Carr Wins Right to Next Fight

The biggest loser in the aftermath of Saturday night’s welterweight boxing bonanza at the Thomas & Mack Center? Well, certainly not Ike Quartey, who took everything Oscar De La Hoya had and came within a punching flurry or two of scoring a huge upset.

No, the poor guy nobody wants to be is a welterweight from Detroit named Oba Carr, who had the misfortune of winning his way into De La Hoya’s next matchup.

That one probably will be May 22, at the as-yet-to-open Mandalay Bay Hotel here, a facility clearly signifying its entry into the Vegas fight scene by building a new stadium next to its new hotel.

So it will be with that backdrop that Carr, a nice welterweight who lost to Quartey in 1996 and who struggled a bit before handling retread Frankie Randall in a unanimous decision in the semi-main event, must take on De La Hoya, who showed in the classic test against Quartey that he is several levels above the likes of Carr.

The fight will be hyped, of course, but if Saturday night’s comparative matches mean anything, instead of calling this one “The Big Challenge” or “Jaw to Jaw” or whatever other nonsense they call these things, it might better be labeled “Mismatch at Mandalay.”

De La Hoya’s wish was for Randall to win, because, as Arum said, “Oscar felt that the Mexican crowd would be more excited about Randall because he has the win over Julio Cesar Chavez.”

Randall is 37 years old, and had that one come off, they could have called it “Murder at Mandalay.”

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The other undercard events were won by two boxers, a woman dressed in hot pink, and a legend.

The boxers were Paola Roberto of Sweden, who won a unanimous decision over Jesus Mayorga of Mexico in a junior-middleweight bout, and Erik Morales of Mexico, who retained his World Boxing Council super-bantanweight title with a thundering three-punch knockout of Angel Chacon of Puerto Rico in the second round.

Morales, now 32-0, got Chacon up against the ropes and measured him for right-hand shots four or five times before connecting with a sickening-looking right that put Chacon out immediately. On his way down, Chacon was hit with two more thundering shots, a left and then a right.

The woman dressed in hot pink was Mia Rosales St. John, who was proudly deemed by the ring announcer at the end of her four-round poke-and-push decision over Amanda Skelton of Ft. Smith, Ark., “The Queen of Four-Rounders.” Such is the current state of boxing.

The “legend” was Eric Esch, also known as Butterbean, whose name speaks aptly for his body and who dispatched yet another prop sent into the ring to stand around and be hit. This one was named Patrick Graham, the pride of Edmonton, Canada, who fell nicely through the ropes in the second round to end things.

Afterward, Butterbean went to the ropes, leaned over and thanked George Foreman, there as an announcer, for George’s meat grill that he hawks all over the place. It is supposed to cut back on the fat of the meat as it is grilled, and it clearly has helped Butterbean stay under 400 pounds.

Indeed, such is the current state of boxing.