Scuderi, Rivera and Papeschi score wins in WBA’s KO to Drugs event in Argentina
Another edition of the yearly “KO to Drugs” card orchestrated by the WBA in Argentina’s Casino Buenos Aires yielded a few minor upsets and some highlight-reel-worthy stoppages by the favs du jour.
In the main event, Giovanni Scuderi improved to 11-0 (5 knockouts) with a last-round destruction of local credit Jairo Suarez (now 7-3, 2 KO) in a heavyweight clash.
In a scheduled ten-rounder that was preceded by quite a bit of pre-fight bluster and trash-talk, Italy’s Scuderi appeared too cautious for most of the first half of the fight but managed to dominate the action using his height and reach advantage against a plodding but willing foe. Suarez did land a few bombs during the bout but appeared to tire down the stretch. Sensing opportunity, Scuderi went straight to his body until he found a two-punch combination to Suarez’s midsection that sent the Argentine down for the full count.
Sebastian Papeschi (right) lands an overhand right on Diego Ramírez – Photo courtesy of Boxeo de Primera
The winner lifted something called the “Fedelatin” title belt, usually reserved for fighters who live in Latin America, but presumably made available for this fight given the visitor’s origin in the land where the Latin civilization was born.
In a pre-fight interview, TV commentator Marcelo Gonzalez prodded WBA president Gilberto Mendoza on the subject of the organization’s penchant for handing out belts of every denomination to fighters of any national origin for no particular reason at all. Mendoza’s answer was a long and meandering comment in which “making more opportunities available to fighters worldwide” appeared to be the only plausible explanation, followed by a promise to clean up the sanctioning body’s act that is either a new promise or a renewal of a similar one made years ago with no clear results in sight so far.
In another example of the WBA’s enthusiastic interest in providing fighters with the opportunity to pay for sanctioning fees for no obvious reason, local Argentine product Sebastian Papeschi improved to 22-4 (8 KO) with a picture-perfect knockout of late-sub Diego Ramírez (now 25-12-1, 6 KO) in a middleweight bout scheduled for 10 rounds for the “Fedecaribe” title, a belt that makes even less sense to be disputed between fighters who live and operate as far from the Caribbean as one can imagine.
Papeschi, an aggressive brawler who never fails to entertain but who usually receives as much punishment as he dishes out, kept Ramirez on the run for most of the fight and dominated the exchanges with his higher output and better punching power. A demolishing combination sent Ramirez down in a heap on a corner towards the end of the fifth round, and the fight was stopped at the count of ten.
Prior to the Papeschi-Ramirez fight, Mexico’s Jacqueline Calvo (21-9-2, 2 KO) dropped a technical decision in five rounds against local veteran María Magdalena Rivera (Argentina 14-6-3, 3 KOs) with the interim WBA flyweight belt at stake.
Jaqueline Calvo (right) and Maria Rivera (left) trade blows – Photo courtesy of Boxeo de Primera
The fight ended in a weird note when Calvo claimed she couldn’t open her left eye after an apparent clash of heads and declared she was unable to continue. The referee called for an accidental clash to be recorded on the scorecards and ended the fight, with the 44-year-old Rivera getting the win by scores of 49-46 and 48-47 (twice).
Earlier in the card, American heavyweight DeAndre Savage improved to 6-0 with 6 KO after a destruction of Esteban Juarez (6-7-1, 3 KO) in three rounds of a scheduled eight-rounder. Savage was just getting started and switching gears when he found Juarez’s chin with the end of a long hook and sent him down against the ropes for a quick TKO win.
Earlier, Daniel Combi improved to 12-9 (1 KO) with a majority decision minor upset win over previously unbeaten Colombian Jaime Villegas (now 17-1, 13 KO). Combi received scorecards of 77-75 and 78-74, while the third one scored a draw at 76-76 after eight rounds of action in the lightweight division. A “Fedecentro” belt was presented to Combi after the fight.
Diego M. Morilla has been writing for The Ring since 2013. He has also written for HBO.com, ESPN.com and many other magazines, websites, newspapers and outlets since 1993. He is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and an elector for the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He has won two first-place awards in the BWAA’s annual writing contest, and he is the moderator of The Ring’s Women’s Ratings Panel. He served as copy editor for the second era of The Ring en Español (2018-2020) and is currently a writer and editor for RingTV.com.
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