PBC on FS1: Ivan Redkach vs. Argenis Méndez RBR

Really was a KD, though..

 

Official cards:

Max DeLuca 96-93 Méndez
Jerry Cantu 95-94 Redkach
Zac Young 95-94

SD for Méndez

 

Tormenta really needed that. Snapped his skid, with a third consecutive loss having been likely to place him a long climb from contention.

It was only his 2nd meaningful victory (along with Vazquez) since he bear Salgado more than 4 years ago - since which he is officially 2-3-1-1 but that really ought to be 2-4-1, including two stoppage losses- yet now suddenly he's back in the world title hunt. What a sport. Fortunes can rise or fall in an hour.

 

I mean, technically he was hit after the bell so there is the argument for a No Contest...but it wasn't intentional; Barthelemy just had momentum and was mid-combo. Take away that whole sequence, just going off the first 2-plus minutes of the second, had there been a third round Méndez was getting starched as soon as the bell sounded. He wasn't clearing the cobwebs enough to recover during the minute break.

Here was my original call:

 

In that situation it usually is a judgment call for the ref. If the late hit wasn't intentional they can just chalk it up to "heat of the moment" and not reacting to pull the punches in the rest of the combo fast enough, and let the KO stand. Or they can adhere to letter of the law and say "late is late" and make it a NC. Podgorski chose the latter, which is fine (and the more technically correct ruling) but with a different ref it could have just as easily been the former determination and I don't think many people would have taken much issue with it. This wasn't a case of a sucker punch or somebody dropping his gloves after the bell and getting clocked unawares by a cheap shot. Argenis was already brain-scrambled from the first knockdown. It was just a matter of happenstance that Barthelemy finishing him off was interrupted by the sounding of the bell.

 

Anyway, my original point is that night overall just wasn't a good look for AM, whether the record shows a NC or KO-by-2, and he's damn lucky there weren't a few ticks left on the ring clock else he would in fact be 2-4-1 since defeating Salgado. (with the lone bright spot being the UD over El Titere)

Now, getting past a frequently televised fan-fave and ranked contender (WBA #3 entering tonight) in Redkach, he is on the inside track again, having flirted dangerously close to getting bumped off the rails altogether.