‘Baby Bull’ deals Suico ninth round stoppage

World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight champion Juan (Baby Bull) Diaz was hardly threatened in scoring a ninth round stoppage of Filipino challenger Randy Suico to retain his title at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas last Saturday night (yesterday morning, Manila).

Suico made a gutsy and gallant stand but just couldn’t stave off the machine-like Diaz whose workrate never took a dip. Diaz pounded Suico with jabs, hooks, uppercuts, overhands and crosses in a masterful display of quality "volume" punching.

At the end of the fourth round, referee Joe Cortez told Suico’s Japanese manager Joe Koizumi and trainer Juanito Ablaca he would stop the fight if the challenger continued to soak in punishment. "Safety is first and foremost," said Cortez.

Ablaca, however, waved off Cortez. Suico refused to surrender and the fight went on.

Suico began to show signs of recovery in the fifth as he battled back to fight Diaz on even terms. Still, he couldn’t do enough to turn the tide. But in the seventh, Diaz surprisingly slowed down, probably to conserve his energy for a final push, as Suico stepped up the pace to win the round.

Diaz then came charging out in the eighth and picked up where he left off. He blasted Suico with gut-wrenching body shots and vicious blows to the head but couldn’t knock down the durable Filipino.

In the ninth, Diaz took his attack to the next level and went for the kill. A flurry of punches to the face forced Suico to seek refuge along the ropes and as his hands slowly lowered, Cortez stepped in to halt the carnage at the 2:06 mark.

To his credit, Suico never showed signs of going down. His knees buckled a little shortly before the end but he was never in danger of falling. It was a tribute to his excellent conditioning.

Suico’s courage was overshadowed by the glaring weaknesses in his fighting style. He was slow-footed and provided Diaz with an easy, standing target. His defense was porous and Diaz had no difficulty landing his power shots, connecting at a rate close to 70 percent compared to Suico’s 20 percent. He was clueless on how to penetrate Diaz’ defense and lacked the savvy of a challenger up against a smart champion.

It was Suico’s debut as a lightweight (135 pounds) and the defeat raised questions on whether his power is as potent as when he fought as a superfeatherweight (130).

Under new Nevada State Athletic Commission rules, the fighters wore 10-ounce gloves, instead of eight-ouncers, for additional protection.

International referee Bruce McTavish, watching the fight on TV from his Angeles City home, said Suico fought too slow to inflict any damage on Diaz.

"It was like slow motion," said McTavish who, incidentally, was cited by TV announcers Col. Bob Sheridan and Dave Bontempo for his work in the recent Manny Pacquiao-Oscar Larios fight at the Araneta Coliseum. "I love Randy, he’s a beautiful kid with lots of talent. I’m disappointed. Randy relies on his power to take out slow opponents but Diaz was too fast for him. Diaz’ defense was also impressive. He always held his arms up in front of him."

McTavish said there was no adjustment in Suico’s strategy during the fight and Diaz had a picnic throwing his bombs.

Cebu promoter Rex (Wakee) Salud, watching at ringside in Las Vegas, was in awe of Diaz whom he described as "mabilis at matibay" (quick and durable).

As for Diaz, the Baby Bull displayed a deep arsenal of weapons and incredible stamina. He never stopped punching from the first bell and clearly frustrated Suico who couldn’t tire out the Houston-born champion of Mexican descent.

The win improved Diaz’ record to 30-0, with 15 KOs, and was his fourth title defense. Suico’s mark dropped to 24-3, with 21 KOs. It was his first loss by knockout.