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Unbeaten bantamweight Reymart Gaballo scored a controversial split decision victory over former world champion Emmanuel rodriguez in the main event of Saturday night’s SHOWTIME BOXING: SPECIAL EDITION at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., in an event presented by Premier Boxing Champions. With the victory, Gaballo picked up the vacant WBC interim bantamweight title.
Saturday’s headliner at the last SHOWTIME BOXING event of 2020 was competitive from the opening bell. In just three of the twelve rounds, Rodríguez and Gaballo were separated by more than three landed punches. Overall, Gaballo (24-0, 20 KOs) threw 148 more shots than Rodriguez (19-2, 12 KOs), but still managed to land 16 fewer power shots. The 28-year-old Rodriguez’s punches appeared to be cleaner, as he staggered Filipino Gaballo on more than one occasion. However, two of the judges favored Gaballo’s aggression on Rodríguez’s command of the ring.
SHOWTIME unofficial scorer Steve Farhood scored the fight 118-110 in Rodriguez’s favor and SHOWTIME analyst and former world champion Raúl Márquez was dismayed by the judges’ decision. Looking at the fight, it’s hard to see how Rodriguez didn’t win this one.
Emmanuel Rodríguez’s team plans to appeal the decision. He likely won’t win an appeal, but he could at least force a rematch and prevent Gaballo from going straight into a title fight. #RodriguezGaballo
– Jake Donovan (@JakeNDaBox) December 20, 2020
“There is no way Gaballo won that fight,” Marquez said. “In the worst case, maybe you could have given him three rounds. I didn’t give him rounds. “
“I am very happy and blessed to win this belt,” said Gaballo, 24. “He was always moving forward and controlling the pace, so I thought it was a close fight that either one of us could have won.
“I’m waiting for my team to tell me what they have planned for me next. I’m going to keep training hard, so I’ll always be ready for the opportunity when it presents itself. “
“It was a good fight, but he only won two or three rounds,” Rodriguez said. “There were two hits from me for every hit that landed. You know you lost. Everyone knows that we won. My team told me to go out there and keep boxing him in the later rounds. We knew he needed a twelfth round knockout. That was his only chance to win. “
In the co-main event, unbeaten Philadelphia welterweight sensation Jaron Ennis (26-0, 24 KOs) saw his impressive 16-fight knockout streak come to a disappointing finish after an accidental headbutt in the first round caused a brutal cut to the forehead of his opponent, Chris van Heerden (28-2-1, 12 KOs). Tough rest for Ennis, as he was in control of the only round of action that was taking place.
Oh man 😔 … a head bump between @JaronEnnis AND @ ElCalor001 it leads to a big cut and not a decision. #RodriguezGaballo pic.twitter.com/Q5rDgwuYXs
– SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) December 20, 2020
With just two minutes and thirty-nine seconds in the ring to show his skills, Ennis was still able to glimpse his championship potential when he landed 22 of 57 punches, 19 of them power shots when he seemed destined to stop the South African. van Heerden and keep his KO streak alive before the head clash. Tough rest for Ennis as he looked for this fight to launch himself into opportunities against the biggest names at welterweight.
“Before the head butt I had already cut it off and I felt strong,” Ennis said, disappointed. “I knew he was ready to go. I feel like I’m getting better and better. Now I’m going back to the gym. As you could see in the first round, he was handling it with ease. I feel like everyone is still sleeping with me, but I’m ready for anyone. Bring the big names. “
In the telecast’s opener, bantamweight contender Gary Antonio Russell (18-0, 12 KOs) kept his immaculate record intact with a technical decision victory over former world champion Juan Carlos Payano (21-5, 9 KOs). . After an accidental head butt caused a bad cut to Payano’s left eyebrow, referee David Fields called off the fight after the sixth round on the advice of the ring doctor. The fight went to the scorecards, where Russell led on all three scorecards (58-56, 59-55, 59-55).
Before the injury, Russell and Payano were involved in a fight that saw multiple exchanges of power shots. In the closing seconds of the sixth and final round, Russell caught Payano with a kickback that hurt Payano. Russell landed 86 of 243 hits, while Payano landed just 58 of 268 hits. Russell displayed excellent bodywork throughout the fight, landing Payano 40 to 17 on body shots.
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