Jonathan Maicelo is a superstar in Peru. He’s a “Dancing With the Stars” veteran. He’s an underwear model. He has 10 knockouts on his resume. On April 5, Maicelo brought his perfect 16-0 record to the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, Calif., and, in front of an ESPN2 Friday Night Fights audience for his U.S. TV debut, he was decimated.
Assuming the role of spoiler, Rustam Nugaev knocked out Maicelo with a laser right hand in the 8th of a scheduled 10-round lightweight bout.
The first three rounds were close, with Maicelo relying on his athleticism and heavy right hook. Like his sparring partner and fellow Russian, Ruslan Provodnikov, Nugaev kept pressing, absorbing hard shots at times but chopping away nonetheless. In the 4th round, Nugaev had Maicelo reeling. Not knowing the taste of defeat, Maicelo valiantly responded, trading thunderous right hands with Nugaev.
The seed of doubt was planted, though, and throughout the following rounds Nugaev was intent to feed it with a healthy dose of effective aggressiveness and power punching. Maicelo, who rarely goes to the body, seemed to be bending at the waist far less at this juncture of the fight. When he would straighten, he’d get caught by Nugaev’s well-timed blows.
Nugaev (22-6, 12 KOs) hurt Maicelo in the 7th round but hesitated enough to allow his opponent to spit out his mouthpiece. After a brief timeout, Nugaev hit the accelerator. In the next frame, Nugaev pinned Maicelo against the ropes. When Maicelo motioned to throw his patented looping right hook, Nugaev countered with a short and sweet straight right than floored Maicelo. The referee waved off the bout without beginning a count. Official time was 2:03 of round 8.
Not to be outdone in upset special category, Gabriel “Ghost” Tolmajyan defeated the previously undefeated Jorge Maysonet, Jr., by a wide unanimous decision in an eight-round lightweight bout.
Maysonet (11-1, 10 KOs) got off to a hot start as he backed Tolmajyan into a corner with a barrage of wide rights behind long jabs. Tides turned when an unintentional headbutt stunned Maysonet and referee Lou Moret, out of position to witness the collision, issued the as-yet-extinct standing-eight count with about a minute left in the 1st round. Tolmajyan (13-2-1, 3 KOs) took control of the wheel from that point.
The Armenian set the tempo for the rest of the bout, timing Maysonet’s looping punches to counter with booming left hands. Clashes of heads continued to plague the match as Maysonet, the taller fighter, would lean his own dome forward into the southpaw’s forehead. Another occurred 40 seconds into the third, and Maysonet was warned by Moret to be wary of dipping downward.
By the bell of round 5, the first Maysonet had answered in his career, Tolmajyan had lulled his opponent into a rhythm of walking into the straight left, a pattern that continued for the remainder of the bout. Tolmajyan landed only slightly more often than Maysonet, but his shots were cleaner and harder. Judges’ scores were 77-75 and 80-71 twice. TQBR also liked Tolmajyan for all eight at 80-72.
In a four-round lightweight bout, Alejandro Luna made certain Mario Hermosillo would not share Tolmajyan’s fortune. The 20-year-old beat Hermosillo in a clean sweep to remain undefeated at 12-0.
It was the first fight for Luna at 135, albeit against a guy who won only half his 22 fights with a not-so-whopping two knockdowns. Still, Luna out-landed his Hermosillo 35-12 in the first round and opened a cut above his opponent’s left eye. It was that type of mismatch.
