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MAYFIELD CRUSHES SERRANO |
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Undefeated Philly prospect Raymond Serrano was defeated for the first time in his professional career by Karim Mayfield of San Francisco Friday night on ESPN2. The cat-and-mouse game heated up as early as round one with both fighters landing sneaky shots on the other. However, a second before the bell ended round four, Mayfield drove home a crushing right hand that dropped Serrano face-first on the canvas. Somehow he made it to his feet and since the round was over, referee Eddie Claudio gave Serrano the minute's rest to try to recover. Serrano staggered back to his corner. Unfortunately he may have done better had he gone over to his opponents corner instead. When Serrano returned to his team, he was met with nothing but a cloud of confusion. It's pretty bad when the guy with the clearest head is the one that just climbed off the floor. Serrano stood in a haze while his seconds argued over what to do next. It seemed one of them wanted to stop it and refused to bring the stool in for the fighter. Ray Serrano, the fighter's father and head trainer, insisted that the fight go on. Finally they sat the groggy boxer on the stool and attended to him for a few seconds before the bell for round five sounded. Serrano returned to the action on unsteady legs and was swarmed by a waiting Karim Mayfield. The referee jumped in to save the game but beaten Serrano at 0:47 of round five. After the fight there was much talk on line that claimed Serrano's corner lost him the fight. These comments were way off. Although the corner was as bad as Mike Tyson's the night he first lost the heavyweight title, Serrano's corner did not lose the fight for their fighter. Raymond was beyond being revived by any corner. The biggest mistake they made was letting Serrano come out for round five. They should have realized that their fighter was finished for the night, and saved him from further punishment. That is there primary job. Had the bell not ended the fourth round when it did, the referee would have never allowed the fight to go on. The inept corner made no difference in the result of the fight. The tough loss was the first for Serrano, now 18-1-1 with 8 KOs. Mayfield improved his undefeated record to 16-0-1 with his 10th KO, and retained his NABO junior welterweight title with the impressive victory. The fight was held at the Times Union Center in Albany, NY and televised live by ESPN2. Note - Photo Credit: Raymond Serrano via Facebook. |
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