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WBA Middleweight Champion faces Fernando Zuniga in a non title fight on Showtime Boxing
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00:00All right, let's send it back out to you, Steve.
00:02A very confident David Reid as we look at the Las Vegas skyline.
00:07And while Reid boasts he'll knock Trinidad out,
00:10don't forget he hasn't scored a knockout in his last four fights.
00:13Trinidad forecasting a fourth round knockout over Reid.
00:16This is all the ingredients of a good one.
00:18The fight that has come together despite boxing's politics and distractions.
00:22Another fight involving Trinidad negotiated simultaneously.
00:25Boy, I tell you, it's been a snakebit fight card from the start.
00:28Fighters dropping out, several late changes,
00:30yet through it all, Reid Trinidad remained intact.
00:33A pivotal fight with so much on the line.
00:38Right now we close in on our next case from Caesars.
00:42William Joppe against Fernando Luis Zuniga,
00:44who took this fight on just four days' notice.
00:47It is a non-title fight scheduled for 10.
00:56Caesars Palace Arena here in Las Vegas, Nevada.
01:00The scene for our upcoming fight between William Joppe and Fernando Zuniga,
01:04all leading up to our main event later tonight
01:06for the WBA Super Welterweight Championship
01:09between former Olympic gold medalist David Reid
01:13and Puerto Rico's favorite son, Felix Trinidad.
01:18An interested spectator, Fernando Vargas, the IBF champion,
01:24undefeated, 18-0 with 17 knockouts.
01:27He'd love a shot at David Reid.
01:29If Reid gets by Trinidad tonight,
01:31he's one of the most talented fighters going today.
01:38Former heavyweight champion, Evander Holyfield,
01:42who might be fighting number one contender John Ruiz,
01:44the quiet man in late May right here in Las Vegas,
01:48getting hugs.
01:52The real deal in the crowd.
01:55So many people are intrigued by this main event here tonight.
02:01Fernando Luis Zuniga filling in for number one contender
02:04and mandatory challenger, Rito Ruvalcaba,
02:07projected as a formidable opponent
02:08but pulled out Monday with tonsillitis.
02:10So enter the laid-back, relaxed Zuniga,
02:12originally from Guayaquil, Ecuador,
02:15now residing in Downey, California,
02:17respectable 18-2 with 14 KOs.
02:19However, no recognizable names on his record.
02:22Hey, Fernie, what struck me most about talking with Zuniga yesterday,
02:27he said he had never seen Joppe fight,
02:29yet he says he is stronger or just as strong as Joppe.
02:34I know he was speaking Spanish,
02:36but did I comprehend that correctly?
02:38Yeah, but all of us,
02:40you and I sat amazed at this kid's personality.
02:44He was just all smiles.
02:46No matter what you said to him,
02:47he smiled and laughed like he didn't have good sense.
02:50I mean, you said, you know,
02:51you could get killed here today,
02:52and he'd smile and laugh and say,
02:53oh, no, this is going to be good.
02:55I mean, he is certainly not impressed with Joppe.
02:59He certainly doesn't give any importance.
03:01He wasn't even told until, I think,
03:02four days before that he's going to fight.
03:05So at the very least, he got his duds together.
03:09All right, very composed young man.
03:11Here's two-time champion William Joppe.
03:13He regained the WBA Middlewell belt
03:15from Julio Cesar Green
03:16after losing a disputed decision,
03:18fighting one-handed most of the way
03:20with a damaged right hand.
03:21In a senseless third fight,
03:22he stopped Green on the seventh,
03:24originally won the belt in Japan.
03:25He says he's 100% since a fractured vertebra
03:28in his neck from a car accident
03:30in January 99,
03:32which he called near-fatal.
03:33Bobby, are we looking at a glorified sparring session here,
03:36or is there any chance Joppe,
03:38who far outskills and now experiences his opponent,
03:42will suffer a lead death?
03:43You know, Steve, I don't know if I'd go so far
03:45as to call it a glorified sparring session,
03:47but Cazuniga, he has come here to win.
03:49He's going to try, and he has some qualities,
03:51and he's going to try and pose a real threat,
03:53but on paper, it just doesn't seem
03:54that he belongs in the ring with Joppe.
03:57And Joppe, it would be uncharacteristic of Joppe
03:59to let down and fight down to competition.
04:01I think he's going to make it a short night.
04:03All right, let's see how they stack up on paper.
04:06As we check out the tail of the tape,
04:08Joppe, two years older than Zuniga,
04:10slight height advantage, Zuniga,
04:11both just over the middleweight limit
04:13at yesterday's weigh-in fight time.
04:15Joppe, plus eight to 170.
04:18Zuniga went down to 161.
04:20Big six-and-a-half-inch reach advantage for Zuniga.
04:22And the key rules for this fight,
04:23no standing eight count, no three-knockdown rule.
04:25A fighter cannot be saved by the bell in any round.
04:28If an accidental headbutt occurs
04:30before the end of the fourth, it's a no contest.
04:32If it happens after the end of round four,
04:33they go to the scorecards.
04:36So here at the Caesars Palace Arena in Las Vegas,
04:39getting ready for William Joppe
04:40versus Fernando Luis Zuniga.
04:42Let's get the introductions
04:43from our ring announcer, Jimmy Lennon Jr.
04:47Well, fans, at this time,
04:49we present a middleweight special attraction,
04:51once again brought to you by Don King Productions
04:54in association with America Presents,
04:57Showtime, Event Television, Caesars Palace,
04:59and Budweiser, the undisputed King of Beers.
05:03At this time, we present our judges,
05:05all appointed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
05:09From Carson City, Nevada, we have Keith McDonald.
05:12From Las Vegas, Nevada, Patricia Jarman Manning.
05:16Also from Las Vegas, Dave Moretti.
05:19And introducing to you the third man of the ring,
05:21our referee in charge of this bout,
05:23Richard Steele.
05:26All right, fans, here we go.
05:28Ten rounds of boxing in the middleweight division.
05:31Introducing to you first on my right.
05:33He is fighting out of the blue corner,
05:35wearing the colors of his home country,
05:37yellow, blue, and red.
05:39He is fighting out of Downey, California,
05:42by way of his home,
05:43the beautiful city of Guayaquil, Ecuador.
05:46He weighed in at 162 pounds.
05:50His record stands at 18 wins,
05:52two losses with 14 wins coming by way of knockout.
05:56Introducing a fighter they call Little Ali.
05:59Introducing Fernando Zuniga.
06:06And his opponent across the ring on my left,
06:09fighting out of the red corner
06:10in this 10-round non-title bout.
06:12He enters the ring wearing red trunks
06:14with silver and black trim,
06:16fighting out of Seabrook, Maryland.
06:19He weighed in the same as his opponent of 162 pounds.
06:23Here is the two-time world champion
06:25as a professional record of 28 wins,
06:28one loss, and one draw,
06:30with 22 big wins coming by way of knockout.
06:33Ladies and gentlemen,
06:34introducing the WBA middleweight champion
06:37of the world,
06:39William Joppy.
06:44Once again, a referee in charge.
06:46Richard Steele now to give instructions.
06:48Ten rounds of action scheduled.
06:57Spoke to both fighters in the dressing room.
06:59I'm cautioning you again.
07:01Obey my commands at all times.
07:02Shake hands.
07:03Good luck.
07:05All right, Bobby,
07:06let's check out the keys to victory
07:07for this middleweight bout.
07:10Joppy wants to box smart inside and out.
07:12But he can fight inside and out.
07:13He's a very complete fighter.
07:14Also, good repertoire punches,
07:16good combinations will offset what Zuniga has to do.
07:19And he's got a great straight and overhand right.
07:21That's going to be key.
07:26Zuniga's going to want to set the pace
07:27and maybe take Joppy out of his rhythm.
07:29Also, good lateral movement.
07:30Make Joppy miss, frustrate him,
07:32and counter that right hand
07:33with his own pretty good left hook.
07:36Joppy usually starts out pretty fast,
07:39comes straight ahead.
07:40Excellent boxer.
07:41Very fast hands.
07:42Quick, accurate jab.
07:44Watch out for that big, snappy right hand.
07:46That's his power punch.
07:47Zuniga doesn't seem to be the type
07:49to get intimidated,
07:50as Ferdy was pointing out.
07:52Very cool.
07:52But we'll see if he's overwhelmed
07:54by the atmosphere,
07:55the circumstances.
07:56Will he freeze,
07:57or can he put all that stuff out of his head?
07:59Of course,
08:00will Joppy's skills and experience
08:01just overpower him?
08:04He starts off fast.
08:05Anyway,
08:05he's got the Mark of Zorro on his trunks.
08:07He's got Z up there
08:09and a whole other library
08:10full of signs on him.
08:12Z for Zuniga.
08:15And he's never seen Joppy fight.
08:17His trainer has.
08:18Well, he just hit Joppy
08:19with a nice left hook and right hand,
08:21and he seems to be a little stronger,
08:22I think,
08:23than Joppy anticipated.
08:24And faster, Bobby.
08:25I mean,
08:25he's come out of here fast.
08:26Pop, pop, bip,
08:27and then...
08:31Joppy better wake up.
08:32Hard shots to the body by Zuniga,
08:34who is starting very quickly.
08:37Zuniga's throwing a lot of heavy punches.
08:39He has bad intentions
08:40on most of what he's throwing
08:41from the start.
08:43Well,
08:44if Joppy was taking Zuniga lightly,
08:46he's getting an early wake-up.
08:47Oh, boy.
08:48I mean,
08:49this guy's come out here to fight.
08:54Zuniga took this fight
08:55on less than five days' notice,
08:56came in from Downey,
08:58California,
08:59originally from Ecuador.
09:00Doesn't speak English.
09:02But he had been training for a fight.
09:03You can see Joppy trying to line up
09:05that right hand.
09:06He's not as if he had four days of foul.
09:08He said he was ready.
09:09He was training for a fight
09:09March 5th,
09:10a couple of days from now,
09:11but certainly not the caliber
09:13of a William Joppy.
09:16Boy,
09:16he's going at it
09:17like he means to win this fight.
09:19And back comes Joppy
09:20with a combination to the head.
09:23Joppy with a straight right hand
09:24to the head.
09:25There's the right hand
09:26I was talking about.
09:27He needs to land that
09:27a little more frequency.
09:29All right, break.
09:29Step back.
09:30That's the first good thing
09:31Joppy's done so far.
09:32And this round's halfway over.
09:41Boy, it looks like Zuniga
09:42is sucking wind already.
09:45He may have punched himself
09:46out in the first minute.
09:51You've got to be keyed up,
09:53psyched.
09:54Under these circumstances,
09:55you're fighting the WBA
09:57middleweight champion
09:57of the world
09:59out of nowhere.
10:00And there's a combination
10:01to the head
10:02by Joppy that landed.
10:03Both of these fighters
10:04have used a nice right hand
10:05to the body as well.
10:06Zuniga coming around.
10:08Also Joppy
10:08throwing a right hand underneath.
10:10Both pretty well.
10:11Zuniga landed
10:11a nice crisp right hand
10:13under the heart
10:13when you were saying
10:14that was a combination.
10:15Under the heart
10:16came a good crisp punch
10:17by little Ali Zuniga.
10:20But Zuniga also feeling
10:22the power of William Joppy
10:23here in the first round
10:24after that initial onslaught.
10:27Less than 30 seconds
10:28in the opening round.
10:29Scheduled for 10.
10:29There was a great exchange there.
10:31Joppy landed a nice
10:32overhand right.
10:33Zuniga rolled with it
10:34and fired his own
10:35landing cleanly
10:36on Joppy's forehead.
10:37Yeah, landed nicely.
10:38Look at that.
10:39Good block there
10:40by Zuniga
10:41off a right hand.
10:49Boy, this kid's
10:50not giving any ground.
10:51He's right there.
10:52Comes right back.
10:54Good round for Zuniga.
10:57Surprising.
10:59Coming up next,
11:00our main event
11:01and you're looking live
11:02into the dressing room
11:03of the challenger,
11:03Felix Trinidad.
11:05Numero uno, he says
11:08with his entourage.
11:16Very possible opponent
11:17down the road
11:18for Trinidad.
11:19Could be 160-pound champion
11:21William Joppy.
11:22His father,
11:23Felix Sr. says,
11:24bring on the big guys.
11:25Let's move up
11:26and wait
11:26and even get a compromise
11:28weight of 168
11:29and go at it
11:30with Roy Jones.
11:31Why not?
11:32Optimistic thinking.
11:33I don't know
11:33if he can carry
11:33the power up that high.
11:34We'll see.
11:35First,
11:36he's got to get
11:36beat by David Reed.
11:42Just like that.
11:45Now make that
11:45jam lid, that jam lid.
11:55So here we go into round two.
11:57an interesting surprising round for the for the guy on the multicolored trunks the would-be
12:04challenger yes originally this was a championship fight rito ruvalcaba of mexico went down with
12:11tonsillitis on monday the body shot there nice jab stuff does a shotgun jab to the body
12:20that's got to take something out of you
12:23but zuniga game he comes right at the champ
12:34wild swing and a miss there dangerously by zuniga but joppy couldn't follow holy break breaks
12:41well it looks like zuniga has somewhat run out of gas here early big first round out of action
12:51all kinds of pace
12:55a lot of determination
12:57well he's clearly slowed down from throwing so many bombs and it's really hard to unload
13:02everything in every shot and still be able to maintain a good pace and those body shots
13:06also contribute to uh fatigue with body shots by joppy
13:14one two three combination there by uh joppy two of those punches connected
13:19he'll take those percentages
13:22nice thumping bodies
13:24by zuniga but not as much power in zuniga's punches than joppy's
13:31boy those are riveting left hooks to the body by joppy
13:35joppy's chopping him down
13:36oh what an overhand right by joppy
13:39zuniga's showing a very good chance he's eaten a few of those with very little results
13:44the thing we want to see is joppy versus holmes or joppy versus hopkins arguably the best
13:51middleweight in the world today but there's so much politics going on with don king of course he uh
13:58promotes both the joppy and holmes so well he's told me that he's he has no problem with those
14:04two guys going at it and i think we have what we were talking about uh the opening of those
14:08great
14:09series of fights between undefeated fighters i don't see any reason why not that's what the fans
14:13want to say they want to see unification they want to see the best go against the best and that
14:17would
14:17be joppy holmes or or joppy hopkins second warning keep them up
14:25the one-two combination to the head by joppy who has completely taken command here in round two
14:32it's still not easy but he is in command oh look at that and he's blocking two body shots he
14:38is staying
14:39focused on that body breaking the big man down heavy shots by william joppy to the body final 10 seconds
14:46of round two joppy in charge time earlier tonight the champion david reed checking things out in the ring
15:11checking the ropes making sure everything's okay referee mitch halpern
15:16doing the same testing reed left the ring in very confident fashion ready going to the ring a couple
15:25more hours do some of this go home this champ go home his champ undefeated
15:38well looking to up his record to 15 and oh he's 14 and oh with seven knockouts
15:43he's 14 and oh with seven knockouts as we come back to the ring for joppy zuniga
15:48we're set for round three the main event coming up later reed versus trinidad
16:00joppy is talking about fighting dana rosenblatt in the new england area for his next fight
16:06but he should be talking about unification
16:10well that's not his fault oh chopping right there by joppy just missed boy that thing connects wow
16:21and joppy's getting close i mean that right hand's getting close to where it wants to be
16:26get him up give him up zuniga again very game some of those punches a little borderline richard steel
16:33telling him to get him up beautiful defense the shoulders and arms of joppy blocking those you'll
16:40notice zuniga is so much more effective when he's coming forward against a shorter man and what joppy's
16:44doing is trying to stuff his punches and back him up because that's taking him out of his game
16:51well this is a big step up in class level of competition for zuniga so you got to give him
16:57credit for hanging in there well as of right now his stock's going up he's holding his own
17:01in a pretty good little slug fest let me tell you he's making him earn his money and joppy's
17:05gonna earn every dime he's he's getting for tonight this is not easy this guy keeps coming back
17:11well somebody did their homework uh because this could have been a lot easier for william joppy but
17:18zuniga hanging tough break on just four days notice when this should have been a championship
17:23fight i don't know who made the match but that's called the art of matchmaking to be able to dig
17:27into the supply of and come up with a guy like this one bob notice bobby goodman has got to
17:33be given
17:33a lot of credit the matchmaker here is you got that's an art you've got to really know everybody to
17:38be
17:38able to do that a little right uppercut attempt there went nowhere by zuniga
17:49well these are really hard shots to the body by william joppy joppy 28 1 and 1 with 22 knockouts
17:59out of seabrook maryland you notice every time joppy gets inside he works the body around
18:05and then he takes that little uppercut and sneaks it up between the gloves
18:10there goes the uppercut sneaks it right up in there he's never he's never failed to throw the
18:14uppercut every time he gets in close he just he knows he's got it and he goes right in there
18:18with it
18:19one of the most underestimated punches in this business
18:29jab setting up the big right by choppy and then he gets out of the way of the counter
18:34he gets out of the way of the counter doing it slowing down more and more every round and you
18:38know he's taking a heck of a body beating he's starting to back up now a little more often as
18:42well jobby walking to unloading he's got nothing on his punches now either zuniga he's got nothing
18:49compared to what he had in that first round a lot of punishment being dipped down by william jump
18:58so coming up our main event reed versus trinidad david reed last minute preparation in his dressing room
19:07at a north philly yeah instructions from mitch helper
19:13do score knock that you're not hitting when it's down okay okay if your mouthpiece comes out of your
19:17mouth i want you to keep fighting protecting yourself you just lower the back before you put back in your
19:22mouth okay you're a champion world i expect you to conduct yourself like a champion there obey my
19:26commands at all times when i say break you can step back and protect yourself there's no three knockdown
19:31rules and no standing in count i want a good clean fight any questions no thank you'd like
19:38okay greasing down
19:41david reed getting instructions from mitch halpern who will be refereeing tonight's main event
19:53william joppy fernando luis zuniga we're going to round number four
19:59and a lot of people i'm sure surprised that zuniga is still standing in front of william joppy given the
20:04set of circumstances here
20:12joppy doing a workman like job he's just he knows he's got a tough guy in front of him he's
20:16just
20:16chopping him down chopping him down you know it's not going to be fast yeah he didn't panic he didn't
20:21go crazy he didn't throw too many hard punches early just working and systematically breaking down
20:25a bigger man and it's not that easy right now he's not it's not like a one-sided match for
20:30any means
20:32joppy's last fight september of 99 in his home area of washington dc a seventh round tko over julio
20:38cesar green in their third get together to retain the title it's four and oh since his only loss
20:45with three knockouts and that was in the first fight with green a uh disputed decision at madison
20:51square garden i like joppy's jab he doesn't just use it for points or feeler he means to hit you
20:55with he means for you to remember you've been hit with it throws nice power behind his jab
21:00again that uppercut on the inside very busy fighter just when you think he's done
21:05he comes through with yet another punch he's busy he is busy and he it's funny he took something good
21:12out of something bad he said well i broke my neck my cervical vertebra but it helped my hand because
21:17my hand got well in the meantime now that's that's the glass is half full it's always half full that's
21:23holistic medicine and it's worse break my neck to fix my hand right now the cynics the skeptics
21:32the tractors might say why hasn't he taken this guy out yet
21:37well it's not that simple steve even certain fighters that don't have a great degree of skill
21:41this guy has skill nice height reach he's tough but that's just it if he has a big
21:46number in the tough factor on a scale of one to ten if he's ten tough they're not easy to
21:50take out
21:51they're just not and he's fighting back he's he's not sitting there just taking bunches that's correct
21:56i mean and this is still a fight it's it's not a one-way fight yet but it's getting there
22:01oh look
22:01at that effective jab by william jumpy you know job he's got to work past the long jab the long
22:06right
22:06hand some pretty good uppercuts and hooks when zuniga puts them together they seem to be fairly strong
22:13again top body shots by william jumpy ferocious
22:20but to zuniga's credit he's taking it
22:24he took a big blow of air there a little while ago
22:26this is a long round well he's taking a beating look at that
22:32there he is he's blowing a little bit more like saying oh gosh when this battle's going to ring
22:38now he's just protecting himself in a survival mode zuniga
22:45good right hand there by zuniga
22:52time
22:55just like that having a good time champ we're having a good time
23:02having a good time just like that
23:18good chance looking good
23:21now start whipping the hook to the gear okay
23:27one two
23:35combinations right hand right hand
23:39this guy's tired
23:44if you don't throw punches you're gonna look lose this guy's getting tired
23:49Give me the towel. Give me the towel.
23:51Antonio Suarez in the corner of Zuniga.
23:55Adrian Davis talking to William Joppy.
23:58They said, let's see a little more of that left hook to Joppy.
24:02It's incredible.
24:03Then Zuniga's corner looked over and said, Joppy's tired now.
24:06All you got to do is me punch him up.
24:08It's either a bit of whimsy or a bit of deceit.
24:10I'm not sure which one of those.
24:12Well, you know how the corner can still say just about anything.
24:13They think it'll put a fire under you.
24:21I get the feeling, though, that that would be very difficult
24:25if you were the fighter sitting on that stool in the corner.
24:28They couldn't fool you.
24:30You know what? I was hard-hitting, so.
24:36Round five, scheduled for ten, non-title fight.
24:40But in the red is the WBA middleweight champion, William Joppy,
24:43who has been in control since an opening barrage by
24:49Mr. Zuniga.
24:50My trainer, Tommy Parch, used to tell me sometimes it's not too good
24:53to be too bright as a fighter because you overthink everything
24:56and you need some blind obedience once in a while.
25:00But in this case, I think that Zuniga just has to punch
25:02regardless of whether he's tired or not or it's impossible to win.
25:06And even though this is not a title fight,
25:08William Joppy very cognizantly of the fact that this is a big stage for him
25:16as the co-feature, the fight just before Reed vs. Trinidad.
25:20So he's looking to put on a good show,
25:24but he hasn't been able to put Zuniga on the canvas,
25:29although he has been in command throughout.
25:32Not even got, I don't think he's even gotten him dizzy.
25:35I mean, he's not really, the only thing,
25:37the big effect I can see is the body push.
25:39I mean, he is putting some heavy stuff in there
25:41and it is making Zuniga puff and huff.
25:47Zuniga's been down two times in 20 fights.
25:49He's 18-2, 14 knockouts, totally unrated across the board.
25:54Last fought in January, an eight-round decision
25:57over a fighter named Reginald Strickland in Kentucky.
26:02But you look down at his ring record
26:04and there's nobody recognizable.
26:06Although I think you're going to see
26:07a little more of this guy in the future,
26:09he is making a reasonable account of himself,
26:11especially with the fact that he took this on four days' notice.
26:14Who's to say maybe brings a little more to the table
26:16if he has several weeks?
26:17Well, I'll go to the top of the list,
26:19of the A-list of opponents.
26:21There's a little book that says opponents,
26:24guys that you can get in and make a decent fight but lose.
26:26It's interesting, Joppy looking to show...
26:29Oh, good right uppercut by Joppy on the inside,
26:31looking to showcase his talents on this big stage.
26:34Yet it may be Zuniga who comes away with his stock going up.
26:42Final seconds, round five.
26:46Just by surviving the WBA middleweight champ.
26:51Well...
26:53He did much better that round.
26:57Give me a good one.
26:58Yeah.
27:00Give me water.
27:02Suck it in, suck it in, champ.
27:03We're going to bear down on him this time, okay?
27:05I mean some dealies right here at the time.
27:07My head.
27:10A jab in the body.
27:11Boom.
27:12Set him up for that right hand.
27:13You can fake it and throw it.
27:20If you box, we'll win because we've still got a chance.
27:24But you're not throwing enough punches.
27:26Don't get close by.
27:28Throw punches.
27:29Don't get inside.
27:31Come on, come on.
27:33Fernando, quiero que tire his golpes.
27:35Throw punches while you're moving.
27:38Joppy has a really terrific repertoire of punches.
27:40There's a jab to the body with the right hand,
27:41and he loves to take...
27:43There's your hook, and then there's that right uppercut.
27:45Before he leaves, he wants to make sure he gets one up underneath.
27:47He wants to make sure he gets one up underneath.
28:17Here comes in from the comfortable side.
28:18There had been some talk of rain, clouds, temperatures in the 40s or 50s,
28:25but it's very warm.
28:26I think this is where I get in my Joe Louis story, right?
28:29Joe Louis is going to find Mike Smelley.
28:31They said it's going to be very cold out there,
28:32and Joe Louis says, I'll be wearing gloves.
28:34There you go.
28:36My favorite Joe Louis quickie.
28:40The West Coast audience now just getting it.
28:47the folks at home have uh william joppy comfortably ahead
28:55i gave the first round to zuniga he came out very strong and believe it or not it took joppy
29:00better
29:00than a minute to even adjust and uh while he was fresh zuniga had a lot for him in the
29:05first round
29:05but he left it all there since then it's been all william job yeah in varying degrees sometimes he
29:10wins around bigger than others but he always wins around fans at home disagreed with the
29:15ringside judges in attendance in our last fight in a controversial christy martin victory most
29:23folks uh here and at home thought that belinda lara cuente won it and so did we quite frankly
29:29well i heard you guys comment and i heard bobby say we are in las vegas well you know what
29:34the boxing
29:34game in itself we're finding out more and more as things unfold that they there are agendas that
29:40are not ethical at the very least we approach the final minute of round six this kid zuniga continues
29:48to hang tough against the the arsenal of william joppy short right uppercut by champion that's got to get
29:56your attention well i feel he's just about felt everything there is in joppy's arsenal i don't
30:01think there are any more punches you can pull out i mean this guy's gotten hit by everything he's still
30:06there he's blocking some of those punches is zuniga but most of those are getting through the gloves
30:15a little swelling starting around the right eye of zuniga it's amazing it took this long
30:23he must have leather skin
30:30he has taken a pummeling here from william joppy
30:34even that shotgun jab doing some damage i'll tell you what he doesn't seem to understand how
30:40to block an uppercut at all every uppercut plans he seems to lean right into him and
30:45not really make an attempt to just stuff it with his hand and joppy getting more active as the fight
30:51from wrestlers so round six is history let's get it over to jim hill jim
30:58let's get it over to jim hill jim all right steve thank you very much with me is the former
31:02heavyweight
31:03champion of the world evander holyfield and you're having fun watching this fight aren't you that's
31:06a good fight it's a very stiff fight uh you know joppy i have have problem with this this this
31:11young
31:11guy who can fight are the are the commercials about your retirement greatly uh exaggerated because
31:16you could be fighting here against johnny reese on may 20th well i will be you know it's a commercial
31:22you know after each after each fight i do retire for a moment till i get ready to fight again
31:27that's
31:27well everybody here is glad to hear that what about tonight's main event well it's gonna be a great
31:32fight uh you got two quality fighter i i mean you so you can set both the best of the
31:36best you got one
31:38fighter who don't have that much experience which is which is david reed and now he finally get a test
31:44yes it is a big test okay and then we'll see you here may 20th against johnny ruiz yes you
31:49will
31:49all right you heard it from evander holyfield former heavyweight champion of the world steve back to
31:53you now and jim talking about that commercial many football fans in certain areas uh hope that barry
31:59sanders does the same thing as evander holyfield now only that he comes back and does it for the
32:04dolphins we need a runner spoken like a true miami give us a runner please round seven
32:16it is scheduled for 10. that is a funny commercial
32:23interesting change in style for zuniga now is all jumping around way outside boxing uh ali like
32:31although i don't think that would suit him they told him that in the corner i said go from outside
32:35you
32:36can't get inside with this guy and uh he's trying to do what they're telling him to do to get
32:41outside
32:41and punch from outside
32:46considering the fact that i thought he was starting to tire a little bit fighting from the outside like
32:49this is even more energy sapping that may have been zuniga's best punch a right cross right on the head
32:56of
32:56joppy there's a big left hand there but nothing done and a great counter by joppy this is some of
33:01the
33:01best action from zuniga we've seen in rounds right cross left hook but the left hook raised joppy and
33:08it's only made of matter that red uppercut again right on the chin
33:18these are powerful shots by uh william joppy but zuniga refuses to go off his feet
33:26he did all right there briefly at the beginning but it seemed like joppy adjusted so you want to go
33:31from outside i can do that and just eat him up even evander holyfield is somewhat impressed with
33:39the zuniga plays hanging in there well he didn't come in here and lay down i'll tell you that he
33:44came
33:44in here and fought and he's still fighting it's not uh you know you got admire a guy takes a
33:49fight
33:49against the world champion and you know joppy of all people in on four rounds five how many people
33:56thought this might have a chance to go the distance before it started yeah that would have been a big
34:01bad i don't think many people would have better would go to this can we still run to the hey
34:07you
34:08still have to go to the ten this game the guy might might not survive well we approach the final
34:1730
34:17seconds of round number seven a little trickle of blood beneath the left on zuniga there's that
34:24right uppercut again on the inside by joppy joppy does something that uh you know i did as a fighter
34:29because i was always shorter than most of my opponents he does instead of an under and over
34:33he does an over and under if there's a left hook to the head and then steps down to try
34:36and open up
34:37the body and uh instead of throwing the left hook to the body to bring the hands down sometimes it
34:42works sometimes it doesn't he's been very effective with it to me but as a broadcaster i find you to
34:46be
34:46very tall final seconds round seven
34:59let's check things out inside the ropes and take a look at this exhibition by william joppy bobby you
35:05know i talked about joppy having excellent boxing skills and a good repertoire of punches we're going
35:10to take a look at some of those punches where he just moves around and lands from different angles under
35:14he goes over you know this is a type of complete fighter he's he can box on the inside he
35:19can box
35:19on the outside you got a guy like burr hopkins and joppy would make probably the best middleweight
35:24matchup that there is i think keith holmes comes behind them but i would love to see joppy and holmes
35:30that's the inside outside up down complete fighter i think a lot of people would love to see joppy
35:46versus hopkins arguably the best at 160. but hopkins doesn't want to give up his promotional rights to
35:51uh to uh someone else which he would probably have to do in order to fight another middleweight
35:57champion it's it's just the the politics of boxing that we continue to get in the way of this
36:02unification process in the middleweight division and other divisions as well
36:05all right we headed to the eighth round
36:10shonegah came out on his toes in round seven he needs to show his knockout power sometime in the last
36:15three rounds to win he's that far behind yeah i don't think he's got uh one punch crushing power
36:21joppy also somebody we've seen has been hit by big shots we'll say there's our green unloaded a few
36:26good shots he's got a chin seems to be well conditioned i don't see a knockout here
36:32unless i think occurrence yeah the only possibility is there's no possibility with job
36:36i mean the only way and if he stays on the outside and runs around he's not gonna get knocked
36:41out
36:42the outside they told him to stay on the outside and keep from getting all that inside punishment he
36:47hasn't done bad since he's been outside at least he's not getting pummeled every second
37:07so they got 27 his birthday was last month
37:14job he checks in at 29
37:41and that's sometimes really weigh on your mind about condition especially with a fighter of this
37:51job he's not going to be a fighter of this job he has that was a couple of years ago
37:56and he was knocked out in that 10th round
38:03he turned pro in 1995 so he's been fighting about five years
38:11job he's seven years
38:20job he continues to be very active in the ring scraping left hook there by zuniga but
38:26no problem for choppy near low flow there by zuniga
38:30no problem for him at least looking to tell people that he went the distance with the wba middleweight
38:39champion of the world in a non-title fight a couple more rounds to do it
38:50that had landed by william jobby it could have been all over for zuniga
38:57eight rounds complete let's get it back over to jim hill jim
39:00jim rc thank you very much another interested onlookers the junior middleweight champion of
39:04course of fernando vargas this is an interesting evening and i'm wondering your prediction on tonight's
39:08main event well i just really just came to see the fight i think that um the junior middleweight division
39:12is uh showing uh that we have a lot of a lot of talent in here and um you know
39:17great matchups and
39:18great fights that people want to see so i'm a fan of the sport too and i came to watch
39:21it too because
39:22these guys are my division and you never know what could happen down the line who has the advantage
39:26in tonight's main event well i think they both have advantages and disadvantages we got to see who's
39:31going to be able to capitalize on them and you know i just uh don't want to make a prediction
39:36you got to make some kind of prediction fernando come on now well i think that um you know i
39:41just
39:41think they're both great fighters and i just want to see who the winner is because you never know
39:45what can happen down the line it's really kind of amazing you think that the junior middleweights
39:49and the middleweights can do a round robin like the guys did in the mid 80s you know like haggler
39:53and hearns and leonard those guys absolutely i mean just look at all the people's in our division
39:57and um you know there's just great matches okay fernando thank you very much steve back to you now
40:02hi jim fernando not committing himself
40:06you know on paper it's a great matchup we talked about it earlier that these guys have really a lot
40:12to prove a lot risk it's uh it's a great fight but it brings back some honor to the business
40:16of
40:17fighters that won't duck one another i love it a lot of folks feel that uh reed will have the
40:21upper hand
40:22based on the uh right notion that trinidad that was bothered by the the movement and the speed of
40:28oscar de la joa even though he won that fight but a lot of folks on the other side of
40:32things feel
40:32that the experience and power of uh trinidad will make the difference the other thing is that reed is
40:37not not in the same class as oscar de la joa and speed and power not i mean power yes
40:43not speed i mean
40:44he don't even compare those two fighters and a lot of folks also feel that reed has the big right
40:49hand
40:50he does have a good right hand and a good left hand too being brought along nicely by uh his
40:55trainer
40:55surrogate father al mitchell but a lot of that is based on that comeback uh victory over alfredo
41:01duvergell in uh the olympics in 96. i was there he was losing that fight all the way by 10
41:08points
41:09i mean he was being outclassed i mean that's like thunder from from evan that that punch came out of
41:15nowhere that's that's not a fight to look forward to point to with pride you were getting killed and
41:21you just have to get the one shot one thing about this sport that makes it so exciting not the
41:25only
41:25thing but one of the things is that when you have a puncher it only takes one shot yeah
41:32jobby's corner was instructing him to hook and jab and finish him off bop bop they said
41:37you see a cutting out around the right eye of zeneca doesn't look to be that bad
41:44well he's certainly not backing up he's standing there trading punches problem is jobby's land and
41:52tunica's don't
41:55jobby continues to punish zeneca who just takes everything really not a bad performance for a
42:01guy who took this fight on about four days dose i'll say that he's hung in there honorably and done
42:08a
42:08hard hard night's job he's given the fans the money's worth
42:16jobby's worth it
42:17i
42:17i
42:17Nine
42:43Beautiful right hand by Joppa there he was setting Zindigap through a couple of jabs
42:47Sat in him sat on him and just give him a little faint with the shoulders and hit him with
42:51a nice rating
43:02Wait a minute the cleanup the cleanup the whole the whole is my piece
43:09They're gonna take care of this cut before they do anything
43:15Do you feel all right? He says yes
43:21Yeah, you're tired, aren't you
43:24And he says yeah, I don't know
43:26Let it all hang out Fernando
43:32No
43:39We got
43:41We came for twelve we got ten
43:48In the corner of William shopping
43:51Tenth and final round that cut over Zuniga's eye worsening as we enter the last round
43:56Well, I guarantee there was nobody in
43:59Um
44:00Joppy's corner including Joppy that thought they were going to be around here here at decision
44:04I mean nobody you could count me in that corner and me too
44:08I was there so
44:09We're all surprised at what a good job he's done
44:12Zuniga got cut
44:14He's tired
44:15He's been taking a big big beating
44:17I'd be real surprised
44:19It's pretty to see him when he's been given about ten or twelve weeks notice and what kind of shape
44:23he can get in
44:24If he can do much better than this
44:25I know he said he took the fight on short notice, but that he was training
44:28How far into training was he and how good does he train?
44:31I'd love to see him at a hundred percent
44:32Yeah, I would too
44:34Unless this is a hundred percent because he has been training
44:37Should point out that
44:40Zuniga fights many fights at 168 super middleweight, so it'd be interesting to see if he
44:44Uh decides to take that route in the near future and go in that direction
44:52Well, it should improve his stock. I mean he should ask for more money
44:56He should be more in demand off of a fight like this he really should
44:59I mean in small clubs that are I mean he would be a main eventer in any small club
45:08It's like one of the only sports
45:10Where your stock can actually go up in defeat well, yeah
45:15That's boxing
45:17And it could work to your uh advantage down the road
45:22In future fights
45:24Well, you have that ladies fight you just had the one that lost their stock rose
45:29dramatically and the one that won the stock plummeted
45:32Yeah, I agree I think in that type of loss especially when it's a loss that didn't appear to be
45:37fair
45:37Oh, yeah, uh that type of loss just trying to do things even a great loss in a great fight
45:43with a great fighter
45:44Can bring a personal stock up who doesn't have real good stock
45:47Well, I I for one uh would match those two again
45:51Uh in in their very next fight because that was some really interesting well as belinda said
45:57She wants a rematch and I think that after what we saw
46:00everybody would agree except maybe christy mark
46:03a very business-like performance by the
46:07Wba middleweight champ here not defending his title
46:15But a determined performance
46:20Well, uh
46:21Guts by zuniga you know you got a solid crowd here you expect to hear a lot of boos when
46:25this thing is going on
46:26But these guys are fighting there's no booing to be done here. They're fighting. It's just uh he can't
46:31The champion cannot find a way to get to zuniga up more to zuniga's credit
46:39Obviously a major difference
46:42in the level of skills between these two fighters but
46:47You have to give credit to zuniga for hanging tough for 10 rounds and and taking all this punishment dished
46:52out by jumping
46:54There's the bell and zuniga can tell his grand children someday that he went 10 rounds with the champ
47:00And the champ just now threw his hands up as if he was a little bit disgusted because i don't
47:04completely understand
47:06No knockdowns in the fight
47:10And a lot of people scratching their heads
47:14In terms of william jumpy
47:17In that category. Why did he not knock down
47:20Zuniga or put him away
47:22At some point in this fight instead this young man who took this fight on very very short notice
47:28Able to survive 10 rounds with the WBA middleweight champion
47:38But there's no question that the joppy won just about every round
47:42Everyone with the first but maybe that first, right?
47:46Right, you know good running when mr
47:48Zuniga came out blazing
47:50And then he kind of ran out of gas early after
47:54Just about throwing it all out there in the opening three minutes
48:04For william joppy that uppercut lasted all lander all night long and consistently found its way home
48:09There's a left uppercut and he throws a right uppercut and the head snaps back
48:14All night long on the inside joppy was very effective with that punch even when he didn't throw it hard
48:19Overhead look watch the head just snap up boom there it is
48:25boom one more time
48:29Very very sneaky very sharp william joppy getting the job dub on the inside
48:38So we're awaiting the decision
48:42At least officially and let's get it up to jimmy lennon jr
48:48Ladies and gentlemen after 10 rounds of action here at caesar's palace
48:51We go to the scorecards with a unanimous decision the judges are in agreement here the score totals judge bill
48:58graham
48:58Seized about 98 to 92 patricia jarman manning and keith mcdonald both scored about 99 to 91
49:06all three in favor of the winner william joppy
49:12So no surprise joppy takes the unanimous decision 98 92 99 91 99 91 he does it in a
49:22Decisive fashion over
49:24Mr. Zuniga
49:26And that is that
49:28And up next our main event reed versus trinidad for the wba super welterweight
49:34championship and david reed the champion on the right felix trinidad the challenge
49:40On the left final preparations in their
49:44Particular dressing rooms just moments before the fight reed has vowed
49:49To battle to fight particularly after watching as he said in disbelief de la jolla and
49:54You know tito's not here to dance set for post-fight reaction let's go to jim hill in the ring
49:59All right steve thank you very much with me now is william joppy and william you had your hands full
50:03tonight
50:04Oh, yeah, you know i'm you know which that way the ball bounce i'll be ready though
50:07Because you know, he only took this fight on five or six days notice did it take you a little
50:11time to try and figure him out
50:12Were you a little confused?
50:14No, not at all. I knew he was strong. I heard he was strong. He comes out bombing
50:17Just like you said when I train for a fight and prepare for you know anything that come at me
50:21I know you're happy that you won, but are you disappointed that you couldn't take him out?
50:25Not really because with you know, you know
50:27I was in a car accident last year and within the last year and a half only got eight rounds
50:31in you know
50:31Last september I stopped hula c the green at seven and the fight before that
50:35I had a one-round knockout right here at the flamingo hilton and then before that I fought roberto duran
50:39So a year and a half only got eight rounds in so I needed a ten-round work
50:42I know it was january a year ago that you had uh, you know, you had that that car accident
50:46in your neck isn't bothering you at all
50:48Oh, not at all. I'm back a hundred percent. Are you ready to step?
50:50Are you ready to step into uh, you know with with the other big names in boxing right now and
50:55showcase your skills?
50:55Oh, yeah, I hope I could get the winner of david reed to trinidad um, you know, they right around
51:00in the 160 area
51:01So I hope I will get the winner of them
51:03I believe felix said if he defeats david reed he's moving up and challenge me for my belt
51:09So i'm here for that so you're going to be at ringside and hope that felix pulls it off, you
51:13know, okay
51:15Congratulations again william and good luck to you. All right. Thanks a lot. Okay. Let's go back down to steve
51:19at ringside see
51:20All right. Thank you very much, uh, jim hill
51:23Let's check the online scoring results from our last bout and uh, no surprise although
51:28I think you guys may have had the first round to uh, zuniga, but a shutout
51:33By the fans tend to nothing for william joppy if you took part. Thanks for your participation
51:38The online voting continues for the start of our main event
51:43Caesars palace in las vegas to battle the scene for many history
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