Luisito Espinosa vs Kennedy McKinney

Less than 4 minutes of fighting were sufficient for Luisito Espinosa to retain his WBC featherweight championship against Kennedy McKinney at Fantasy Springs Casino, Indio, on November 28, 1998. The Filipino champion knocked McKinney down in the opening round and stopped him after 47 seconds of the 2nd. Referee Marty Denkin intervened with the challenger helpless against the ropes, ending a scheduled 12-round contest in which Espinosa had established his superiority almost immediately. It was his 7th successful defence of the championship.

McKinney, the 1988 Olympic bantamweight gold medallist and a former IBF and WBO super bantamweight champion, was moving up to challenge an established featherweight. His previous appearance was a 4th-round stoppage of Junior Jones in December 1997, leaving him inactive for almost a year. Espinosa had held the WBC crown since defeating Manuel Medina in December 1995. His subsequent defences included victories over Alejandro Gonzalez, Cesar Soto and Medina again; most recently, he had beaten Juan Carlos Ramirez by technical decision in August. McKinney brought substantial experience, but Espinosa had been competing successfully at the heavier weight for several years.

Espinosa began with left hooks and wide punches to the body, changing the level of his attack before bringing his punches upstairs. McKinney tried to establish his jab and right hand, but the champion’s counters drove him backwards. A left hook hurt the American, and Espinosa followed him towards the ropes. He briefly checked his advance when McKinney appeared to recover, then struck again. A heavy right hand, followed by a left hook, sent the challenger down. McKinney beat the count, but was bleeding from the mouth and had to withstand further hooks and right hands before the bell.

The interval brought no lasting recovery. Espinosa resumed his attack in the 2nd, using his left to occupy McKinney before driving home the right. A clean right hand left the challenger momentarily unable to respond. Further punches carried him into the ropes, where Denkin stopped the contest. McKinney had been particularly concerned with defending against Espinosa’s left hook; the champion’s right hand had repeatedly found the resulting openings. There had been no sustained period in which the challenger could impose his own boxing or interrupt Espinosa’s attack.

The broadcast’s CompuBox figures credited Espinosa with 50 connections from 105 punches, against McKinney’s 9 from 61. Afterwards, McKinney acknowledged that the champion had been stronger than he expected and said he intended to return to super bantamweight. Espinosa’s performance renewed discussion of a possible meeting with Naseem Hamed, an opponent McKinney himself had hoped to face. On this occasion, however, the challenger had never recovered from the opening assault. Espinosa’s work to the body, followed by his accurate switches to the head, had settled the contest before McKinney could establish a foothold.

I thought Espinosa’s punch selection was excellent. McKinney was watching for the left hook, but the right hand kept finding him. The body work helped create those openings, and Espinosa finished decisively in the 2nd. Coming off his win over Junior Jones, McKinney still had credibility and the sort of fighting reputation fans respected. But after nearly a year out, moving up against an established featherweight proved too much. For me, Espinosa deserves the credit: he recognised what McKinney was defending against and punished what he left open.