Daniel "El Ratón, aka Guerrero del Camino, aka Zurdo de Tacubaya" Zaragoza Reyna

Round 9

Zaragoza is sticking with the pair of attacks that brought him into the proverbial dance and have been his bread and butter through eight (in his moments of success) - the right jab and left uppercut. The problem is there is a bit of diminished pep now, just enough loosening of his guard between punches and slowing down of hand speed for Lora, who already had an edge in that department, to now find the mark with incisive combos thrown into the gap separating Zaragoza's arms. Lora taking hemispheric leaps around Zaragoza, smacking him with looping rights and left hooks up top, forcing the champion to swerve and trip over himself attempting to square up, and retreat into a ducking shell when Lora really bites down on his gum shield and sets to with a fury swarming in.

10-9 Lora, back on track now, clearly taking an insurance round to make his lead more comfortable again

86-82 Lora

 

Round 10

Zaragoza is forcing the issue, right jabs setting up a machete left across the broadside and then a right hook in the belly as they collide in the middle of the ring, Lora flurrying to head and body himself as the larger man comes bearing down. Zaragoza has a second wind and is largely dispensing with the jab now, throwing power shots in triplets and forcing Lora to clinch as his straight rights (both conventional and upside-down, letter-opener style) fail to prevent Zaragoza from crowding his way in.

10-9 Zaragoza

95-92 Lora

 

Round 11

Zaragoza is jabbing and pumping lefts at the head, but Lora is able to make him miss in bunches while pressed up against him, chest to chest, and getting off with rapid combinations downstairs in between catch and release clinches. Wild right hook at the body from afar by Zaragoza, desperate to hurt Lora now, sensing his belt possibly easing from his grasp. Lora takes advantage of Zaragoza's impassioned state, keeping his back & shoulder muscles slack and loose, neck bent, and feet moving. Lora taking some of Zaragoza's hard lefts on the bicep while diving in and coming up firing, zapping the chin of Zaragoza with a two-fisted uppercut frenzy.

10-9 Lora, close

105-101 Lora

 

Round 12

Zaragoza is chopping at the occipital lobe from the jump with his right hook, going for a come from behind KO, devil may care if half are rabbit punches. Lora is having none of this mess, however, and refuses to have terms dictated to him, rolling into a deep bow to ride the hooks and using quick subtle footwork to change his positioning and take most of the body shots' edge off, all while introducing the Mexican to his brand of fluid above-the-hipline wizardry, slipping in a constant serpentine writhe and countering effectively with left jabs and doubled- or tripled-up rights from angles Zaragoza's never dreamt of before. School has been in session, and Zaragoza despite being an ornery student, the sort to smoke in the boys room and flaunt his disdain for matters nerdy, is now having some wisdom pounded into him.

10-9 Lora

115-110 Lora

 

So then, I reached the same final score by a slightly different route than METALHEAD123 from Eyeonthering (he saw the seventh for Lora, eleventh for Zaragoza) - both of us in sync with Lou Filippo. I guess if you gave him the benefit of every doubt, you could have it a loss for El Ratón by a score of 114-111, meaning it would've been a draw if you subtract the knockdowns. I'd caution, however, that giving Miguel the seventh is a nearer proposition realistically than R11 for Daniel.

Poor guy, had no idea (nobody did yet) that he was in with a, what, top 15 all time smooth defense guru?

Heck of a world stage debut for Happy. Up the vueltaios! (Colombian answer to a sombrero... I think Lora was the first person to rock one for an international TV audience)

You'd think a demoralizing experience like that, in one's first defense (in what very much felt like a nearly accidental reign to begin with) might have seen Zaragoza's spark fizzle out - but this is literally just the start of his filmed/notable run of competition. So credit to him as well for rebuilding from this and letting the adversity make a better fighter of him going forward, a`la Barrera versus Jones.