Diamond Doesn’t Look So Rough Anymore
 By Gabriel Montoya (Sep 16, 2006)
Top Rank’s Thursday Night at the Fights on the OLN network showcased two all action bouts and the beginning of what may turn out to be a formidable middleweight career. The co main feature nearly stole the show as Guanajuato, Mexico native Jose Luis Zertuche faced off against Padilla, Colombia’s Fulgencio Zuniga in a non-stop middleweight brawl that was a rematch of their controversial draw from 2005 that many felt Zertuche had won.
The action started furious as Zuniga came forward from the opening bell, averaging nearly a hundred punches a round in a high volume, low accuracy attack. Zertuche boxed early and looked to counter punch from the onset finding a home for his crisp counter hooks early. Zertuche showed a deceptive defense as many of Zuniga’s shots landed on gloves, arms and elbows or simply missed altogether. However, while Zuniga was not the most accurate guy in the world, he did manage to get in good bodywork throughout the opening stanzas despite being rocked in the third by a huge Zertuche left hook .A powerful left right left combination and a jumping right hand from Zuniga seemingly had Zuniga going but the
Colombian was not about to go that easily as he fought his way back at the bell.
The action was furious to start the 4th round as Zertuche looked to bully Zuniga into the ropes. A huge left from Zertuche and Zuniga began to step it up, overwhelming the Mexican native with a seemingly non-stop combination. Zertuche visibly slowed as the round progressed and Zuniga began to get a bit more pinpoint with his punches, knocking Zertuche’s mouthpiece out and stopping the action briefly.
The fifth saw more brutal action as Zuniga came out swinging and was warned by referee Robert Byrd for a blow so low it hit Zertuche’s thigh. Zuniga stepped up his assault and once again bullied Zertuche to the ropes, seemingly hurting him and approaching a knockdown when out of nowhere a Zertuche counter left hook dropped Zuniga hard. Rising quickly, the Colombian continued his attack and they exchanged punches down the stretch of the fight’s best round. As the fight progressed over the next few rounds, Zertuche slowed even further under the constant attack and Zuniga appeared to get stronger, nearly evening this writer’s scorecard going into the final round. Round 10 saw resurgence in Zertuche’s game as he finished strong to seemingly secure the victory with more clean counters and hard left hooks and looping rights that seemed to stagger Zuniga and blunt his assault. My final score was 95-94 for Zertuche based on effective punching and defense. Unfortunately, the judge’s final tallies would open up yet another open scoring debate as Judge Glen Trowbridge had a wide margin for Zertuche with a score of 97-92. Judges Robert Hoyle and Bill Graham both had it 95-94 for Zuniga who came away with a split decision. While I can see how they scored for his volume punching (Zuniga threw 1086 punches, landing 252 to Zertuche’s 212 landed out of 538 thrown), I don’t see how with a knockdown and the good, clean landed counter shots that Zertuche didn’t pull out the victory.
The main event saw lightweights Kyrgyzstan’s Almazbek ”Kid Diamond” Raiymkulov and Jairo Ramirez of Oaxaca, Mexico head to head in another barnburner. Kid Diamond is a Top Rank prospect turned contender who had been heavily hyped yet a bit over matched in a draw with rugged vet Joel Casamayor and a stoppage loss to Nate “The Galaxy Warrior “ Campbell last year. Since then, Diamond has gotten a DQ win and a fourth round TKO and shown much improvement as he has gone from Diamond in the rough to a much more polished stone.
Diamond came out looking to establish his jab in the first round but Ramirez, a light but crisp hitting crafty boxer with quick feet and hands used his advantages to outwork and seemingly befuddle Diamond who ended up only landing six punches in the opening stanza. Diamond let his hands go a bit more in the second round, cutting off the ring on his quick foe and digging to the body and looking to counter. Ramirez worked behind his jab and avoided engaging more than was necessary as Diamond stalked him relentlessly. A good left by Diamond followed by a hard as hell right uppercut sent Ramirez to the canvas in what looked like a fight ending knockdown. Ramirez showed heart and grit as he rose shakily at the count of 9 and a half and traded unwisely with Diamond before tying him up to end the round. Ramirez got his legs under him early in the next round and stuck and moved as Diamond, now realizing it was only a matter of time, walked threw the light hitting boxer’s shots and looked to drop bombs. Solid bodywork and patience seemed to be the game plan as Diamond walked his opponent down. Ramirez looked like he would survive the round until a hard left followed by a brutal straight right sent Ramirez down flat on his back for the second time. Surprisingly, Ramirez rose again on shakier legs and fought hard to finish out the round. Apparently holding is not in his repertoire. Between rounds, Referee Jay Nady as well as the ringside physician warned Ramirez that they would stop the contest should he take more unnecessary punishment. The next two rounds saw Ramirez move much more than he had previously as a result while Kid Diamond conserved his energy and picked his spots both to the body and head. By round 7, it looked as though Kid Diamond might have to settle for a decision as his right hand, which as it turned out was injured in the second round, looked to be bothering. However, the injury only served to up the urgency as he came hard at Ramirez, looking to stop things early. A series of brutal right hands stunned and cut Ramirez who retreated along the ropes, blood streaming down the left side of his swelling face. Another big right and Ramirez took a knee, prompting Referee Jay Nady to call time out and summon the doctor to look at the cut. Ramirez’ corner however wisely threw in the towel as there was no reason to let their fighter take any more unnecessary punishment.
Diamond (23-1-1 with 14 KO’s) praised his opponent afterwards.” He is a good, strong fighter but I have more experience. I hurt my hand in the second round but I did what I had to do. I learned from this fight.” Diamond has clearly learned from his losses showing improved defense, better accuracy and most of all, a relaxed patience in the ring. While he still looked a little baffled by the speed of his foe at times, he showed poise in breaking his opponent down methodically. Top Rank should be praised for bringing Diamond along after the set backs of the draw with Casamayor and the loss to Campbell. It is rare to see a fighter not only bounce back so quickly but show such improvement in his game.
On the under card, Manny Steward’s Kronk Gym middleweight prospect Andy Lee (5-0 with 3 KO’s) destroyed Jess Salway with pretty much the first three punches he threw with authority. The first minute of the fight was a feeling out process as Lee, a southpaw, his measured his man right jab. A brutal right uppercut to the solar plexus followed by a right and a left hook sent Salway to the canvas hard, ending the contest at 1:34 of the first round. At 22 years of age and at a rangy 6’2”, Lee looks to be a tough match up for anyone down the line. Time will tell.
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