Scuderi, Rivera and Papeschi win WBA KO on Drugs event in Argentina

Another annual “KO to Drugs” card organized by the WBA at Argentina's Casino Buenos Aires produced a few minor upsets and well-deserved suspensions by the favs du jour.

In the main event, Giovanni Scuderi improved to 11-0 (5 knockouts) with a final round destruction of local credit Jairo Suarez (now 7-3, 2 KO) in a heavyweight clash.

In a scheduled ten-round bout that was preceded by a lot of pre-fight banter and trash talk, Italian Scuderi appeared more cautious in the first half of the fight but was able to control the action using his length and gain the advantage against him. a fierce but determined enemy. Suarez landed a few bombs during the fight but seemed to tire. Sensing an opportunity, Scuderi went straight to his body and landed a two-punch combination to Suarez's midsection that sent Argentina into a full count.

Sebastian Papeschi (right) lands a right on Diego Ramírez – Photo courtesy of Boxeo de Primera

The winner held something called the “Fedelatin” title belt, which is usually reserved for fighters based in Latin America, but may have made it available for this fight given the visitor's origins in the birthplace of Latin civilization.

In a pre-fight interview, TV commentator Marcelo Gonzalez raised WBA president Gilberto Mendoza on the subject of the organization's love of giving belts of all denominations to fighters of any national origin for no particular reason. Mendoza's response was a long and bitter comment in which “to make more opportunities available to fighters around the world” seemed to be the only plausible explanation, followed by a promise to clean up the action of the sanctioning body with the possibility of a new promise or similar renewal. one that has been done over the years with no clear visible results so far.

In another example of the WBA's keen interest in giving fighters the opportunity to pay the cost of a conviction without an obvious reason, Argentine local product Sebastian Papeschi improved to 22-4 (8). KO) with an excellent picture of Diego Ramírez (now 25-12-1, 6) KO) in a middleweight fight scheduled for 10 rounds for the “Fedecaribe” title, a belt that makes little sense even to be contested among fighters who live and work as far away from the Caribbean as one can imagine.

Papeschi, an aggressive fighter who never fails to impress but tends to take more punishment as he comes out, kept Ramirez on the run for most of the fight and dominated the exchanges with his superior takedowns and superior punching power. A devastating combination sent Ramirez down in a heap in the corner late in the fifth round, and the fight was stopped at the count of ten.

Prior to the Papeschi-Ramirez fight, Mexico's Jacqueline Calvo (21-9-2, 2 KOs) dropped a technical decision in five rounds against local veteran María Magdalena Rivera (Argentina 14-6-3, 3 KOs) in the interim WBA flyweight. the belt is in danger.

Jaqueline Calvo (right) and Maria Rivera (left) trading – Photo courtesy of Boxeo de Primera

The fight ended in a strange way when Calvo said he couldn't open his left eye after a clash of heads and said he couldn't continue. The referee called for an accidental collision to be recorded on the stoppage cards, and Rivera, 44, won by scores of 49-46 and 48-47 (twice).

Earlier on the card, American heavyweight DeAndre Savage improved to 6-0 with 6 KO after the destruction of Esteban Juarez (6-7-1, 3 KO) in three rounds of a scheduled eight round. Savage was just getting started and switching gears when he got Juarez's chin with the end of a long hook and sent him down the ropes for a quick TKO win.

Earlier, Daniel Combi improved to 12-9 (1 KO) via majority decision slight upset over undefeated Jaime Villegas of Colombia (now 17-1, 13 KO). Combi received scorecards of 77-75 and 78-74, while the third had the scores tied at 76-76 after eight rounds of action in the lightweight division. The “Fedecentro” belt was awarded to Combi after the war.

Diego M. Morilla has been writing for The Ring since 2013. He has written for HBO.com, ESPN.com and many other magazines, websites, newspapers and outlets since 1993. He is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. and an International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee. She has won two first-place awards in the BWAA's annual writing contest, and is the moderator of The Ring's Women's Ratings Panel. He worked as a copy editor for the second season of The Ring en Español (2018-2020) and is currently a writer and editor for RingTV.com.

Follow @MorillaBoxing