Joe George W10 Marcos Escudero... In an entertaining co-feature on the ShoBox broadcast from Iowa, Houston’s Joe George (10-0, 6 KOs) won a controversial split decision over the much busier Marcos Escudero (10-1, 9 KOs). The judges scored the fight 97-94 (George), 97-93 (George) and 96-94 (Escudero). Argentina’s Escudero began the fight with a bang as his 135 total punches thrown was tied for the seventh most ever recorded by CompuBox in a light heavyweight fight. He kept his blistering pace up throughout the fight, throwing 106 punches in the final round and 911 total punches, but the judges were more impressed by George’s heavier punching and superior accuracy. George stunned Escudero in the ninth round and was accurate on 34 percent of his total punches, compared to just 19 percent for Escudero. The total numbers landed were close, as Escudero landed 177 total punches while George landed 161. Showtime’s Hall of Famer analysts Barry Tompkins and Steve Farhood, along with former champion Raul Marquez, all had Escudero winning the fight comfortably on their scorecards.
“I’m not surprised at all by the decision,” said George, who is co-managed by seven-time Pro Bowl offensive tackle Trent Williams. “I knew he was a front runner. I knew he was going to get tired. We wore him down. I made the fight a little harder for myself by staying on the ropes a little too long, but we got through it. That’s something that we can work on and improve in the gym. I’m really a 168 pounder so that’s where we want to go next. If he wants the rematch, we’ll give it to him but we already beat him.”
Escudero, who was riding a six-fight knockout streak entering the fight, was disappointed in both his performance and the judges’ interpretation of the fight. “No excuses. I didn’t do my job,” he said. “I won the fight 100 percent, but no excuses from us. That’s boxing. I never give up. It’s all part of the game. I want a rematch, 100 percent.”
Amilcar Vidal, Jr. TKO1 Zach Prieto... In the televised opener between two power punchers who had combined for ten first-round KOs, knockout specialist Amilcar Vidal, Jr. (10-0, 9 KOs) improved his knockout rate to 90 percent by dropping previously unbeaten Zach Prieto twice en route to another first-round stoppage. The 23 year-old Vidal, from Montevideo, Uruguay, floored El Paso’s Prieto with a flush left hand with 30 seconds left in the opening round. With Prieto (9-1, 7 KOs) hanging on, Vidal finished the job just before the bell sounded in the opening round, unleashing a flurry of punches capped by a hook to the side of the head that prompted the stoppage from referee Mark Nelson at 2:59. The blow closed out a fight in which Vidal led 22-14 in overall punches and 16-9 in power punches, including margins of 13-1 in overall punches and 10-1 in power punches in the final minute.
“I won the fight in the gym,” said Vidal, who was fighting in the United States for the first time. “The ring was easy tonight because of the work we did in the gym. I had a game plan and I executed it to perfection. I had a plan to use the left hook and I waited for the right moment to open up, and when I saw it I threw it perfectly.” source for both results: showtime
