CARSON, CALIFORNIA — All the pre-fight trash talk remained unresolved last night after Lateef Kayode and Antonio Tarver battled to a unsatisfying draw .
Kayode held an advantage through the first three rounds simply on punch output. The Nigerian’s occasional flurries and glancing right hooks consistently backed up his opponent. Tarver slowly began to find range in the fourth with left hands to body and counter shots upstairs. Kayode rebounded in the fifth by relying on his physical strength, but Tarver came right back in the sixth behind a flush straight left that briefly stunned Kayode followed by a right hook.
Rounds seven through nine solidified the contrast in styles; Taver landed the cleaner eye-catching shots while Kayode best asset was his work rate, in particular to the body.
Fatigue prevented both fighters from pulling away in the championship rounds. Kayode didn’t abandon his earlier body work but couldn’t maintain a high work rate. Tarver landed some good left hands in the final minute of the 11th although that momentum didn’t continue in the 12th.
Neither man was happy with the draw. Taver believed he dominated from round six on while Kayode claimed Tarver’s job as a Showtime commentator got him favorable treatment. Kayode went on to say he’d only consider a rematch on HBO.
Winky Wright’s near four years away from in-ring competition showed as he dropped a wide decision to Peter Quillin.
Wight could only show flashes of his former tight defense and accurate right jab-straight left offense. Quillin was able to breach Wright’s guard with right hands and scored a solid knockdown off a straight right in the fifth.
Wright did better on the inside but was still woefully outmatched due to Quillin’s hand speed. Kid Chocolate stunned Wright in the eighth off an uppercut and stifled Wright’s brief offensive success with fast 4-5 punch combinations.
The scorecards read 97-92 and 98-91 twice. Wright remained indecisive in his post-fight interview about retiring.
Austin Trout took a slow but wide decision win over Delvin Rodriguez. Trout kept the majority of the fight on the outside were he was able to pick off Rodriguez with straight lefts. Trout’s jab was also a strong deterrent in keeping Rodriguez on the outside. Scores were unanimous for Trout: 117-11, 118-110 and 120-108. Trout retains his WBA junior middleweight title and is hoping for a unification showdown with WBC champ Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who was in attendance.
Leo Santa Cruz captured the IBF bantamweight title with an impressive unanimous decision victory over Vusi Malinga. Santa Cruz overwhelmed Malinga with volume and accurate shots to the body. Santa Cruz landed loud lefts hook to the body every round and slashing hooks upstairs. Malinga showed a strong chin and was only badly hurt in the fifth when a right hook to the body put him in retreat. Scores were 120-108 twice and 119-109.
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With decisions in every fight, it was a long night of boxing. Although things got slow at times (especially with Trout-Rodriguez), I wouldn’t mind more events like this.
This was my first time seeing Leo Santa Cruz and he was no doubt the most impressive fighter of the night. He stayed on top of Malinga and showed a nice variety of offense. Bantamweight is wide open, but he’s hoping to get a shot at Nonito Donaire. I was thinking more an Abner Mares bout, which would be all-action.
Austin Trout got the win but more than likely disqualified himself from getting a date with Canelo on September 15 (which was a long shot anyway). There’s two main things working against Trout. One, the fight he was in wasn’t that exciting even though he was facing a guy who had the Fight of the Year in 2011. If Canelo is to become an American attraction, his first pay-per-view/headlining Las Vegas bout has to be an action bout. Second, Trout has enough skills to make Canelo look bad and beat him.
If he wants a Golden Boy fighter, Trout’s best bet might be looking at another avoided fighter, Erislandy Lara.
Quillin did what was expected of him in his win over Wright. It wasn’t spectacular, but even at 40 Wright still had enough instincts to get through the rough spots. I have no idea why Wright would even take this fight as his first fight back. I hope the paycheck was worth it.
Who’s up for Tarver-Kayode II? Didn’t think so. Tarver can forget about his delusional Klitschko dreams, but I can still see him getting a few more paydays at cruiserweight with his name. This bout sadly reminded me of a conversation I had with Bernard Hopkins. I asked him why there were so many older fighters being able to thrive now as opposed to back in the older generations were that was an anomaly. He answered that the younger guys are a lot less skilled now because of a lack of teachers. The result is a lot of guys just relying on their natural physical talents. Looking at Kayode, you can see that clearly.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 
Tarver defo won the fight IMO, dont know how it was a draw, it was close, but espec as Tarver was champ, I believe you gotta rip the title away… Still Tarver holds onto the belt…
Watching the rest now