It's a good way to do yourself a disservice to treat the tallest featherweight titleholder in boxing history, the 6-foot-1 Rafael Espinoza, as mere entertainment. One would imagine that challenger Sergio Chirino would have taken Espinoza more seriously than that in the ring on Friday, but the only results were a bruised bladder, a sore liver and an early night.
Espinoza came early and hard on Friday night at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas, dropping Chirino in the first round and again in the third before finishing off the challenger with a spectacular fourth-round stoppage victory.
Rafael Espinoza (25-0, 21 KOs), of Guadalajara, Mexico, fought just a fraction of the scheduled 12 rounds in his first successful title defense and made it look incredibly easy against Mexico's top 126-pound contender, Chirino (22-1, 13 KOs).
It all started with a few punches from Chirino that landed on Espinoza, who, despite his pteranodon-like reach, is known for getting within striking distance of his opponents and being vulnerable to hits. But just when Chirino's confidence was starting to grow, he unleashed a straight right and Espinoza countered with a short uppercut to the challenger's chin. Espinoza probably didn't see the punch land, but Chirino had enough.
The punch sent Chirino falling backwards on a chair at the 1:01 mark of the first round. Chirino quickly bounced back, but the shot was one that seemed to change the face of the fight in an instant. Espinoza spent the rest of the first round, and much of the second, chasing down and stabbing with jabs.
Chirino was not powerless; he threw a left hook, a lunging straight, but he couldn't quite contain his punches or stay in the pocket long enough to land a follow-up shot. In the third round, Chirino landed a looping right punch that caught his opponent. It happened again moments later, this time with an uppercut. Espinoza was good at applying pressure, his jab was accurate, and he was courageous enough to always be in range, but it was his counterpunching that was most impressive. The confidence that gave Chirino the early momentum? Apparently he caught the last bus out of Las Vegas.
With about a minute left in round three, Espinoza caught Chirino's jaw with a windmill right punch and continued punching until a left uppercut shattered the challenger's ribs. Espinoza continued his attack, smashing Chirino's jaw with an uppercut and then sending him down again with a left hook to the liver. After the third round, Espinoza smiled and took a sip of water while Chirino's cornerman tended to his bloodied face. The titleholder landed 30 punches to the challenger's nine, and the momentum was completely reversed.
Chirino came out in the fourth round, landing two right punches off his back foot, but was in scramble mode. Espinoza backed Chirino down, throwing jabs, working Chirino into position. A right hit Chirino to the body, Chirino put his hands down. A jab. Then another left hook, then an uppercut. Chirino had no idea what was coming next, and he had no way to escape. As Espinoza unleashed a four-punch combination, it was like Babe Ruth was calling the shots. He was doing whatever he wanted.
And in a dazzling display of pure talent, Espinoza won what remained of Chirino's fight. After dazzling his challenger with a long jab, Espinoza landed a right punch and then slammed a left uppercut into Chirino's chest. Then he set up Chirino for one last deep uppercut that rocked his jaw. Chirino didn't fall immediately, but unable to find an escape, he took to his knees and referee Raul Cais Jr. called it a day at 2:45 of the fourth round.
