The Freddie Roach-trained Narek Abgaryan had a home-field advantage fighting at the Wild Card Boxing Club against Eduardo Baez on Thursday, but it proved to be all for naught as the 2016 Armenian Olympian suffered the first professional defeat of his career in an eight-round, junior featherweight clash.
“The Dancing Killer” couldn’t use his fleet feet to fend off “El Fantastico” Baez (18-1-2, 6 KO’s), who used a bull-like approach to beat the matador-like Abgaryan (14-1, 6 KO’s) in the Ring City USA co-feature on NBC Sports Network.
Baez won the bout in a unanimous decision with two scores of 80-72, and a third of 79-73.
Abgaryan showed signs of superior class and control in the beginning of the fight, but he was forced to backpedal from Baez’s hard-charging, Mexican Style of fighting and couldn’t muster off much of a meaningful attack countering.
Both fighters clashed heads in the second, but Baez got the worst of it, suffering a cut on the top of his forehead, right beneath his hairline.
The blood flowed down the face of Baez profusely, but that didn't deter him from a deft and sturdy offensive onslaught that rarely faded.
Baez was the aggressor, but Abgaryan fought smarter and not harder, strategically picking and choosing his shots, and popping in and out of the pocket. It was not enough to get the attention of the judges.
Abgaryan never really dug deep in his pocket in search of a Plan B, as the bout was fought at a similar pace all night.
By the end of the fifth, Baez appeared battered and bruised and was dealing with a cut over his left eyebrow, but not before dealing a left jab and straight right hand.
Abgaryan’s face visibly appeared to don the wear and tear of the fight heading into the seventh, as Baez began cruising to the decision he ultimately earned.
Baez grabbed the bull by the horns in the eighth and final round and brought out a more powerful attack, proving that the energy poured till that point had not zapped him, his spirit was still there, and that he would close the show in style.
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com