Soto Karass knocked through the ropes, but not ready to say no more after Abreu’s KO blows

By Norm Frauenheim-

TUCSON, Ariz. – It was a tough way to say goodbye, so tough that Jesus Soto Karass might want to try it all over again.

Juan Carlos Abreu knocked out any chance that Soto Karass might have had at celebrating a farewell with a victory Thursday night in an ESPN-televised fight at Casino Del Sol.

Abreu delivered a couple of huge lefts, dropping Soto Karass twice in the eighth round and nearly sending him through the ropes, if not into retirement, with the second knockdown in a powerful TKO of the popular Mexican.

For Abreu (20-3-1, 19 KOs), the victory gave him some hope to think that maybe he can still be a welterweight contender. For Soto Karass (28-13-4, 18 KOs), the crushing defeat looked like just another reason to walk away from his 16-plus years throwing – and taking — punches

But Soto Karass wasn’t ready say farewell. After he got up from the crushing finish at 1:07 of the eighth, he stood on the ring’s bottom rope and waved at the crowd almost as if he had won. It wasn’t a gesture of farewell. He was saying thanks.

“Thanks to my fans,’’ said Soto Karass, who wasn’t sure about retirement before opening bell.

He wasn’t sure after referee Rocky Burke had ended it , either

“I will sit down with my manager and my family, talk to them, then decide.’’

It was clear to Soto Karass that his Mexican fans haven’t given up on him. Maybe that’s because he never gives up, at keast not in the ring. It was evident in the early going that it would only be a matter of time before the stronger, more mobile Abreu would catch Soto Karass, who as a boxer is as pedestrian as he is fearless. He just kept moving forward.

“I just got caught, really caught by a punch from a guy who can really punch,’’ he said.

The finishing blows might have come earlier. However, Abreu, a Dominican, said he hurt his right hand in the second round. He said planned to have a physician examine the hand to determine whether he sustained a serious injury.

He said the pain made him cautious from the third round through the seventh. There were moments in the sixth and again in the seventh when it looked as if Soto Karass would simply try to wait him out, perhaps wear him out. In the eighth, the stubbornly persistent Soto Karass walked into the only good hand Abreu still had. Then, it landed once and then a second time, finishing a fight, if not a career.

In the co-main event, junior-lightweight prospect Ryan Garcia (12-0, 11 KOs) came into the ring to classical music. Garcia, of Victorville, Calif., wore black-and-white shorts that could of come out of the 1950s. They were black-and-white. They also were made in honor of the late Jake LaMotta, whose Raging Bull nickname was stitched across the back of the trunks alongside 1922-2017, the years of LaMotta’s birth and death.

It was an old-school look. It was an old-school win, too. Garcia’s power stole the show, overwhelming an overmatched Cesar Valenzuela (14-6-1, 5 KOs). A Garcia left, traveling at blinding speed, knocked down Valenzuela in the first round. Another finished him late in third of a bout referee Tony Zaino ended in the final second of the round.

In the telecast’s opening bout, the judges’ scores made it look easy. It wasn’t. Prospect Hector Tanajara Jr. (11-0, 4 KOs), a Robert Garcia-trained junior-lightweight, endured head-rocking shots and stubborn aggressiveness from Mexican Jesus Serrano (17-5-2, 12 KOs) for eight rugged rounds. In the end, Tanajara relied on his superior reach and bigger body, winning a unanimous decision that was a lot closer than the 80-72, 79-73, 80-72 scorecards.

Best of the Undercard

There were some questionable blows and some real ones. There was a lot of everything. And Mexican German Meraz has seen just about everything. Meraz’ documented record includes 105 fights. Yet he entered the ring with only one draw. Now he’s got two.

Meraz (58-45-2, 35 KOs), of Agua Prieta, danced, smiled, landed punches and took few, yet all of it was only enough for a majority draw with Los Angeles featherweight Rafael Gramajo (9-1-2, 2 KOs) in a wild fight that ended with him ahead on one card, 58-56, and 57-57 on the other two.

The Rest

California bantamweight Cesar Diaz, poised and precise, also improved on a perfect record (6-0, 6 KOs) with a stoppage of Pedro Melo (17-17-2, 8 KOs), a Tijuana fighter who surrendered at 1:10 of the fifth round an injury to his left shoulder.

Junior-welterweight Christopher Gonzalez (1-0), a national amateur champion from Tucson, threw a short hook for what was ruled a second-round knockdown of Jesus Arevalo (2-2) of Sierra Vista, Ariz., and went on to win a unanimous decision in his pro debut.