BOXING
Mendoza drops unanimous decision vs. Tellez
Road back to contender status now more complicated for NM fighter
If a boxer loses a self-described must-win fight, what then?
That鈥檚 the decision facing New Mexico native Brian Mendoza.
Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada, Mendoza lost by unanimous, 10-round decision to Cuba鈥檚 Yoenis Tellez in the co-main event of a card at the MGM Grand Garden.
Mendoza (23-5, 17 knockouts) had not hesitated in advance of Saturday鈥檚 bout to say he badly needed a victory if he were to re-enter the world title picture in the super welterweight division.
Instead, he鈥檚 dealing with his third defeat in his last four fights.
In the third round, it appeared Mendoza might avoid defeat 鈥� not with a victory, but by an outcome of no decision after an unintentional Mendoza head strike caught Tellez flush on the nose. But after a five-minute delay, Tellez opted to continue.
Published accounts of the bout do not suggest a one-sided fight, but the official scorecards were decisive: 98-92, 97-93 and 97-93, all favoring Tellez (12-1, eight KOs).
Mendoza鈥檚 five defeats have come against opponents with a cumulative record of 79-3 entering those bouts, and he remains the only fighter to have defeated current WBC super welterweight champion Sebastian Fundora, who retained that title with a victory by sixth-round TKO over Keith Thurman in Saturday鈥檚 main event at the MGM.
A victory over Tellez might have put Mendoza in position for a return match with Fundora.
Instead, at age 32 鈥� neither old nor young for a professional boxer 鈥� does Mendoza want to start climbing a now much steeper hill back to contender status?
We鈥檒l see.
USMONOV WINS: With one eye closed and the other nearly so, Albuquerque鈥檚 Bekhzod Usmonov nonetheless defeated Mexico鈥檚 Luis Guerrero by TKO (round unspecified) Saturday night on a BKB Extreme bare-knuckle card at Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, Conn.
It was Usmonov鈥檚 BKB Extreme debut. He鈥檚 3-1 in bare-knuckle competition.
