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SportsTranscript
00:00Gentlemen, keep your arms up at all times, when I say break, take a step back without
00:06punching.
00:07In case they knock down, go to the furthest neutral corner.
00:08Don't come out of the neutral corner until I say box.
00:09Give me a good, clean fight.
00:10Good luck to both of you.
00:11Shake hands.
00:12When you are a fighter coming up from Albuquerque and you are a flyweight, there's an expectation.
00:13This is the land that gave us Johnny Tapia, Mi Vida Loca, that gave us Danny Romero and
00:14that great rivalry.
00:16Don't go into the box in the street.
00:17When you are a fighter coming up from Albuquerque and you are a flyweight, there's an expectation.
00:22This is the land that gave us Johnny Tapia, Mi Vida Loca, that gave us Danny Romero and
00:27that great rivalry.
00:29Matthew Griego was actually coached by Johnny Tapia as an amateur.
00:31He said it was hard when he passed away.
00:35I had to get away from the sport for a year and a half.
00:38There's still some of that Tapia Romero influence because Sergio Chavez in his corner...
00:41Sergio Chavez in his corner, he used to work
00:44at Johnny Tapia's corner at one time,
00:46and spent 12 years with Danny Romero.
00:48So, the spirit of Tapia and Romero
00:51fights on through Matthew Griego.
00:54It was funny, we asked him to pick
00:55between those two fighters, like, I can't.
00:57I can't, it's Albuquerque.
00:59Yeah, you don't want half of the city to hate you.
01:02That's a good call.
01:03Political stance.
01:04Absolutely.
01:05I love them both.
01:07And Mendoza, he got this fight on short notice on Tuesday,
01:14and he didn't even think twice about coming over here
01:17and looking for revenge against Matthew Griego.
01:24Nice double left hook there from Mendoza.
01:28Mendoza's fighting with confidence.
01:29He's coming out with a nice, long, stiff jab.
01:31He's landed a couple already early on.
01:34Now, Griego says, hey, that actually worked pretty good.
01:36Let me try my jab and see if it keeps you at bay.
01:41Nice overhand right there from Mendoza.
01:43And you can see the Johnny Tapia influence in Griego.
01:46The way that he moves, the kind of the way that he stands,
01:48he has his stance, he's got that little bit
01:50of herky-jerky rhythm.
01:51And even in the fighting meeting yesterday,
01:53just kind of his mannerisms kind of reminded me
01:55of Miviel Alacant, Johnny Tapia.
01:57Ooh, nice body shot.
01:57That'll remind you of Johnny Tapia as well.
02:00Take it down to the guts.
02:02Mendoza's being smart with that jab early on.
02:09That's a good right hand as well,
02:10fighting at range very well so far here in round one.
02:14Got a one-inch reach advantage does Hilberto Mendoza.
02:18Both are the same height.
02:19They know each other well from,
02:21ooh, nice right hand there from Griego.
02:23And Mendoza's got a little bit more of a reach advantage
02:25than Griego.
02:26He's got a little bit more of a reach advantage
02:28than Mendoza.
02:29Ooh, nice right hand there from Griego
02:31from their experience in June of 2022.
02:42Tell you more about the story of Abraham Perez
02:44who was supposed to be across the ring from Griego
02:47in an all Albuquerque matchup as the fight progresses.
02:53The feints from Griego trying to set up Mendoza.
02:57You heard the audience and the support for Griego
03:01as soon as he was introduced.
03:04This place would have been electric
03:06had it been an all Albuquerque fight.
03:14Ooh, there's a nice left hook from Griego, a lead left.
03:18Yeah, he set that up beautifully with a nice feinted jab.
03:21As Mendoza reached, Griego hit him
03:23with that slapping left hook.
03:24There it is again.
03:27Ooh, oh, good shot there from Mendoza.
03:32Mendoza said, I'm not gonna give him
03:35what I gave him the first time.
03:37This young man, Angelo Leo,
03:39the former junior featherweight world champion
03:42is looking to become a two division champion.
03:45He wants to do it at home.
03:47His last loss happened in January of 2021.
03:50And since then, four consecutive wins.
03:52The last three at featherweight.
03:54Last time we saw Angelo Leo,
03:56you were calling that fight, Chris, against Eduardo Baez.
03:59What impressed you most from Angelo Leo's performance?
04:03Eduardo Baez is a very familiar face.
04:04We've had him fight many, many fighters
04:06on the top rank stable.
04:07And I mean, Leo just, he's one of those guys.
04:10He's turned into an all around good fundamental fighter.
04:13You see him letting his shots go upstairs.
04:15He added that right hand, that overhand right,
04:17which is a beautiful weapon
04:18that he used against Eduardo Baez.
04:19But that body work, man.
04:20It's so consistent from round one to round 10 to round 12.
04:25He's banging your body with both hands.
04:26Very, very consistent body puncher.
04:27One of the best in the game today, actually.
04:2947.8% of his landed punches are body shot.
04:33A concerted effort to go downstairs and to break you down.
04:37Can he do that tonight in search of becoming
04:40a two division champion against one of the most awkward
04:43fighters in the game today in Luis Alberto Elvenado Lopez?
04:47That question will be answered when we move over to ESPN
04:51for the 8 p.m. local time show.
04:56That'll be our main event.
04:58Elvenado Lopez against Angelo Leo.
05:01Nice one, two combination from Gilberto Mendoza.
05:06They didn't pick me up off the couch,
05:08even though I took this fight on short notice.
05:10I've been consistent.
05:11I fought July 6th, so I still have that conditioning
05:15from that last fight.
05:16Yeah, no, you can tell he knows how to fight.
05:17I mean, he's a veteran of close to 50 fights.
05:20But Griego, this round came out moving his head
05:24quite a bit more than he was in round one.
05:26He got hit with some shots early on in the first round,
05:28jabs in right hands from Mendoza.
05:30But this round, he's coming out a lot more frenetic energy
05:33from the outside.
05:42It's a tough situation for Griego.
05:44He was gonna have a hometown clash,
05:48a quote unquote bad blood type fight.
05:51You get very excited for those kinds of fights.
05:52I remember that feeling that when you're coming up,
05:53when you're a hometown fighter,
05:54and now he's actually fighting a last minute replacement
05:57against a fighter he's already fought.
05:59But at the same time, this guy's tough.
06:01So he's gotta deal with this tough guy
06:02that he's been in the ring before.
06:03And it's a bit of a letdown
06:04because he's not fighting his original opponent,
06:06which would have been an all action,
06:08across the town type of affair.
06:10Do you own any stock in the Paramount Theater
06:12in Huntington, New York, where you fought
06:14a lot of your fights?
06:15I do have a couple bricks from there.
06:17So I guess you could say I do own a little bit.
06:19Yeah, a piece.
06:20Oh, nice body shot from Griego there
06:22with a left hook downstairs.
06:26Yeah, when you perform at the Paramount Theater,
06:28if you sell it out, they give you a brick
06:30with your name and the date on it.
06:31I sold it out.
06:33Multiple times.
06:33Like eight, nine times.
06:34Yeah, you could almost build your own theater
06:37with that as many times as you sold it out.
06:39Always fun going there to call your fights
06:41because you were at home,
06:44your mom was gonna be there feeding you,
06:47doing your sprints, even in the snow.
06:49Fans came out.
06:50It was a great venue.
06:51Just acoustically, very loud in there.
06:55And the balcony is like right over the ring, so.
06:59We call it the Long Island Blue Horizon.
07:01There you go.
07:03Oh, nice right hand there from Griego
07:05after success with the left.
07:07That was a hard shot on the top of the head.
07:10Those are the kind of shots that hurt your hand as a fighter.
07:12Hitting that crown of the head is really, really,
07:14really tough spot to land on and not damage your hands.
07:18So what happens?
07:19He hits him in the chin instead.
07:22And those are perfect shots from Griego.
07:30Street fighter.
07:31What a video game from when we were kids.
07:33But tonight, in our main event,
07:35Luis Alberto Evanado Lopez shows why he's the world champion.
07:40IBF featherweight champion,
07:42Luis Alberto Lopez has been on a 13 fight win streak
07:45and he loves to upset his opponents in their hometown.
07:50In December of 2021, the Mexicali Mexico native
07:53traveled 5,427 miles to London, England
07:57and defeated Isaac Lowe via seventh round stoppage.
08:01The following year,
08:02he then traveled 5,282 miles to Leeds, England
08:06and took the title from Josh Warrington
08:08via majority decision.
08:10And in May of 2023,
08:12Lopez traveled 5,107 miles to defend his title
08:16in Belfast, Ireland against Mick Conlon,
08:18finishing him in style via fifth round TKO.
08:22Now he travels only 661 miles to Albuquerque, New Mexico,
08:26home of Angelo Leo.
08:28Can Lopez continue his road warrior ways
08:31or will Leo's home field advantage
08:32help crown a new champion?
08:35Go ahead and put a quarter in the machine.
08:37Go to ESPN.
08:39Are you gonna go player one, the champion
08:42or player two, the challenger?
08:45All right, round three of a scheduled eight round fight
08:48here between Matthew Griego and Gilberto Mendoza.
08:52Very efficient second round for the hometown fighter
08:57landing 42% of his punches.
08:59But more than that,
09:00it was the efficiency and power of those shots
09:03that really mattered.
09:04Yeah, Griego finished that round very strong.
09:05That is some really big shots.
09:07Good overhand rights, left hooks,
09:08uppercuts up the middle.
09:11Like I said, I think he's gotta push the pace more.
09:13Use his conditioning, use that in and out movement,
09:15that head movement to open up shots like that.
09:17Good body shot.
09:18I mean, that left is finding a home on Gilberto Mendoza
09:23and he's keeping him at bay
09:25because these are heavy shots that Griego is landing.
09:29Nice body shot.
09:29Downstairs from Mendoza though.
09:31Oh, that left hook!
09:32And he doubles up with that left hook does Griego.
09:35Yeah, he wobbled Mendoza there.
09:36And he comes right back with his own left hook upstairs.
09:38And you know that long hair doesn't help.
09:40No.
09:41It makes it look that much worse, right?
09:42Yeah, I was wondering how that was gonna play out.
09:44I mean, that doesn't look like it's really gonna stay.
09:46Also, it's obstructing your vision.
09:47It's literally in his face.
09:49Aside from how dramatic it makes the punches look,
09:51even punches that you partially block.
09:53Looking like Capo Caveman.
09:55Nice left uppercut again from Griego.
09:58I'm liking those slip and rips from Griego.
10:00He slips outside, comes up with that left hand.
10:03Now he starts it with the right.
10:05The punch variety also of Griego has been wonderful so far.
10:09Look at that up jab.
10:11Doubles up on that up jab.
10:13Bernardo, remember last round when I said
10:14about hitting that shot high on top of the head?
10:16You just saw Griego roll out his right hand two times.
10:19Could potentially have an issue with that right hand.
10:22And he's got five more rounds to go
10:24after this minute and 20 seconds of round number three is done.
10:27But that left hook is still 100%.
10:30Man, Mendoza's tough, man.
10:31He's gonna hit with some big shots to the head
10:32and to the body.
10:33Just comes right back with shots of his own.
10:42Yeah, you saw Griego now think
10:45before he throws that right hand.
10:46He's being more conservative with it,
10:48but that left hand is good enough.
10:51Yeah, he's going back to that jab a lot more.
10:52Just touching with the right hand,
10:53digging with that left hook.
11:02Beautiful jab, though.
11:03He sets it up nicely with some feints
11:05and some little head movements and footsteps.
11:10That was a nice right hand there from Griego.
11:13More medicine to throw with that.
11:15Yeah, he's taking the power off of it.
11:16He's more just touching with that shot,
11:17putting it out there,
11:19and trying to come hard with the left hand.
11:20It's more a psychological game
11:22so that Mendoza doesn't realize that it's hurt.
11:25Good check hook over the top there,
11:26and it doubles it down to the body as well.
11:34Mendoza completely out of range.
11:36Good footwork there from Griego.
11:41Twerk.
11:44We'll listen in to Griego's corner with Manuel Anaya
11:47as he continues to shake that right hand.
12:09All right, Chris,
12:10you talked about maybe the right hand being injured,
12:12but that left hook is 100% efficient for Griego.
12:17Yeah, I mean, he's got a very educated left hand here.
12:19You see him slipping and ripping down to the body there.
12:21That one's a little bit low,
12:21but he comes right back upstairs.
12:23Fundamental shot.
12:24Left hook low, left hook high,
12:26and at times triples it and has good success there.
12:30Nice stuff with the left hand from Griego.
12:33Let's go.
12:35Let him have some covers, okay?
12:38You worked too fucking hard for this, okay?
12:41Work for it, have some fun, let's go.
12:44Manuel Anaya said,
12:45don't let him recover, you worked too hard for this.
12:50Round four of a scheduled eight round rematch
12:53between Matthew Griego and Gilberto Mendoza.
12:56It was meant to be an all Albuquerque duel of unbeatens,
13:00but his opponent, Abraham Perez,
13:03suffered an accident while working in the pool
13:09for this fight.
13:10His mother and sister found him
13:12at the bottom of the pool, administered CPR.
13:14He was put on life support
13:16when he arrived at the hospital.
13:17Fortunately, last Monday he was alert,
13:20and that's when they decided to no longer have him fight.
13:25And that's when Gilberto Mendoza took the fight on Tuesday.
13:29Scary stuff, man.
13:30Absolutely.
13:31Training and finding someone at the bottom of the pool,
13:33right to life support, that's scary for a young man.
13:39Nice lead right from Gilberto Mendoza.
13:43And we hope that Abraham Perez will have a full recovery.
13:48Nice left hook again.
13:50Beautiful, beautiful left hands.
13:51I love the double-triple left jab there from Griego
13:54when he gets that footwork going,
13:56moves his head well, and fires off that movement.
13:59There you go again.
13:59He cuts that angle to the outside,
14:00comes back with that left hand.
14:05He's keeping Mendoza honest with the right,
14:07so he wouldn't know that there's anything wrong with it.
14:10Yeah, as someone who's fought with hand injuries
14:12multiple times throughout my entire career,
14:14you gotta keep using it.
14:16Yes, you feel it, but you hold back a little bit.
14:19But as you said earlier,
14:21you don't want your opponent to know
14:22that the hand is damaged, so you keep putting it out there,
14:24even though it's not gonna be as powerful
14:27as it was before it was injured.
14:28What does it feel like when you have an injured hand?
14:31One of your weapons is out of commission.
14:33I always say when I would land it,
14:34when it was damaged,
14:36it was like a lightning bolt shooting up my arm.
14:38You'd land it, even a good clean shot,
14:39you'd hit it and bang,
14:40it was just a lightning bolt of pain and a white flash.
14:44You're like, it hurt him, but it hurt me more.
14:46More, exactly.
14:49Like right there, Griego landed a beautiful right hand,
14:52sent Mendoza reeling back,
14:53but there's collateral damage.
14:57Yeah, there it is again, so he rolls that hand up.
14:58Whenever he lands a clean shot, especially the looping,
15:01because then you oftentimes hit high in the head,
15:03that's much harder than hitting the chin
15:04or the cheek or the nose.
15:07So your advice would be throw straight shots, not-
15:10Throw straight shots, make sure you turn them over,
15:12but also focus on the body.
15:13The body's a softer target.
15:14When you do land,
15:15it's not like hitting a bone in the head.
15:18Also, even if you do hit like a hip bone,
15:20there's usually the hip protector over that as well,
15:21which is softer.
15:22Oh, I can look at my stomach
15:23when you said the body's no softer.
15:26What was that?
15:28I mean, just-
15:29It is what it is.
15:30It is what it is, baby.
15:31Nice jab there from Griego once again,
15:34just in control of this fight.
15:36And you know, Bernardo,
15:37I would like to see him be more consistent with the jab.
15:39He's got a very, very good jab, but he gets away from it.
15:41He's not as consistent as I would like to see him,
15:44especially if that right hand is damaged.
15:49This is the halfway point of the fight
15:51between Matthew Griego and Gilberto Mendoza.
15:54This all leads us to our main event.
15:56There is Luis Alberto Venado Lopez,
16:00as calm as can be,
16:01scrolling through social media, getting some texts.
16:04But Chris Algieri is here
16:07because our Tim Bradley is receiving
16:09the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame award,
16:12but it would be remiss if we didn't have his top list
16:16of most exciting fighters.
16:17And at number three,
16:19behind Zepeda and Isaac Cruz,
16:21we just lost to El Rayo Valenzuela
16:24this weekend is Luis Alberto Lopez.
16:25And then there's Archer Better BF and Lee Wood.
16:28I don't think any of these guys have ever been
16:30in a bad fight, and I would not anticipate
16:32that Lopez is going to be in a bad fight tonight.
16:34No, not at all.
16:35I'm very happy they got Lee Wood in there.
16:36I mean, he's a super exciting guy,
16:37but I might even have Luis Alberto Lopez
16:40ahead of Isaac Cruz,
16:41because Isaac Cruz can be in some stinkers.
16:43Yeah. It's happened.
16:44I agree a hundred percent.
16:45Venado's never in a bad fight.
16:46Never, not once.
16:47And I don't want to anticipate tonight
16:49with a guy who actually throws more punches
16:51than he does in Angelo Leo.
16:53And at home.
16:54And he's hungry.
16:55He's hungry.
16:56Angelo Leo is very, very hungry.
16:57Yes, he's been a world champion before,
16:58but he spent multiple years outside the ring.
17:00He's back with a newfound hunger.
17:02Wants to be champion again.
17:03That will be our main event this evening.
17:07Live on ESPN at 8 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.
17:13That should be 10 p.m. Eastern.
17:16Not too late.
17:17Get to see a world championship fight
17:19and leave Adolfo Delgado on the undercard,
17:21the Mexican Olympian.
17:22We're in the Olympic spirit.
17:26He'll be taking on Brian Flores.
17:2910 Eastern on ESPN when we move off
17:32of this undercard on ESPN Plus,
17:34which has given us a lot of great action so far.
17:38Some breakthrough performances as well.
17:40From Albert Chop Chop Gonzalez.
17:45Dio Melnicki.
17:47Alan Garcia.
17:48Steven Navarro with a vicious knockout.
17:51So, a lot of highlights.
17:59Ooh, nice left uppercut from Diego.
18:01Walked Mendoza into that one.
18:03Beautiful change up.
18:04Slips to the outside.
18:05Instead of going down to the body,
18:06which he has been for the last four rounds.
18:08Rips it with a left uppercut.
18:10Lead hand shot.
18:11Lands beautifully.
18:13Mendoza was inspired to start fighting
18:15after watching Oscar De La Hoya fights
18:18and Miguel Cotto fights.
18:20He's actually been preaching since he was nine years old,
18:23going out and knocking on doors.
18:26He's the second cousin of Saul Carnelo Alvarez
18:29on the Barragan side, on his mother's side.
18:44Mendoza actually doing a good job
18:45controlling the center of the ring.
18:47Forcing Diego to move around him.
18:51Still coming, still bringing that lead hand jab,
18:54the right hand behind it like that.
18:59Definitely eating more punches than he's landing though,
19:01these last few rounds.
19:02Absolutely.
19:03Diego's trainer told us,
19:04look, Matthew moves though,
19:06he's an all around fighter.
19:07He's got a lot of power.
19:08He's got a lot of power.
19:09He's got a lot of power.
19:10He's got a lot of power.
19:11He's got a lot of power.
19:12He's got a lot of power.
19:13He's an all around fighter.
19:14He has to stay on the inside, he'll do it.
19:17But he considers himself somewhat
19:20of a Johnny Tapia style fighter,
19:21and we have seen that.
19:23Yeah, yeah.
19:23I like his middle distance and long range attacks.
19:25You know, he's good from the outside.
19:27He's got that nice tricky footwork
19:28where he's able to change angles, move around the guy.
19:30And he's got an excellent jab.
19:31Again, I would like to see him be
19:32a little more consistent with that.
19:34But when he's on that outside,
19:36juking and jiving, slipping and sliding,
19:38firing that jab, it's pretty to watch.
19:43Right on cue.
19:47Sometimes it's the announcer's jinx
19:48and sometimes they're foreshadowing.
19:51There's that knee uppercut again.
19:55This was set to be an all Albuquerque duel.
19:58Unfortunately, Abraham Fett is at 10 and 0.
20:01Suffered an accident in a pool
20:04while training for this fight.
20:05Had to be administered CPR, put on live support.
20:08Our own Mark Kriegel spoke to Perez's father.
20:11Mark, what's the latest on his condition?
20:14He says he's doing well.
20:16He's improving on the daily.
20:18So, you know, there's cause for real optimism here.
20:22But obviously this family had the scare of a lifetime.
20:26Abraham's father, Aaron, is not only his trainer,
20:30but also his promoter, but it was his wife
20:34and Abraham's mother who administered the CPR.
20:37He says that the doctors at the
20:39University of New Mexico Hospital
20:41really did save his life from there.
20:44I mean, at this point, you think about his career,
20:46but more importantly, his life.
20:48And after being on live support,
20:51after having to be administered CPR by his own mother,
20:55we wish Abraham Perez a complete recovery.
20:59And hopefully we get to see him in the ring
21:03in the near future.
21:05Round six of a scheduled eight round of Bernardo Osuna
21:08alongside former world champion, Chris Algieri.
21:11Matthew Griego is the other half of that
21:13all Albuquerque duel.
21:15He's 14 and 0 with 10 knockouts in a rematch
21:18against late substitute, Gilberto Mendoza.
21:28Mendoza letting his hands go here in round six.
21:31Nice body work again from Griego.
21:34Mendoza is tough as nails.
21:37Trying to be in this fight as much as he can,
21:39even though he took this fight on short notice.
21:42And listen, I know he just fought in July, he said,
21:44but in shape and fight shape are two different things.
21:47When you're training for a fight
21:48and just staying in shape, very, very different things.
21:54Nonetheless, giving a good account of himself here,
21:57even here late in round six.
22:04And our excellent production staff
22:07has gone over to the corner to do the job
22:10that I would normally be doing.
22:11And Chris, they have confirmed
22:13that there is a right hand injury from Griego,
22:17which you see him confirm himself the way he shakes it out.
22:21Again, right on cue.
22:24Again, when I saw that in second round,
22:26it was a chopping overhand right.
22:28And just before the punch landed,
22:29Mendoza dropped his head,
22:31got hit high in the crown of the head,
22:32which is often said is the hardest part of the body.
22:36I've been there, I've done that.
22:37It is not an enjoyable thing to happen to you in a fight.
22:40You're telling me he Tim Bradley Griego?
22:43I mean, apparently he's got a very hard head.
22:44He's been taking some big left hooks all night long
22:47and has took them quite well.
22:50Underneath all that hair is a hard skull.
22:58Nicknamed Righteousness because of the fact
23:01that he is a preacher and is on the right path in life.
23:07Mendoza, nice young man to talk to.
23:12Got a great story.
23:14Fearless to come into this fight
23:16in his opponent's hometown on late notice for a rematch.
23:22And again, as a guy who's hurt his hand many times
23:24in fights from journeyman type fights like this
23:28to world championship level.
23:29I mean, once the hands are hurt,
23:31you know, you got a guy who's durable in front of you.
23:33Just look to score.
23:34Don't get hit.
23:35Don't take any damage.
23:36Impress with your skills.
23:37He's got a good left hand.
23:38He's got good footwork.
23:40It's going to take great endurance and conditioning,
23:42but he can still go out there and look good
23:44and perform well tonight, even with the injured hand.
23:51Two years ago, Luis Alberto Lopez burst onto the scene
23:54with his upset of Josh Warrington in his own backyard.
23:59He followed that performance
24:00with a sensational knockout of Mick Conlan in Ireland.
24:02Back-to-back road wins bestowed a new nickname on Lopez.
24:29That shot hurt him.
24:30Conlan is down in round five, and the towel comes in.
25:00The UK fans, he speaks so highly of them, Chris,
25:03because they really do love the sport.
25:05And he is one of the many Mexican fighters
25:07who was brought to England to lose,
25:09and lo and behold, they come back with a belt.
25:12I would say the two best fan groups in the world
25:14are the British fans and the Mexican fans.
25:15He's been able to tug both, so he's in an envious position.
25:19But yes, fighting over there.
25:20I fought over in that side of the world as well.
25:23And I mean, their fans are fantastic.
25:25I mean, I've seen a lot of their fights.
25:27And I mean, their fans are fantastic.
25:30Absolute mayhem when you go to a fight in the UK,
25:35and I imagine what it must be like to be in the ring
25:38against one of their fighters,
25:39as you've had the opportunity to do.
25:41Tim Bradley won his first title
25:42against Junior Witter in the UK as well.
25:45He's now being honored in the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame.
25:50That's why he's not here tonight,
25:52just continuing to rack up accolades.
25:54Way to go, Tim.
25:55Well-deserved.
25:57Nice right uppercut,
25:58and Mendoza connects with a shot of his own.
26:03It's actually the right wrist
26:04that Griego injured in the second round.
26:07Is there a difference, or is it just doesn't matter?
26:09It still hurts.
26:10No, there's definitely a difference.
26:12You know, when it's your knuckle or your metacarpals,
26:14you know, that generally means
26:15that you probably have a fracture.
26:16You know, the wrist, it could be soft tissue.
26:19It could be more just, you know,
26:20landing the punch in the wrong way,
26:22and you've hyperextended and whatnot.
26:25Yeah, when it's bones, it's very, very different.
26:29Not to say that he couldn't have broken his wrist as well,
26:31which is possible.
26:32There's a lot of small bones in the hand.
26:36Spoken by a man who has studied the topic
26:38as well as nutrition, like Chris Algieri.
26:41Yeah.
26:42And has studied and dealt with the empirical evidence
26:45as I look at my mangled hands.
26:50Nice right hand there.
26:52Even if it's injured,
26:53he's still throwing it with conviction.
26:56I'd love that jab though.
26:57He's got a very nice, snappy, explosive jab.
27:04There's that stick.
27:05Stops Mendoza in his tracks.
27:14People yelling, come on, Matt.
27:15Not really understanding
27:16that he's been injured since round two.
27:19And he's done such a good job of masking it.
27:22And there's that left hook.
27:24Nice left hook there from Mendoza as well.
27:31Body shot from Diego.
27:42Left uppercut from Diego.
27:54Yep.
27:56Nice body work from Diego.
27:58He thinks he's got Mendoza hurt,
28:00but Mendoza is rugged.
28:03Only been stopped by Dylan Price, Abraham Perez,
28:05who was supposed to be Diego's opponent,
28:08and Andrew Maloney out there in Costa Mesa, California.
28:13You see Mendoza and Diego walking back
28:16to their respective corners,
28:18both feeling the altitude here in Albuquerque.
28:23Doing beautiful, my dude.
28:25Pump that jab a little more, okay?
28:27Let's stay on that jab, okay?
28:28Because when you're doing it,
28:29you're kicking him out.
28:30You're resetting him every fucking time, okay?
28:33But you need to get to that bottom kick.
28:34Final instructions here before the eighth round.
28:36And Chris, the production team thinks they found the punch
28:38that caused the injury.
28:40Yeah, and especially finding out that it's the wrist.
28:42This does look like it's the shot.
28:43Here we see a looping shot from Diego here.
28:47Kind of hits the shoulder,
28:48kind of hits the side of the head,
28:49that hard part of the head.
28:50You see kind of the top and crown
28:51around the top of the head there.
28:53And the shot where it could be the wrist.
28:55You know, you hit more with your fingers or your palm.
28:59Makes sense that the wrist would be bothering you after that
29:02and not necessarily the knuckles.
29:03Because that's what you talked about.
29:04Even if it was, that's why you have to turn the punch over.
29:07Exactly, exactly.
29:08That's why slapping punches,
29:10aside from them not being as powerful,
29:12you can injure your wrist by hypersending it.
29:15All right, eighth and final round.
29:16Rocky Burton brings both fighters
29:18out to the center of the ring.
29:19They already had one fight
29:23that ended in a six round unanimous decision
29:26for Matthew Griego.
29:28That happened in June of 2022.
29:30Now here they are in August of 2024 doing it again
29:34and they want to go out in style.
29:36Oh, nice slip uppercut from Mendoza.
29:39Griego with a left hook to the head.
29:41Griego not worried about throwing that right hand anymore.
29:44He's got one round left.
29:45He's like, all right, whatever.
29:45It's hurt, I'm using it.
29:48I love that spirit.
29:50Channeling his inner Johnny Tapia.
29:56Mendoza's tough, man.
29:57He's taking some really heavy shots tonight.
30:00Listen, Griego's no feather-fisted guy.
30:02He's got 10 KO's and his 14 wins.
30:04Yeah, and you see he just sent Mendoza reeling back.
30:10I really was hoping that Mendoza would land a big shot
30:13so I could yell, Captain Caveman.
30:15But not happening.
30:18Low blow there from Griego.
30:20There's been several of those.
30:21Yeah, I can say that it does seem like Mendoza
30:24has been more affected in the last couple rounds
30:27by the punches from Griego.
30:30Early on, he was walking right through him.
30:32Absolutely.
30:32You see now Mendoza's legs don't seem as steady
30:35and the fact that he's now, you know, leaning in,
30:39he looks the worst for wear.
30:41Yeah, I mean, taking a fight on short notice.
30:42Now we're in the eighth round against a guy
30:44who's been landing big shots all night long.
30:46He's getting worn down.
30:50Ooh, another left.
30:52There's still 90 seconds to go in this round.
30:55A lot of time.
30:55Let's see how much Griego can muster up.
31:03I like the fact that Griego's going for it.
31:05He's not caring about that right hand anymore.
31:07He's not shaking it out,
31:09pretending it's not hurting and letting it fly.
31:13I love it.
31:15That is commitment.
31:16That is putting on a show for your fans
31:18here in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
31:20Griego promised to do that and he has delivered.
31:24And Mendoza, what a tough customer.
31:27Lot of pride from this fighter.
31:30Nice right hand.
31:32Taking a fight on four days notice
31:34against an undefeated fighter in his hometown.
31:38And an eight rounder, no less.
31:39It's not a four rounder.
31:39Yeah.
31:40That's impressive.
31:42It's his fifth fight of 2024, so Mendoza stays in shape.
31:48That's why he was confident in taking this fight.
31:51Guy doesn't even do spar.
31:52He's just fighting.
31:53Yeah, exactly.
31:56Nice body work from Griego.
31:58Uppercut.
32:00Mendoza standing up to those shots.
32:02You've got to give him all the credit in the world
32:05for lasting the eight rounds against Griego.
32:09And Griego deserves credit for fighting
32:12the last seven rounds with an injured right wrist.
32:14And they go out banging here in the eighth and final round
32:18in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Tingly Coliseum.
32:22Feeling a little bit tingly after this great performance.
32:27Fans enjoy that.
32:29We've got a lot of people who came out
32:34to see Matthew Griego.
32:37And Reto Mendoza put on a show
32:40for the local fight fans.
32:43This is how you want to be carried out
32:46if you're a local fighter
32:48and some great action throughout the fight.
32:50Yeah, absolutely.
32:51I mean, highly contested matchup.
32:54You know, Mendoza came in on short notice,
32:56but early on was landing some good shots.
32:58There you see a nice right hand over the top.
33:00He had a good jab.
33:01He fought with confidence.
33:02You could definitely tell he could fight,
33:03but Griego, man, he was in great shape,
33:05ready for an all action affair.
33:07Came out throwing bombs, letting those hands fly.
33:11Seems like he injured his hand around two or around three.
33:15Then he went back to his jab at his footwork,
33:17using some good head movement.
33:18There's that lead uppercut,
33:19which was a weapon that was used throughout the night.
33:22And then late in the fight, he said,
33:24forget it, I'm going to keep using that right hand.
33:26I want to get this guy out of here.
33:27I've already beaten him.
33:28I want to stop him, give my hometown fans a show.
33:32Didn't quite do enough to stop him,
33:33but definitely put on a show,
33:35landed some big shots down the stretch.
33:37Good win, got some good rounds in for Griego.
33:40And he has that experience now fighting with an injury
33:42and learning how to win even with that.
33:44Threw 24 more punches,
33:46but outlanded him 134 to 51 at a 45% clip.
33:51Fortio's going to the body.
33:53So it was a pretty dominant performance from Matthew Griego,
33:58not only on the CompuBox number,
34:00but also just visually, it was an excellent performance.
34:04Let's see just how wide the judges have this fight
34:06with Mark Center.
34:08Ladies and gentlemen, here inside the Tingley Coliseum,
34:11Albuquerque, New Mexico.
34:14After eight rounds, we go to the judges' scorecards
34:16for the official decision.
34:19Jose Cobien, Esther Lopez, and Fernando Villarreal
34:23all have the bout 80 to 72.
34:26For your winner by unanimous decision,
34:29Matthew Diamondboy Griego!
34:35This is the second time that Matthew Griego shuts out
34:39Gilberto Mendoza.
34:40So 14 rounds to none in their rivalry,
34:43but what a fight Gilberto Mendoza gave Matthew Griego
34:47here on Top Rank Boxing on ESPN.
34:49Plus he says, that hard head almost broke my head.
34:53So, you know, that's the sportsmanship you see
34:56from these young men.
34:57Yeah, no, I mean, it was a good performance.
34:59I think that Mendoza dominated.
35:01I don't know how he could score it any other way
35:02except for 80 to 72, but Griego looked good tonight.
35:05I think he showed a lot of different caveats to his style
35:10because of that.