed another round before putting away his opponent for good.

After a strong 2014 campaign, Williams is in position to receive a title shot at some point next year.

 

Jackson def Nelson TKO9 (Super Middleweights):

In the televised opener, the former Olympian from the Virgin Islands Julius “The Chef” Jackson, in his U.S. debut, took on Jonathan Nelson in a scheduled 10 rounder.

Jackson came in as the highly touted son of former pro fighter Julian Jackson and played the part in the first round by knocking down Nelson. Nelson got off the canvas but was still overmatched for the most part.

In the 6^th round, Nelson staged an impressive rally and rocked Jackson with some solid right hands, and managed to mix up the offense a bit. That round was truly the highlight of the fight as Jackson was able to switch gears by taking calculated steps back only to shoot shots at a forward-moving Nelson, landing on Nelson’s chin and keeping him on guard. Nelson fired back in the closing 30 seconds and turned in his best round of the night.

Jackson, however, was able to get back on track in the 7^th round. Jackson sent Nelson to the canvas again in the 8^th using the same jab to right hand combo he used to send Nelson down in the 1^st.

Jackson was able to close the show in the 9^th round.