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Fernando Guerrero stops JC Candelo in six

Fighters Network
04
Nov

Middleweight prospect Fernando Guerrero won his fourth straight fight since his lone career defeat, stopping former 154-pound title challenger JC Candelo in six rounds at the Humble Civic Center in Humble, Texas on Saturday night. The stoppage came at the :12 mark, after the final of many southpaw left crosses landed by Guerrero spun Candelo around, compelling the referee to call the bout off.

Guerrero (25-1, 19 knockouts), of Salisbury, Md., looked sharp from the opening bell, using his pronounced speed advantage and southpaw movement to land left crosses – sometimes following a jab and sometimes as a lead – on the Colombian native Candelo (32-12-4, 21 KOs), who at 38 is a decade separated from his prime. Guerrero dropped Candelo in round four with a perfect one-two combination but was unable to finish him despite Candelo’s reticence to throw punches.

Guerrero continued to dominate in round five, landing his combinations to the head and body cleaner as the fight became more of a mismatch by the moment. Candelo’s corner appeared eager to stop the fight as the ringside physician checked on Candelo’s swollen right eye. Between rounds, Candelo’s corner advised their ward that they would stop the fight if the pattern continued, but the matter was already decided.

Afterwards, the 26-year-old Guerrero seemed pleased by his technical display in this, his first fight working with the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) Trainer of the Year (for 2011) recipient Virgil Hunter.



“A lot of people know what I do is aggression but now I’m doing this,” said Guerrero, whose lone defeat was a fourth-round technical knockout loss to Grady Brewer last year. “I want to show the world from one loss you don’t go down like that. I’m going to show the world that I’m gonna be a champion, no matter what people say.”

In the co-featured bout, middleweight prospect J’Leon Love (14-0, 8 KOs), of Dearborn Heights, Mich., scored a sixth-round TKO over Tyrone Selders (8-4, 6 KOs), of Baton Rouge, La., with the time of stoppage coming at the 2:39 mark of their eight-round scheduled bout. Love, 25, had a chance to show off the diversity of his attack against the durable Selders, 29, who had never previously been stopped.

Love weathered the early attack of Selders, gradually wearing his late-replacement opponent down with uppercuts and right crosses. The referee stepped in following a clean right cross landed by Love, not because Selders was on the verge of being knocked down but because of Selders’ seeming inability to avoid the incoming punches.

Love now lives and trains out of Las Vegas, Nev., working alongside another Michigan transplant Floyd Mayweather Jr. Love sometimes serves as a sparring partner for “Money” Mayweather out of the Mayweather Boxing Club

In a swing bout, Antonio Capulin (8-0, 4 KOs), of Houston, Tex., outslugged tough journeyman Guadalupe Perez (2-10, 0 KOs), of Garland, Tex., to a four-round unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring it a 40-36 shutout. The 20-year-old Capulin, who turned pro just prior to his 18th birthday in 2010, received solid work from the durable opponent, being pushed all the way but ultimately proving his superiority in each round.

The show was promoted by Golden Boy Promotions in association with South Coast Promotions and televised live on Fox Sports Net. The show will be rebroadcasted on FUEL TV on December 30 at 2:00 p.m. ET/11:00 a.m. PT.

 

 

Ryan Songalia is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and contributes to GMA News. He is also a member of The Ring ratings panel and can be reached at [email protected]. An archive of his work can be found at www.ryansongalia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @RyanSongalia.

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