(photo: George Jimenez/ GeoImagez)
Undefeated Cleveland Super Bantamweight contender Antonio “Carita” Nieves (11-0, 5 KO’s) scored an eight round unanimous decision victory over Saul Tejada (5-4-2, 1KO) in the main event at the Resorts World Casino in Queens, New York on Saturday night. All three judges were in agreement, with each of their score cards showing the same 79-72 score in favor of Nieves. The event was promoted by New Legend Boxing.
Fighting not only for the first time as the main event, but also for the first time in the Big Apple was quite the experience for the 27 year old Nieves.
“The atmosphere for the fight was great,” Nieves said excitedly. “You could feel the intensity of the crowd as I walked up into the ring!”
Nieves was never in any trouble during the fight and was able to score a knockdown in the sixth round after a left hook to the chin of Tejada.
“I threw a 1-2-3 combination,” Nieves explained of the knockdown. “I was able to hurt him several times but he stayed up making it only one knockdown.”
Heading into the seventh round was uncharted territory for Nieves, who had never been past six rounds. His conditioning paid off as he was well prepared to go the distance.
“Entering the seventh round I felt good,” said Nieves. “Conditioning was no issue for us.”
Nieves also knew at this point with a big lead on the scorecards, Tejada would have to go for the knockout. What exactly did his corner tell him heading into the eighth and final round?
“My corner was telling me to continue to box,” Nieves said. “They told me to be smart and not to ‘Mickey Bey’ it.”
Mickey Bey is another Cleveland fighter that had seemingly won every second of the first nine rounds of his fight against John Molina Jr in 2013 and for some ungodly reason his trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr, told him to go for the knockout in the final round. Low and behold, Bey was caught by a wild, free swinging Molina and got stopped in the last round when all he needed to do was continue to outbox his foe.
Nieves’ trainers, Joe Delguyd and Francis Figueroa of Old School Boxing Club, obviously knew better and gave their star pupil sound advice.
“My opponent was throwing wild shots so I had to make sure that my hands stayed up and to stay sharp on defense,” Nieves said of the final round.
Working on his jab during training for the fight, Nieves felt It was a weapon that was underutilized in previous fights.
“The best punch and combination that was affective in this fight was my jab,” Nieves stated. “After my jab, I was able to land any combination I threw.”
There’s no rest for the hungry contender, who will be right back in the gym Tuesday as he begins preparation for his next fight in Puerto Rico on April 11th. Despite going eight rounds, Nieves still feels great.
“We are still planning to fight in Puerto Rico because I really didn’t take any damage,” Nieves explained.
While an opponent is still being finalized for his next match, Nieves will continue to train away, hoping to bring a World Championship to Cleveland.
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