Gabriel Flores Jr. retornó a la senda del triunfo con floja actuación y controvertida victoria mayoritaria sobre Abraham Montoya
Daniel Pi
@BastionBoxeo
Save Mart Arena, Fresno, Estados Unidos. Peso superpluma.
Tras su dura derrota ante Luis Alberto “Venado” López en septiembre, anoche el joven estadounidense Gabriel Flores Jr. 21(7KO)-1 pretendía retornar a la senda del triunfo ante el mexicano Abraham Montoya 20(14KO)-3-1, objetivo que logró cumplir. No obstante, el triunfo del local llegó por controvertida decisión mayoritaria de los jueces (doble 96-94 y un 95-95) y Flores no tuvo una actuación brillante, ya que su boxeo realmente parece haber involucionado.
A diferencia del fluidísimo estilo dinámico que mostró durante su etapa anterior, a veces ante duros rivales, Flores tuvo un boxeo entrecortado, en el que sus movimientos no fueron excesivamente ágiles, en el que sus reflejos resultaron escasos y en el que súbitamente se detenía en la distancia de golpeo de Montoya, que conectaba manos nítidas. Es cierto que a veces la insistencia de Montoya era lo que le permitía alcanzar a su contrincante moviéndose y no los errores del local, pero en otras tantas ocasiones era Flores quien se paraba sin motivo frente a su fuerte rival, que encontró huecos para potentes hooks.
Por velocidad de manos, al inicio Flores sacó algunas series de rectos que hicieron diana de manera eficaz, pero pronto se olvidó de ellas y de su jab y terminó recurriendo demasiado al clinch a la vez que era evidente que se estaba cansando ante los uno-dos-hook y las combinaciones de curvos de Montoya. Así, el enfrentamiento se asentó en una tendencia negativa para Flores que, como en su anterior pelea, no sólo terminó perdiendo asaltos y dejando una imagen pobre, sino que además recibió peligroso castigo pese a sus esporádicos aciertos por talento natural y por su voluntad de no dejarse derrotar.
El mexicano Montoya merece crédito por atacar con tesón e insistencia y aprovechar las brechas del favorito local, ante quien debió obtener una valiosa victoria que los jueces no quisieron darle. En cualquier caso, es indudable que Flores está padeciendo una grave regresión en su boxeo y que necesita hacer un cambio drástico para intentar tanto recuperar el estilo que en su día le hizo un prospecto insigne como para evitar recibir tantos puños en cada duelo.
Gabriel Flores Jr. returned to winning ways with a bad performance and a controversial majority decision over Abraham Montoya
Daniel Pi
@BastionBoxing
Save Mart Arena, Fresno, United States. Super featherweight.
After his tough defeat against Luis Alberto «Venado» López in September, last night the young American Gabriel Flores Jr. 21(7KO)-1 tried to return to winning ways against the Mexican Abraham Montoya 20(14KO)-3-1, objective which he accomplished. However, the victory of the local was by controversial majority decision (double 96-94 and one 95-95) and Flores did not have a brilliant performance, since his boxing really seems to have regressed.
Unlike the good dynamic style that he showed during previous stages, sometimes against tough opponents, Flores had an inconsistent boxing, in which his movements were not excessively agile, in which his reflexes were poor and in which he suddenly stopped in the striking distance of Montoya, who landed hard punches. It is true that sometimes Montoya’s insistence was what allowed him to hit his opponent and not the mistakes from the local, but on many other occasions it was Flores who stopped for no reason in front of his strong rival, who found opportunities to connect powerful hooks.
Because of his hand speed, Flores initially used some combinations of straight punches that hit the target effectively, but he soon forgot about them and about his jab and ended up resorting to the clinch too much, as it was evident that he was getting tired due to the one-two-hooks and the combinations of hooks from Montoya. Thus, the confrontation settled on a negative trend for Flores who, as in his previous fight, not only ended up losing many rounds and having a poor performance, but also received dangerous punishment despite his sporadic successes due to his natural talent and his willingness to not be defeated.
The Mexican Montoya deserves credit for attacking with tenacity and insistence and taking advantage of the holes in the boxing of the local, against whom he deserved to obtain a valuable victory that the judges did not wanted to give him. In any case, there is no doubt that Flores is suffering a serious regression in his boxing and that he needs to make a drastic change to try to recover the style that in the past made him a distinguished prospect and also avoid receiving so many punches in each fight.