On Friday, March 18, Cicero Stadium was packed for the second night of Chicago Golden Gloves’ semi-finals. In the red corner, Stephen Linder and Romon Aquirre stood in the blue corner. When the bell rang to start round one, it seemed Aquirre was the crowd favorite.
The fighters touched gloves and the bout began. Linder immediately attacked the body and then the head of his opponent. Aguirre landed a few hits to Linder’s head. Linder came back strong landing punches and dodging his challenger. That did not prevent Aquirre from fighting back. However, Linder landed more punches.
Aguirre endured several hits to the head and the referee adjusted his headgear. He threw some good hard hands to the head and body of his opponent. Linder backed Aguirre into the corner and the challenger fought his way to the middle of the ring. Linder looked like he was beginning to slow down but still threw hard punches.
During round two, Aguirre’s corner consistently reminded him to keep his right hand up as Linder relentlessly aimed for the head. The referee had to adjust his headgear again. Aguirre started to stumble. The referee broke the fighters up for a 10-count.
Aguirre came back hard. He backed Linder up and pounded him until Linder almost fell. Linder stood up and aimed for Aguirre’s head. Again, his headgear needed to be straightened. He fought back and seemed to be evenly matched with his opponent.
Frustrated, the referee called for a timeout and led Aguirre back to his corner to have his headgear tightened. The fight was back on and Aguirre landed two left jabs to Linder’s face. Linder responded. Aguirre was stopped for a second 10-count ending round two.
Round three began and Aguirre was unable to block the headshots. Fifteen seconds into the round, the referee stopped the fight. Winner by TKO: Stephen Linder.
Written by Jeanette Vietti
Images Courtesy of Omari Jahi – Used With Permission
