*** ¡The Luis Ramón "Yory Boy" Campas Medina 100 Career Wins Expresa Tren! ***

The 25-year pro seems hellbent on fighting into his forties and passing that now-extremely rare century mark of professional victories. The last member to be inducted into that club might have been Marty Jakubowski, whose career finished up several years ago - and Campas undoubtedly has the better resume of wins already (in terms of quality, if not yet quantity).

The problem is that Campas - who was never particularly difficult to hit - has become a bit of a punching bag and has in recent years has seemed to lose almost as often as he wins (or more). Some of his losses have been noble struggles against ranked fighters...but some have been embarrassing - as have even some wins (he got a very generous gift decision over the decidedly average Nito Bravo a few years back).

It isn't clear whether his persistence stems from unyielding machismo, a desire to establish some form of unique legacy even if it's just the triple-digit novelty (since his championship days have long since receded out of sight in the rear-view mirror), a genuine love of fighting, or - what is sadly the most probable in his case, and the motivating factor for too many other boxers who stay in the game too long - because he needs the money. :verysad

Campas (who at 39 is not literate, even in Spanish) has been getting screwed by promoters for decades now. He has never earned anywhere close to a six figure purse despite appearing on many PPV events - headlining a few.

Yory Boy is currently suing the state of Arizona for $43 million dollars. The case is explained in detail (albeit somewhat patchy and poorly-written detail) in this whistle-blowing article in two parts:
http://ringtalk.com/dan-rafael-espn-boxing-top-rank-arizona
http://ringtalk.com/yory-boy-campas-pedro-fernandez-joe-diaz-arizona-boxing


In any event, you can't help but pull for the stubborn and scrappy old mug. Who wouldn't like to see him reach that milestone? (since he's going to remain active either way...) Who wouldn't like to see him get paid for his toil (whether in the form of getting a big fight, or winning his lawsuit).

There might be a few more bumps and bruises along the way - and honestly, I'd rather have seen him retire thousands of punches ago - but as long as he's hanging in there I'll be backing him to find success in any and all forms.


Current record: 95-15-1 (76)


Next up, he has a rematch with teak-tough spoiler Matt Vanda of St. Paul. this Friday night.

Vanda honestly doesn't operate at a level too far below a past Campas opponent: the recently retired John Duddy (who Campas lost a spirited war with...and that was almost five years ago now). Vanda lost a competitive unanimous decision to Duddy after a pair of points losses to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (one of them extremely controversial). Vanda won a split decision over Campas in his home state six years ago.

Campas has the luxury of this fight being in his hometown, however - and has some momentum (and perhaps a corresponding psychological edge, to bolster his hometown confidence) coming in. Campas is riding a three-win streak and hasn't lost since 2009; while Vanda hasn't won since that same year and is 1-3 in his last four.

 

Do you guys think he can get his revenge on Vanda (making for #96) in the comfort of Navojoa? :think

This will really set the tone for his next few fights, IMO.

 

Oh, and let's assume that the average level of competition stays about the same.

 

So...it's a bit unclear as to whether Campas-Vanda II actually wound up taking place...

First, TV Azteca decided that they weren't going to show the fight live but on 24-hour taped delay instead (airing at 10pm EST on Saturday, conflicting perfectly with Montiel vs. Donaire, damn it)...which means that everyone immediately interested in the result had to rely on internet reports...

There was an update posted on Twitter that the venue had lost power at about 11pm EST, preventing the fight from occurring. Then at around midnight it was reported that the power had been restored, but there has been nothing about the fight anywhere online in over two hours since then.

One fan at the venue posted this pic:

This content is protected

and complained that "not only are the lights out, there is no beer".

Does anybody know what happened? :huh

Usually by now there would be some kind of update on the boxing news sites, even for a match this low on the totem pole.