Jose Pedraza defeats Raymundo Beltran for WBO lightweight title

By Jeremy Herriges | Aug 26, 2018

GLENDALE, AZ - AUGUST 25: Jose Pedraza (L) Puerto Rico fights Raymundo Beltran during the WBO lightweight championship bout at Gila River Arena on August 25, 2018 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

Raymundo Beltran attempted to defend his title for the first time against Jose Pedraza. Beltran fought bravely, but his age showed in the fight.

Raymundo Beltran defied a lot of odds in order to win the WBO lightweight title in February. At 37 years old and with numerous losses on his record, he’s never been viewed as championship material, but he’s used to overcoming obstacles. Unfortunately, Jose Pedraza proved to be too cumbersome of an impediment.

Beltran established the role of aggressor in Round 1. He took the center of the ring and had Pedraza backpedaling early. Pedraza landed several quick jabs, but Beltran’s punches looked much harder. Pedraza’s hands appeared faster, but Beltran won the round.

Pedraza threw a lot of punches in the opening of the second. Beltran plodded forward, but Pedraza’s hand speed continuously beat Beltran to the punch. Beltran stalked Pedraza around the ring, but he followed instead of cutting the ring off. Pedraza drew blood from Beltran’s left eye. Pedraza thoroughly out-boxed Beltran in this round.

Beltran’s corner did a nice job of stopping the blood between rounds. He continued to try and walk down Pedraza in the third, but he proceeded to run into Pedraza’s jab. Beltran briefly got into Pedraza’s body and landed several body punches, but he ate a lot of punches to do it. Pedraza got the better of the action.

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Sensing he was falling behind, Beltran came out aggressively in Round 4. He owned the first minute of the round and threw ferocious punches to Pedraza’s head. Pedraza got away from Beltran, but not for long. Beltran’s pressure took a lot out of Pedraza which won him the round.

Round 5 was awkward. Both boxers took a break and posed for the first minute. Beltran gave up some of the momentum he built up in the previous round. He looked his best when he pressured Pedraza but elected to box in fifth. Luckily for him, Pedraza didn’t do much to make him pay for altering his tactics. It was a hard round to score.

Beltran reapplied the pressure early in the sixth. They fought toe-to-toe for much of the round, which favored Beltran. He landed several subtle uppercuts that slipped through Pedraza’s guard. Pedraza had to hold to stall Beltran’s progress. This was a Beltran round.

Pedraza turned southpaw in the seventh, and it allowed him to land his jab. His change in strategy worked for a while, but Beltran jumped on Pedraza and smothered his punches. Even though Beltran got close to Pedraza, Pedraza looked much better as a southpaw. He did enough to win the round.

Pedraza intelligently stayed in a southpaw stance in round eight. He did a nice job of keeping Beltran away with his jab. When Beltran got inside of his reach, their legs got twisted and forced a clinch. Beltran wasn’t able to get off punches while inside on Pedraza. Pedraza won the round with judicious boxing and strategy.

The ninth round looked a lot like the eighth. Pedraza’s jab kept Beltran away for most of the round. Beltran got in close a few times but wasn’t able to hurt Pedraza. Beltran had plenty of heart, but Pedraza beat him mentally. Pedraza’s mental and physical maneuvering excelled.

Pedraza’s right hand was a tripwire in the 10th. He flicked that hand out constantly, and it connected to Beltran’s head most of the time. Beltran couldn’t figure out Pedraza’s approach, and he was out-boxed for the third round in a row. He was falling behind in the cards and Pedraza took over the fight.

Beltran was having a good Round 11, but then he was suddenly dropped by Pedraza with a left uppercut. Beltran got to his feet but was hurt. Pedraza’s knockdown gave him more pep in his step. He tried to knock Beltran out, but Beltran survived the round.

Beltran fought Round 12 in courageous fashion. He pressed forward and gave Pedraza all he had left. Fatigue set in for both boxers, but Beltran looked more tired than Pedraza. Pedraza fought intelligently and was content with boxing instead of brawling.

With 10 seconds left in the round, Pedraza flipped a switch and let his hands go with blinding speed. Beltran didn’t expect Pedraza’s final barrage and was frozen. Beltran looked defenseless and Pedraza relentlessly landed to his head and body. Pedraza won the round with 10 seconds of brutality.

Jose Pedraza had his hand raised as the new WBO lightweight champion of the world. He earned this win. Pedraza took over the second half of the fight. Beltran has a lot of heart, but his age showed. It’s hard for a 37-year-old to contend with younger fighters at a championship level. Pedraza rose to the occasions and did exactly what he needed to do in order to beat a champion on his home turf.

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With this win, Pedraza is slated to fight Vasiliy Lomachenko next. Lomachenko is one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world. Pedraza will be a massive underdog going into their lightweight unification bout, but he has time to enjoy his victory over Beltran. Pedraza proved to be a farsighted boxer who is able to endure pressure. He’s a world champion for the second time of his career.