Chicago heavyweight Fres Oquendo might get a chance to get “my top five ranking” back after stopping Joey Abell in the ninth round Friday night at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond.
After the fight, the 39-year-old pugilist called on some of the young, rising heavyweights to fight him, including Chris Arreola. If they do, and Oquendo wins, he could become a leading contender again.
Abell didn’t provide much of a test, but he came to fight and gave Oquendo good work.
Oquendo started cautiously and stepped up the pace a little more in each of the early rounds.
He hurt Abell for the first time late in the third round, sending him into the ropes, but when Oquendo moved in he got tangled with the wobbly Abell. By the time the referee separated them, the bell rang.
Abell was not done fighting back, but he got a bloody nose for his troubles.
The Oquendo jab was landing consistently by the fifth round and things got a little rough with Oquendo landing a right cross after the bell.
The left-handed Abell landed a good left cross of his own in the seventh when the referee got in the path of Oquendo’s retreat, but still it was Oquendo’s round. By the eighth, Oquendo’s jab was spreading Abell’s blood all over his face.
As if he didn’t have enough problems, Abell’s trunks kept slipping. The referee stopped the fight in the sixth round to pull them up.
It wasn’t enough, however, as two rounds later Oquendo landed a good right, straightening up Abell, whose trunks then fell all the way to the canvas. He was taken to his corner, where his seconds wrapped tape around his waist.
In the ninth round, Oquendo used his superior hand speed to land some good combinations in a neutral corner. A minute later, he landed a substantial right cross to the right side of Abell’s jaw and Abell fell into the ropes. Oquendo followed him, landing good follow-up shots before the referee stepped in.
At first it appeared the ref was going to administer a standing eight count, but he waved an end to the fight at the 1 minute, 53 second mark of the round.
After the fight, Oquendo called out the young heavyweights, saying, “I feel great. My timing’s back. I’m ready to take on the world.”
Earlier, heavyweight Elijah McCall of Bassett, Va., scored a dramatic final-round knockout of Gary’s Stan Allen.
Bassett had started well, boxing smoothly and stopping occasionally to land solid blows. But in the fourth round he seemed to slow considerably, and Allen took advantage of it, landing a series of good punches. The fifth was also full of action, but in the sixth, McCall settled matters.
He landed a stunning right cross that sent Allen into slow motion. As Allen wavered, McCall landed another hard shot and Allen’s legs folded under him as he sank to the canvas like a nesting bird. He got up, but could barely stand so the fight was stopped at 2:26.
Meegal Harper of Chicago Heights ran his record to 6-0 with six knockouts, stopping Guy Packer of Battle Creek, Mich., in the third round of a middleweight fight.
