Frankenstein Lives! Mike Perez Fights Through Horrible Head Butt Cut to Draw With Carlos Takam
By Robert Brizel, Head RCM Boxing Correspondent
Montreal, Canada (January 19th, 2014)– After sustaining an accidental head butt from Cameroon fighter Carlos Takam of France during the third round of his scheduled ten round heavyweight bout, Mike Perez, a Cuban defector fighting out of Cork, Ireland, should have watched referee Frank Garza declare a no-contest. Instead, the Home Box office televised preliminary to the main event continued on in the corner. Perez trainer and corner cut man Abel Sanchez worked on a horrific cut on the right eyebrow on Perez. The gash went all the way across from left to right, treating HBO viewers to a cut scene worthy of fictional scientist Victor Frankenstein. It was if a dead boxer had to be brought back to life in a different form. The ten round bout resulted in a majority draw.
It came to pass Mike Perez had to box another seven rounds with the Frankenstein cut, and as a result, somehow lived to tell the tale. However, after five rounds, Perez began to fade as badly as his last opponent Magomed Abdusalamov did against him in the second half of the bout. In an unexpected and surprising development, Takam, a heavy underdog, took the fight to Perez and outpunched him. As rounds passed, the cut took its toll on a fearful Perez, who was also dealing the emotional implications incurred from putting Magomed Abdusalamov in a coma after their bout was stopped last year in his previous bout.
Takam, 29-1-1 with 23 knockouts, Noisy-le-Grand, Seine-Saint-Denis, France, landed an impressive 156 power punches which scored overall, to 125 for Perez, now 20-0-1 with 21 knockouts, cork, Ireland. The accidental head butt cut bothered Perez in the later rounds and clearly distracted him and affected his ability to fight. When his survival game ended, two judges scored the bout 95-95 an even draw, while the third judge scored it 96-94 for Perez. Canadian scoring appeared neutral and fair for both foreign combatants fighting for the first time-and probably last time-in Canada on the undercard of the HBO North American Boxing Federation 12 round bout between Canadians Jean Pascal and Lucian Bute, won by Pascal by unanimous decision.
Result: Carlos Takam Majority Draw 10 Mike Perez, Heavyweights
Scoring: 95-95, 95-95 Majority Draw. 96-94 for Perez.
Referee: Frank Garza.
Perez sustained a bad cut on his right eyebrow from an accidental head butt from Carlos Takam in round three. The bout was not stopped. Trainer Abel Sanchez worked on the cut.
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