Fighter of the WeeK (7/17-7/23): Erik Robles
On a relatively quiet week of boxing on the eve before re the year's biggest weekend, one performance really stood out and captured the eye of whoever watched it on either side of the Atlantic. 23-year-old largely unknown Mexican contender "Terrible" Erik Robles pulled what is possibly the "Upset of the Year" award and possibly as he traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland, to take the "0" from hometown hero "Lightning" Lee McGregor. Robles outworked and outlasted McGregor to pick up a career-changing win, move his record to 14-1 (9), put himself in the world title picture, take home our Fighter of the Week Award, and secure himself, a career-best payday upcoming.
In what was supposed to be a test but a "W" for the hometown Scots man turned into n what is a Fight of the Year candidate and the front runner for Round of the Year in round 10. Robles came out like shot-out of a cannon in the early going putting rounds in the bank. Unleashing combinations at breakneck speeds in a phonebooth fight, he was simply out-working and out-hustling the home countryman. However, McGregor started rallying back, beginning in the fourth, as his more precise punching and harder punches were having their effect. McGregor was also winning the fight when it was on the outside, which in retrospect, should have been his game plan. It looked as if Robles was fading as his punch output began to slow down.
McGregor appeared to even the fight up, going into the last couple of rounds landing body shots and his perfectly placed uppercuts, McGregor even things up. However, it was Robles who got his second wind and put together large rallies and scored in combinations, and was able to hurt McGregor Several times and sustained rallies. In the 10th round, the Scotsman seemed to be in trouble as Robles landed with multiple combinations that stunned McGregor. Robles knowing he needed to win a clear-cut decision against the hometown hero and closed the show excitingly and definitively. The cards went the correct way to the deserving Mexican road dog and not the hometown fighter by scores of 115-113X2 and 116-113.
As a Mexican super bantamweight, you are going to have a lot to live up to if you are going to carry the nickname "Terrible" and Robles has a long way to go to catch up to maybe the greatest super bantamweight of all time "Terrible" Erik Morales. However, he showed a high level of grit, skill, and endurance on Friday the 21st in Edinburgh. He is going to get another shot on a big stage. There may be a rematch with McGregor or one of the other top names at 122. An all-Mexican showdown with Kevin Gonzalez would be highly intriguing, as would a fight with names like Ra'eese Aleem or Hector Valdez. A name like that and a second high-level win will put him in a position to fight for a world title in his next fight. We have seen many rugged Mexicans go from obscurity to the top in a relatively short time recently. Fighters like Bronco Lara and Luis Alberto Lopez have gone from humble beginnings to kings at breakneck speeds. Robles could be the next to accomplish such a feat, and it's going to be a fun ride to watch what he does next.
