August 28, 2009: Juan urango vs Randall Bailey – Hollywood, FL / Javiel Centeno – Images by Fightwireimages.com

Fighting Juan Urango must be like a pedestrian trying to fend off a Volkswagen Beetle stuck in drive.

The Colombian-born brawler never stops coming, never stops throwing punches. You knock him down, even hurt him. Still, he gets up and then continues coming. And eventually you get run over, ending your night badly.

He’s the monster in your nightmares who slowly, but methodically chases you down in a wicked attempt to do you harm and you’re helpless to stop him. Only Urango is all too real.

This is what Randall Bailey, his fellow Miami resident, experienced on the Friday Night Fights finale in Hollywood, Fla.

The former junior welterweight titleholder, a vicious puncher, was effective enough with his well-documented right hand to make it a competitive fight. He even landed one monstorous shot that put Urango down hard in the sixth round, causing a cut below his eye in the process.

For a moment, it looked as if Bailey might’ve finished the job. Then, as mentioned above, Urango got up and simply went back to breaking down his older opponent before finally proving that no one who relies almost solely on power is going to beat him.

Urango put his badly fading opponent down twice in the ninth round and once more in the 10th. By the 11th, Bailey was finished – hurt, tired, demoralized, clearly beaten, which prompted his corner to throw in the towel and save him from further punishment.

The fight officially ended at 1:51 of the 11th round, preserving Urango’s 140-pound title.

“I knew it would be a tough fight,” Urango said through an interpreter in the ring immediately afterward. “I had to get up from a knockdown. It was one of the hardest punches I’ve felt. He had to go through it as well, though.”

Urango (21-2-1, 16 knockouts) is hardly the perfect fighter.

Ricky Hatton, who is at least as rugged as Urango, outpointed him by a wide margin in 2007 by turning a boxing contest into a wrestling match. In other words, whenever Urango got close enough to do damage Hatton grabbed hold until the danger passed. In that case, Urango was helpless.

Bailey (39-7, 35 KOs) tried to do that to some extent but, with his lanky frame, he didn’t have the upper body strength to keep it up the entire fight.

In May, Andre Berto also easily soundly defeated Urango in the latter’s first foray into the 147-pound division. Berto was not only bigger but also better. He was too quick, too athletic and too strong for the smaller man.

Urango said in the ring on Saturday night that he’d like to fight the holder of another 140-pound title, Timothy Bradley, which probably isn’t a good idea. Bradley isn’t as big or strong as Berto but he’s at least as quick and probably a better boxer.

Bailey, too, probably is somewhat quicker than Urango even at 34 but had no where near the advantages Berto had or Bradley would have.

So, in the end, it was a perfect matchup for Urango. Bailey had a puncher’s chance – and almost pulled it off – but he needed more weapons to avoid being run down. And he has nothing to be ashamed of. Urango is simply very difficult to beat.

Michael Rosenthal can be reached at [email protected]