In a war with no letup, Adrian Granados won in a decision against Jamie Herrera Friday night at the Pavilion. The two exchanged lethal blows for all eight rounds, but neither hit the deck.
Herrera might have had the better of the early going, but Granados dug down and returned fire every time he was hurt. He also used much more footwork than the ever-charging Herrera.
The fight was a rare matchup of prospects from the Chicago area. Granados is from Cicero, while Herrera lives in Franklin Park. The fans were on their feet cheering at the final bell.
“A lot of people underestimate Chicago. We’ve got great fighters here,” Granados said after the fight.
“The better man won,” Herrera said, who said fans would hear a lot more from him in the future. He admitted the difference in the fight was Granados’ boxing ability.
Edner Cherry won his first fight as a Chicago-based boxer with a fast-paced eight-round decision over Guillermo Sanchez of Buffalo.
Not only did Cherry move his base of operation to Chicago, but the former lightweight contender moved down to junior lightweight. He won the fifth of six fights since losing to Timothy Bradley, who will fight Manny Pacquiao in June.
Eight Count Production’s 14th anniversary show got off to a fast start with less than four rounds of action in the first three fights.
Chicago’s Junior Wright ran his record to 3-0 (all by knockout) with a wicked left hook to the exposed ribs of Rogelio Saldana in the first round in Saldana’s corner.
Juan Bustamante handed Ryan Raglin a ferocious beating while their fight lasted, which wasn’t for long. After absorbing a battering along the ropes, Raglin was tagged by a powerful overhand right that put him down and ended the fight.
In the first bout of the night, Curtis Tate of Tennessee stopped Alejandro Otero of Michigan in the second round. Otero was down once in the first and down twice in the second round before the referee sent him home for the evening.
The fourth fight came within one second of going the four-round distance, but the referee called a halt when cruiserweight Dimar Ortuz trapped Francois Russell in his own corner in the final round and pounded on him. Russell had also had a bad third round, being trapped in the same neutral corner three times and absorbing a body beating each time, going down once.
Paul Littleton stopped Cesar Martinez in the second round of a super middleweight bout after scoring two knockdowns, the second with a body punch that clearly left Martinez incapacitated.
After the fight, Littleton was asked by the ring announcer, “You’re now 2-0. What’s next for you?”
“Three and 0,” he replied.
