McLoser Arroyo fails to shine

It was on a Top Rank live show that Bob Arum first showed the world his boxing super kid Jose Benavidez and now it was time to allow both of the highly hyped Puerto Ricans Gabriel Bracero and McWilliams Arroyo some of the same TV time as they too featured on a Top Rank live show. The main event may well have been Calderon v Iribe but for some this was the card of the new generation not the ageing “Iron Boy”.

29 year old Bracero 89-0 was the first to fight, having turned pro a long time ago (considering his age), in fact he debuted in 2001 and racked up a 5-0 record before taking 7 years out of the sport only to return in 2009 and increasing his record to 9-0. A bit of a mystery fighter it was obvious from his record with 0KO's that he wasn't going to try and stop his opponent (the 7-6 Julias Edmonds also 0KO's). It didn't take long to see why Bracero hadn't scored a stoppage, he relied on a single weapon that he knew how to use, his jab. He was a true stick and move fighter landing his fast accurate but powerless jab then moving and repeating it over and over with great work rate. Although he looked rather amateurish in style with his clean and crisp jab with lots of movement he looked talented and able even when he did occasionally mix up his shots he still moved in and out quickly.

Having improved to 10-0 Bracero looks like he's effective at what he does but will really struggle to make it big, his lack of a punch but good movement saw him perhaps being compared to Calderon though he's not likely to ever be on that level he could be one of the best “pure boxing” prospects pout there.

So onto the big guy for the week, McWilliams Arroyo who came in with the opposite sort of punch to Bracero, the former World Boxing Cup champion was 3-0 (3) going in and seen as one of the most talented young fighters out there. Or so we thought thought.

He went into the bought against Japanese fight Takashi Okada 1-0-1 as a fighter almost expecting a gimme and found out that in this sport you're given nothing solely on your amateur experience. Having won the opening round he was dropped in the second cut in the third and unable to establish himself en route to losing 39-36 and 38-37 (twice), the later two cards noticeably closer than the 39-36 I had it.

McWilliams perhaps learning that his power isn't as good we thought or that he failed to make the transition. Whatever it was this was an upset, and one that few so coming. Can McWilliams recover from it? Well both yes and no. He is talented but a loss against the likes of 26 year old Okada really isn't a good thing this early in your career. A poor performance in an exciting bout was punished with a poor result.

Star of the week-David Lemieux...WOW!