00:02Nothing below these letters, nothing below those letters.
00:04You want to touch those, do it now.
00:06God bless.
00:10All right, here we go.
00:12Christina Poncher, Chris Algieri, and Pauly Malignaggi here with you on the call.
00:17Pro Box TV from Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California.
00:21The first of our five bouts tonight.
00:24Cooper O'Connell in the gray trunks with white trim.
00:29Manriquez in the yellow trunks, already catching some big shots.
00:32Yeah, I was going to say, watch early because O'Connell's a very fast starter.
00:38Watch him in his last fights.
00:39Scored two second-round KOs, one first-round K.O.
00:43It usually comes out of the gate real strong.
00:45Those old-school fight fans, he's got that Kasha Zou hairstyle as well.
00:49Everybody remember that Kasha Zou tail?
00:51I don't know what you want to call it, if you call it a rat tail or some kind of
00:55tail.
00:55It worked out well for...
00:57The braid tail.
00:57It worked out well for Ramon Cardenas as well.
00:59Yeah.
01:00Until they made him cut it for the Inuit fight, right?
01:02Yeah.
01:04These new-school boxing moves, right?
01:05I mean, the old-school, you could keep that.
01:07Yeah, but the women can have a braid.
01:08What's the...
01:08They don't have to tape it up.
01:10What's the difference?
01:11What's the difference?
01:13O'Connell looking good here.
01:15Obviously, he's fighting out of that southpaw stance.
01:17Looking for that big left hand.
01:19Beautiful jab there from O'Connell.
01:23Putting a lot of pressure here in round one.
01:26Like how he doubles up on the jab.
01:27Throws that left hook out of that southpaw stance.
01:30Straight right hand for Manriquez.
01:32I mentioned in the open how big he is.
01:34He's the 140-pounder here.
01:35Looks all of a welterweight there tonight.
01:39Very reactive, too.
01:40If you notice, anytime Manriquez does something, O'Connell answers right away with a counter shot.
01:44Looking to lead and also looking...
01:45See?
01:46Every time.
01:46Even he misses that counter, but it's that reaction every time.
01:50Also, a southpaw who uses their jab.
01:52A lot of southpaws dispense with the jab.
01:54Go right to the straight left hand or the right.
01:56You know why that is a lot of times, Shane.
01:57Because he's a natural right-hander.
01:58Right.
01:58He did say that in the fighter meeting yesterday.
02:00He is a natural right-hander.
02:01But he's got a good left hand on him as well.
02:03Got caught with a shot there from Manriquez.
02:10Manriquez looks undeterred, you know, by the size and the sharpness of O'Connell here early.
02:15The thing is, he's lacking creativity.
02:17You know?
02:18Everything he...
02:18Attacks in the same way.
02:20Falling into that shot.
02:21Same speed.
02:22A couple good right hands, though, from Manriquez.
02:24They just don't have much steam on him.
02:26Yeah, O'Connell needs to be careful.
02:27He's pulling out tall.
02:28You know, he's a tall fighter.
02:29When you're pulling out straight like that, you've got to change levels.
02:31He's not doing that.
02:32He's staying tall, getting hit at the end of those punches from Manriquez.
02:37Deflected that body shot there.
02:38And came back with a nice left hand that drops Manriquez in round one.
02:44Four, five, six, seven, eight.
02:48That was that reactive left hand you were talking about, champ.
02:50Buck over there.
02:51Hands up.
02:51Made Manriquez pull, drive forward a little bit, got over his skis, and O'Connell made him pay for it.
02:57That's why he's pulling back on me.
02:58Under 30 seconds left here to work for O'Connell.
03:01Backing Manriquez up to the corner again.
03:04Lance, two flush left hands there.
03:06And comes back with a right up to the body.
03:07I warned you, O'Connell starts fast.
03:11And in a four-rounder, you really don't have time to start slow, do you?
03:14No, not at all.
03:15You can see, he's a high-contact fighter.
03:18He likes to engage.
03:21Manriquez down in round one.
03:23Manriquez down in round one.
04:00That's a 10-8 round scored for Cooper O'Connell in round one as he sent Manriquez to the canvas
04:07with a beautiful left hand.
04:08Landed a bunch of them.
04:10Did the southpaw in round one.
04:11Yeah, it was funny.
04:12We were talking about how he is a converted southpaw.
04:13He's actually a right-handed fighter.
04:14But his left hand was pretty darn good.
04:16And he showed that in round one with that nice pull counter, which we're going to see in a moment
04:20here and there.
04:20We saw that left hand initially in the round, but didn't capture the knockdown.
04:24We won't get the knockdown.
04:25All right.
04:25We'll just tell you about it.
04:26We saw it in real time.
04:27We promise you there was a knockdown there in round one.
04:32And you see O'Connell coming right out.
04:33Takes the center of the ring.
04:34Goes back to that southpaw jab.
04:37There's that pull counter again.
04:39He pulls straight back.
04:40Lands that left hand over the top.
04:41I mean, that's where you had the criticism a little bit, right?
04:43That he's going back up high.
04:44But I think that's why he's probably doing that.
04:46He's looking for the pull.
04:46Ooh, right hook.
04:47Right hook stunned.
04:49Manriquez there.
04:49His legs buckled a little bit there.
04:51Ooh.
04:51Clash of heads.
04:52Gotta be careful falling in.
04:52Clash of heads.
04:54That's the thing about a high-contact fighter.
04:55You're going to come forward.
04:56And if you're a southpaw, you risk the accidental head clash.
05:01Against the orthodox fighter as he lands a left hand there as well.
05:05Manriquez backing up more and more.
05:07Less reactive is Manriquez.
05:09Less, the body language shows him less willing to engage here.
05:13Good ring control from the young O'Connell here.
05:16Controlling the center of the ring more often than not.
05:20But man, he likes to engage.
05:22Like I said, high-contact fighter.
05:24And in case you missed it in our open, O'Connell is the son of shotgun Shannon O'Connell,
05:29who just recently retired in February.
05:3126-9-1 as a pro.
05:3313 KOs.
05:34They have the privilege of fighting on the same card together.
05:37Australian boxing history.
05:39Mother and son on the same card prior to her retirement.
05:41And, you know, as a little kid.
05:44That is awesome.
05:45And as a mom, like, I mean, I'm not fighting.
05:47Don't get me wrong.
05:47But if my son wants to be a broadcaster and we're calling fights together, that would be epic.
05:51It was funny, you know, Christina.
05:52That got mentioned in the fighter meeting.
05:53And I'm looking at his face and I go, oh yeah, I see it.
05:55He looks exactly like his mom.
05:56Yes, he does.
05:59Nice combination there.
06:00Uppercut right hand as Ray Corona asks Manriquez to show him something here in round two.
06:05Yeah, he's getting battered.
06:06You can tell the size difference, the power, the sharpness is really giving him a lot of trouble.
06:11Like I said, the ring control of O'Connell.
06:13He's controlling the center of the ring.
06:15He makes you pay coming forward.
06:16He makes you pay going backward.
06:20But Manriquez, as tough as they come.
06:22A lot of guys don't want to give up that O.
06:26Good digging body shot there by O'Connell again.
06:29He caught him with a little short check right hook on the inside, didn't Manriquez.
06:33But he's just not able to get much on these punches.
06:36That's because he's used to fighting off his front foot.
06:38Yeah, he's being driven backwards.
06:42And we're talking about a 26-year-old fighter as well.
06:45This is only his third professional fight.
06:47So we still kind of learn.
06:48He didn't have a big amateur career either.
06:50He went to school.
06:51Yeah, he did.
06:52He's studying science.
06:53High level.
06:55I said, well, then why did you choose to come and get punched in the face for a living at
06:5820-something years?
06:59I've loved boxing since I was a kid.
07:01It's just something I could never get out of my mind that I wanted to do.
07:03And he also said it was a good way to make money.
07:05Extra money.
07:06Extra money.
07:06Yeah.
07:09Can't argue with that.
07:10I mean, there are easier ways to make a living, for sure.
07:13But you've got to be passionate about it.
07:15Somebody once told me there's no such thing as extra money.
07:18It's just money.
07:21Oh, good body shot.
07:22Left.
07:23Oh.
07:25Putting an exclamation point on another solid round for the Aussie.
07:30Hey, Manriquez is tough, man.
07:32He's taking some big shots.
07:33Got dropped early in round one.
07:35It's not a...
07:36Didn't have a very good second round either.
07:37Took a lot of damage.
07:38But still throwing back.
07:46Okay, we're going to see a replay for that last round.
07:48Again, you're seeing those pull counters making Manriquez reach and making him pay for it.
07:53Make him miss, make him pay.
07:55Yeah, that one started with an uppercut.
07:56Nice little step back uppercut.
07:58Same move, though.
07:58That step back and make Manriquez fall forward.
08:02Now we switch up to the uppercut.
08:03And with the left hand, you know, he's the natural right.
08:05He still has a, like you said, as I was told, a good left hand despite that.
08:08I would be careful on that pull uppercut, though.
08:11That's a good way to catch heads.
08:13Catch an excellent hit, but got orthodox to southpaw.
08:16Well, there he did a step on back, so you're going away from that uppercut.
08:19But you've got to still be careful, right?
08:24Round three of the scheduled four rounds.
08:27Taking place in the super bantamweight division.
08:29Or, excuse me, super lightweight division.
08:38Manriquez still throwing, though.
08:40Coming just short with a couple big left hands.
08:42A big right hand, excuse me.
08:47First time O'Connell has seen round three as a professional.
08:52And first fight here in the States as well.
08:56Only 19 years old, too.
09:00You guys are like, no way.
09:01We talked to him yesterday, right?
09:03You're like.
09:03Said he's not going back to Australia, either.
09:05He's going to stay here, so he's probably going to have more fights in the States.
09:07Oh!
09:08Especially if you deliver shots like that.
09:10Ray Corona has waved it off.
09:13Second knockdown of the fight.
09:14The fight's over here in round three.
09:16You know, Manriquez isn't even arguing.
09:17I think Ray Corona probably read the body language.
09:19Probably read that.
09:20Not only is he outclassed, but also that Manriquez probably doesn't have a lot of fight left in him.
09:24And he read it right.
09:25Because when he stopped it, Manriquez did not argue at all.
09:27That's a great point.
09:28That was by Ray Corona.
09:29That stoppage came out of nowhere.
09:31But down twice in a four-round fight, too.
09:33You've got to give him a chance.
09:34Guys don't want to get stopped.
09:35So I understand, but Manriquez didn't argue that at all.
09:38Just to your point, Shane.
09:39And that's why I think it was a solid observation by Ray Corona.
09:43He stopped it.
09:44He probably saw and was reading the body language of Manriquez.
09:48And the tell is that Manriquez had no argument on the stoppage.
09:53So Corona read it well.
09:56Going to be a straight left hand right down the middle.
09:58One-three-two.
09:59Beautiful.
10:00Right down the middle.
10:00Jab, hook, straight left hand.
10:02See how he pulls the glove.
10:04And there, that hook for anybody at home, that hook is a throwaway shot.
10:07You know, you're using the jab and you're bringing the deception to the other side so that the
10:11left hand comes unseen because you're taking the attention to the right side, which is to
10:16the fighter's left side.
10:17I call that a placeholder.
10:18Yeah, exactly.
10:18Put that hand, traps that lead hand, freezes your opponent for a moment, threads the needle
10:24with that left hand down the middle.
10:25It gets your eyes looking that way, too.
10:26You never see the train coming down the tracks and down the middle in the tracks, which is
10:30the cross.
10:32Cooper O'Connell gets the first knockout win of his career.
10:35I wish we had a better call on the knockdown there for him.
10:39No, that's a mistake.
10:40That's his fourth knockout.
10:42He's got a 100% KO percentage, does O'Connell.
10:46He stopped, yes.
10:47The first time that he's got one in round three, he stopped everybody in one or two rounds,
10:50excuse me, on that.
10:52Got a little more experience there, right?
10:53Going into the third round for the first time in his career.
10:54Yeah, but he had a guy who was giving resistance.
10:57He didn't just lay down.
11:02He's not going to be on my flight to Australia tomorrow.
11:05He's not going home.
11:05Because he's staying here.
11:07Ladies and gentlemen, inside the Pro Box TV ring, referee Ray Corona waves off the action
11:11with an official time of 45 seconds of the third and penultimate round.
11:25And still undefeated as a pro, Cooper O'Connell.
11:38And Cooper O'Connell improves his professional record now to a perfect 4-0 with a 4.
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