The opening bout of the telecast saw Juan Heraldez (13-0, 8 KOs) box his way to a unanimous decision over Jose Miguel Borrego (12-1, 11 KOs) in their 10-round welterweight fight.
“I was very prepared and I took advantage of this opportunity,” said Heraldez. “I executed my plan and came out with a clear victory. Other than the knockdown, I thought that I outboxed him every other round. “The jab was really the key tonight. I dictated everything off of the jab and tried to use my angles, my footwork and my movement. I did what I wanted to do.”
Heraldez controlled the ring for much of the fight with his jab and movement on the outside, while Borrego appeared focused on delivering power shots and a knockout. Heraldez controlled the pace in the first few rounds, landing scoring combinations before darting out of the way and avoiding Borrego’s return fire.
“Heraldez ran the whole fight,” said Borrego. “I’m happy that the fans booed the decision because they know he ran. I came to entertain the fans and that’s what I did.”
The 19-year-old Borrego was content to cover up and duck low while trying to navigate through Heraldez’s jab, but was unable to land enough left hooks to win early rounds in the fight. He had his first moment at the very end of the sixth when a looping left hook connected clean with Heraldez and appeared to stun him right before the bell ended the round.
Borrego continued to attack aggressively as he chased Heraldez with big power punches. In round nine Borrego connected cleanly with a left hook that put Heraldez on the mat midway through the round.
“I let myself get distracted and that’s why I got knocked down,” said Heraldez. I got a little ahead of myself. I’m the only person who can stop myself.
Despite Borrego’s continued aggression, Heraldez was able to hold on and survive the round without much further damage.
“I have to cut the ring off better,” said Borrego. “I also need to let my hands go more and throw three or four punch combinations instead of just one or two at a time.”
The final round saw Heraldez return to using his movement as he was able to avoid the charging Borrego for the last three minutes. After 10 rounds, all three judges scored the bout in favor of Heraldez by scores of 96-93 and 97-92 twice.
“It feels great to be on this stage and it’s moments like these where I can go out and compete and I can prove everyone right who gave me this chance,” said Heraldez. “This was a prospect fight and now I’m on to bigger and better things. I’m ready to take the next step.”
Photos by Idris Erba/Mayweather Promotions
