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January 2009 - Title Tournament Fights (cont.)
Flyweight: #2 Percy Jones (12-2, 8 KO) vs #3 Omar Narvaez (11-2, 7 KO)
A frenetic pace in a back and forth battle. Narvaez is cut in the 10th and takes a less aggressive posture at that point, but Jones is unable to break through in a fight that is ultimately decided by a single round - the 5th - in which Narvaez dropped Jones twice. Narvaez wins by UD 114-112 on all cards.
Lightweight: #1 Jack McAuliffe (17-1, 17 KO) vs #4 Juan Diaz (14-2-1, 4 KO)
The blood flows heavily here. McAuliffe is picking Diaz apart when, in the 4th, Diaz cuts McAuliffe on the cheek with a short cross, which seems to be followed shortly by an accidental headbutt. The cut bleeds heavily, but less than a minute later McAuliffe rips Diaz open over his right eye. McAuliffe rips Diaz more in the 5th, and the cut over his eye widens. Meanwhile, McAuliffe's corner has done a fine job on his own wound. In the 6th, McAuliffe batters Diaz for the first 30 seconds when Diaz is checked by the doctor, who rules Diaz is over in what seems to be an overly cautious stoppage. That said, McAuliffe was up 50-46 on all cards at the time of the stoppage before his win by TKO at 27 seconds of Round 6.
Lightweight: #2 Benny Leonard (13-1, 8 KO) vs #3 Jose Luis Castillo (12-0, 11 KO)
A great fight here, as anticipated. Castillo drops Leonard in the second and batters him over the next 2:30. But Leonard hangs on and starts to find more accuracy in his blows while staying away from more power from Castillo. Castillo pressures him in the 5th, but Leonard manages the slugfest capably. Starting in round 7, Leonard simply outmanages Castillo for the rest of the way, dictating pace and landing a far higher percentage of his shots - topping 54% to Castillo's 21%. In the end, the judges are split...115-111 for Leonard, 115-112 for Castillo, and 114-112 for the winner - to face Jack McAuliffe for the belt -Benny Leonard!
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