Windy City Fight Night 8 Offers Action-Packed Undercard Antonio Avila vs. Herbert Acevedo In another four-round war between two young fighters, Chicagoan Antonio Avila, 134 lbs., 2(1)-0, squared off against Garden City, Kansas-based Herbert Acevedo, 134 lbs., 1(1)-0. Despite the presence in his corner of Chicago favorite son, lightweight champion David Diaz, Avila came up on the short end of a split decision, suffering his first professional loss. This content is protected Antonio Avila (R) lands a hook under Herbert Acevedo's attack The four-round battle saw Herbert Acevedo using his reach to try to keep Antonio Avila at bay while looking for openings for hooks and body shots. Avila pressed the action throughout, walking down Acevedo and using his superior power to pressure his taller foe. In the first round, Avila started the action by working inside on a powerful jab and attacking Acevedos body. Catching the rangy Acevedo off-balance, Avila threw several effective hooks to the head. Acevedo stayed in the game, but telegraphed his punches, throwing just a bit too wide, allowing Avila to set the pace, and, in this writers opinion, land the more effective, powerful punches. This content is protected Acevedo (L) counters a hook from Avila Acevedo began the second round trying to establish his range, working from the outside. Avila bloodied Acevedos nose with an uppercut landed after wading inside through some punches. Shortly thereafter, Acevedo launched Avila back into the ropes with a straight right leading to an exciting exchange that saw both moving and countering well. Acevedo seemed to tire a little, falling back on his heels as Avila continued to apply pressure with body-head combinations, staying inside Acevedos range. Moments before the bell, Acevedo scored with some powerful hooks to Avilas head. This content is protected Acevedo (L) lands a shot to Avila's midsection The third round saw Acevedo coming out strong and energetically only to have his momentum slowed considerably by a powerful inside jab-cross combination from Avila. Avila continued to walk down Acevedo, throwing combinations inside whenever Acevedo allowed him in range. Acevedos nose was bleeding pretty profusely, but he did not let this distract him, coming over Avilas hands whenever his aggressive opponent got too carried away. In the final round, Acevedo threw effective body-head combinations and managed to move away from and counter many of Avilas attempts to redouble his attacks. Avilas attacks, which had found purchase in the early rounds were avoided and countered by Acevedo in the final round. Acevedo began putting on the pressure, and succeeded in keeping Avila at bay while landing his most powerful shots of the bout. The bell found the combatants in a clinch initiated by Avila to forestall a final attack. This content is protected Avila (R) overreaches and Acevedo counters to the body In the final analysis, two judges saw the bout at 37-39 for Acevedo, while one judge saw Avila winning by the same margin 39-37. This reporter would have agreed with the decision for Avila, based on work rate and aggression, but, in a fight this close, with two rounds up for grabs, the majority decision for Acevedo can definitely be considered a fair call. Congratulations to both combatants on a hard-fought, strategic battle, and to Herbert Acevedo, going back to Kansas with a win.
