Ana “The Hurricane” Julaton made her return to Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario a successful one Wednesday night with a hard fought 10 round split decision victory over Mexico’s Maria Villalobos to capture the vacant WBO Super bantamweight title. Julaton, who captured the heart of fight fans in Canada with her valiant effort against world champion Lisa Brown, had her hands full with the plucky import for Mexico, most of who thought the decision should have gone the other way.

Julaton, following the Brown defeat, hired the services of trainer Freddy Roach to help prepare her for this world title opportunity. Having a mastermind like Freddy Roach in your corner will vastly improve your chances of victory however; having Roach in your corner is one thing, listening to Roach in your corner is another. It was clear from the opening bell that Julaton needs to listen more.

As the bell sounded to start the action, Julaton (7-2-1, 1KO) came out boxing. She moved gracefully around the ring, flicking out her left jab with authority. Jab and move, jab and move. N thing else came from Julaton for the first 3 minutes, or for most of the fight. Villalobos, who entered the contest with 3 KO victories in her 6 wins, simply chugged after the fleet footed Julaton, throwing the occasional punch, giving the round away to her adversary.

Villalobos (6-4, 3Kos) started round two off well, landing an overhand right to the side of Julaton’s head. Julaton grabbed one and played to the crowd indicating she wasn’t hurt by the solid blow. When the referee broke the fighters from their embrace, Julaton returned to her jab and move plan, tying up Villalobos whenever she got too close for comfort. Villalobos’ conservative approach to punching clearly costing her the first two rounds of this 10 round championship bout.

Julaton, who wore a smile on her face for the first two rounds, would have that smile permanently removed early in round 3. Villalobos was able to push the California based Filipino into the ropes where a short sneaky right hook dropped Julaton into a seating position. The referee waved off the knockdown, citing it as a slip rather than the 2 point knockdown. Obviously hurt, Julaton immediately clinched, holding on for dear life and Villalobos tucked her head into Julaton’s midsection and wailed away on the body. Julaton’s smiling face turned into a look of concern as she found no room to move and continued to eat a barrage of leather for the duration of the round.

Roach greeted his pupil at the end of the round, imploring his young student to stick and move, to throw something off the jab. Julaton listened....partly as he returned to jabbing and staying on the outside. Villalobos, after an exceptional 3rd round, began to conserve his output, electing to throw single punches whenever she got into range which wasn’t often. The best punch of the round appeared seconds after the bell when Julaton dropped her hands and Villalobos planted a right hook to the head ; a punch that produced an ugly purple welt under the left eye of Julaton.

Julaton’s corner worked feverously on the left eye which, after the one minute rest between rounds concluded, was almost swollen shut to start round 5. Villalobos, now presented with a large inviting purple target , took control of the round early, bullying Julaton into the ropes and landed overhand rights over the Filipino’s ineffective jab. Although the Mexican fighter had the power to hurt Julaton whenever she wanted to, she chose to be selective on what punches she’d throw and how many, something that eventually cost her the victory.

Julaton found her legs in round 6, circling the ring, throwing only the jab to try and keep off the slow moving Villalobos for the duration of the round. When Villalobos managed the corner Julaton, it was the Filipino getting the better of the exchanges. It was the first time in the fight that Julaton threw something that wasn’t a jab and for a short time, it worked. It worked until the Mexican import realized that Julaton, her left eye now completely closed, was unable to detect Villalobos’ right.

Round 7 through 9 were mirror copies on one another. Julaton jabbing, sometimes double jabbing, while circling the ring. When Villalobos caught too close, Julaton clinched and held until the referee separated the two. Villalobos, who was sporting an ugly knot on the side of her forehead, simply followed Julaton, leaping in with hooks that rarely found their mark. She too was tired, not of punching but of trying to chase down her elusive opponent. When the timekeeper signalled the 10 seconds before the end of the round, Villalobos would come alive throwing punches from every direction, in hopes of stealing the round.

Heading into the 10th and final round, the bout was up for grabs. Those that liked Julaton’s volume of jabs and energy gave the 2 time world champion the edge. Those that favoured the aggressive nature of the former Mexican champion gave Villalobos the edge. Julaton started the round off well, landing a straight right hand off the jab (image that) that caught Villalobos flush on the chin. The Mexican jumped into a clinch then proceeded to land a right hand while she held on. The two wrestled and clinched their way to the final bell with Villalobos the more active of the two. At the bell, both felt that they did just enough to earn the victory.

The judges, like most of the media reporting on the fight, were split in their decision. Villalobos was the winner of one scorecard by a score of 97-93 but fell short of the other two by scores of 96-94 giving Julaton the split decision victory and her third world title despite the fact she has yet to reach double digits in victory. FightNews Canada also scored the bout 96-94 Julaton however there were many rounds that could have gone the other way. Upon the decision being announced, the crowd voiced its disapproval of the verdict, boos reigned down from all directions. Julaton and Roach addressed the audience, both pleased with the effort and the result of the Hurricane. The loser could only smile as she left the ring, taking home with her a moral victory as well as winning over the majority of the fight fans in attendance.

If you wish to contact the author of this article, email Dave Baggs at FightNews Canada