NEW YORK – John Bauza remained undefeated Saturday night, but he didn’t necessarily legitimize himself as a 140-pound contender.
Nevertheless, Bauza boxed his way to a unanimous decision over Canadian veteran Tony Luis on the Edgar Berlanga-Steve Rolls undercard at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater. Bauza (17-0, 7 KOs), a Puerto Rican southpaw from New Jersey, won all eight rounds according to judge Ken Izzo, seven rounds on judge Steve Weisfeld’s scorecard (79-73) and six rounds on judge Waleska Roldan’s card (78-74).
Luis, of Cornwall, Ontario, Canada, represented a step up in class for Bauza, who knocked out each of his two previous opponents. Bauza stated during a press conference Thursday that he became more committed to scoring knockouts after drawing criticism for going in the distance in six straight bouts before those two knockouts.
He couldn’t hurt Luis (29-5, 10 KOs), who has been stopped only once in a 13-year, 35-fight pro career.
Luis lost to undefeated junior welterweight contender Arnold Barboza Jr. (26-0, 10 KOs) by unanimous decision in his prior appearance. Before Saturday night, he hadn’t boxed in the 18 months since Barboza beat him in their 10-rounder in August 2020 at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.
Luis pressured Bauza throughout the eighth and final round, but Bauza used his legs and navigated his way toward the final bell.
Luis landed a right hand that made Bauza reset his feet near a neutral corner just after the midway mark of the seventh round.
Bauza pot-shotted Luis at times during the sixth round, when he mostly boxed off his back foot. Luis applied pressure in that round, yet rarely landed clean punches on the defensive-minded Bauza.
Luis landed a right hand that backed Bauza into the ropes with just over a minute to go in the fifth round.
Luis pressed Bauza at times during the fourth round, but Bauza did his best to fend off Luis with right hooks and straight left hands. Bauza landed two flush left hands in the final minute of the fourth round and quickly moved out of Luis’ punching range.
Neither fighter landed many clean punches during the third round.
With just under a minute on the clock in the second round, Claudio called for a break in the action and warned Bauza and Luis for rule-bending tactics. Bauza was very aggressive at the start of the second round, when he challenged Luis to trade with him.
Bauza landed two left hands just before the first round concluded. After taking just prior to the bell sounding, Luis shook his head as he walked back to his corner, as if to indicate the shot didn’t affect him.
In the last non-televised bout before Bauza beat Luis, welterweight prospect Jahi Tucker remained undefeated by out-pointing a game Tracey McGruder in their six-round welterweight bout.
The 19-year-old Tucker went the distance for the first time (7-0, 6 KOs). The Deer Park, New York, native won by scores of 60-54, 59-55 and 59-55.
The 30-year-old McGruder (6-2, 4 KOs), of Rochester, New York, has not been knocked out in three years as a pro. His only previous loss was a six-round, majority-decision defeat to Christopher Hatley (then 2-0) in February 2021.
Just before the midway mark of the fifth round, Tucker backed into a corner, away from McGruder, and invited his opponent to come trade with him. Tucker tried that strategy again, this time in McGruder’s corner, after they briefly exchanged in Tucker’s corner.
Tucker caught McGruder with numerous right hands during the first three rounds, but McGruder’s chin served him well. Both boxers landed hard shots during an entertaining exchange in the final 20 seconds of the third round.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.