Friday Night Dog Fights: Rubio Victorious while Escalante Wins a War!
By Sergio Martinez
(January 30, 2006)  
Photos © HoganPhotos.com
On Friday night the co-main event of Telefutura’s ‘Solo Boxeo’ boxing series featured two 126-pound prospects as Antonio Escalante, 11-1 (7), locked horns with Jose Andres Hernandez, 19-3 (13), in what can only be described as a war of attrition. The rhythm of the fight was established early as Escalante, from El Paso, Texas, stormed out of the gate shooting hooks to Hernandez’ body, only to be countered beautifully by a hard right hand from the Chicago, Illinois, native. Escalante responded with some lightning quick combinations to the head and body, but ended up getting caught with two more solid right hands in return.
 
The torrid pace continued in the second stanza as Escalante pressed the action and worked Hernandez’ body with hard hooks and landed solid upper-cuts to the chin. Hernandez continued to find his mark with straight right hand counters, snapping the tough Texan’s head back several times. Undeterred, Escalante continued to plot forward behind furious combinations. The fighters continuously traded leather throughout the round with Hernandez’ right hand doing most of the damage. As the second round came to a close, Hernandez landed a brain-rattling right hand that hurt Escalante and put him down for an eight count. Escalante rose at the bell where he found a precious minute to clear his head.
 
As the fight wore on, Escalante upped his aggression level, unloading hard combinations to Hernandez’ head and body with both fists. The game and gritty Hernandez answered back with hard right hands that on several occasions rocked the El Paso native. In the sixth round, Escalante lost a point for low blows, but a replay showed that the punches landed were legal.
 
That did not matter as the tough Texan came out in the seventh round and continued to pound away at Hernandez’ body, firing hard hooks and crosses with both hands. Hernandez gamely stood his ground and attempted to stem the tide by matching Escalante punch for punch as the fans in attendance jumped and screamed for more. Hernandez took a left hook to the chin that put him on Queer Street, and Escalante moved in for the kill, but could not finish his foe. He continued to relentlessly pursue his wounded prey, but was not able to seal the deal.
 
The eighth continued the same trend of the previous round as Escalante relentlessly pressured the now tiring Hernandez, punishing his body and head. Escalante followed his body work with hard rights to the head, stunning Hernandez who fired back in an attempt to get the Texan off him, but ended up caught by a hard shot once more from Escalante which deposited him back on the canvas for an eight count. Hernandez rose and furiously fought back, but was caught yet again, and was in serious trouble for the remainder of the round.
 
Sensing that a knockout was within reach, Escalante stormed out of his corner in the ninth round and unloaded combinations on Hernandez’ body. Hernandez fought back with hard shots of his own, but was stunned by a hard left hook. Antonio followed that punch with a crushing right hand that put Hernandez down for the second time in the fight. Hernandez rose again and somehow survived Escalante’s ferocious onslaught to hear the bell.
 
The tenth round featured much of the same as both warriors stood toe-to-toe and exchanged leather with the Texan getting the better of the exchanges. Escalante landed solid right hands throughout the final stanza that hurt Hernandez. In the end, Antonio Escalante won a brutal ten-round unanimous decision by scores of 94-93, 95-92 and 94-92.
 
It was a great win for Escalante as he showed that he can dig deep and step it up when needed as he came off the canvas and endured a point deduction. This is the type of hard fight that you like to see a young prospect have early in his career. He is one exciting fighter to watch.
 
The main event featured the continued comeback of Mexican middleweight contender Marco Antonio ‘El Veneno’ Rubio as he took on rugged Russian prospect Aslanbek Kodzoev. The first four rounds featured some solid action with Rubio doing most of the damage. The Mexican national found a home for his potent right hand and solid left hook early on. It seemed that it was going to be an easy night as Kodzoev just was not able to get much done early on.
 
In the fifth, sixth and seventh rounds, the Russian began to find his range, and started to land some straight right hands and hard left hooks to Rubio’s face that seemed to stun the Mexican. Kodzoev also seemed to avoid the a lot of the incoming artillery as he circled to his left and was no longer getting caught easily by power shots.  Rubio still had his moments, but the momentum of the fight was hanging in the balance. The contest really seemed to be heating up as the seventh stanza came to an end.
 
Suddenly as the eighth round was to begin, Kodzoev started pointing to his chest and complained to his corner of pain. The bout was immediately stopped and Marco Antonio Rubio was awarded a TKO victory. Medical attention was immediately given to the Russian, but no official report as to what, if anything, was wrong with him. He was taken to a nearby hospital for observation.
 
Overall, it was another solid night of boxing on Telefutura’s ‘Solo Boxeo’ boxing series.
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