Sarembock and Villa Fight to a Draw

Shawn Michael Sarembock and Jesus Emmanuel "Morgan" Villa fought to a draw tonight at the Grand Hotel in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Both fighters had their moments in a close fight.

Sarembock, a 32 year old from Arizona, focused on defense in the opening round. He spent most of the first three minutes figuring out proper distance. Villa, a 29 year old from Mexico City, didn't do much more offensively, but enough to take the round.

In the second, Sarembock discovered two important tactics. He began targeting Villa's body and he made sure to keep his right up to block Villa's dangerous left hook. But Villa continuously landed a sneaky counter jab and found success with his own body work.

Shawn, who one announcer repeatedly called "Michael Sarenbrook," came out for the third far more aggressively. He landed picturesque left hooks to the body and then to the head. He trapped Villa in the corner and unloaded on the Mexican warrior. Midway through the round, Villa came back and connected with his best combination of the night. Sarembock stumbled back but stayed on his feet. Villa's left hook did the damage.

With the seconds ticking down in the third, Shawn cracked Villa's body with a right, which served two purposes. It hurt Villa, but it also set up a beautiful right uppercut that snapped back Morgan's head. With that final combination, Sarembock had snatched back the round. He continued the body work in the fourth, a round that saw Villa mostly retreating.

Sarembock, with a mouse growing under each eye, stalked his prey in the fifth, but didn't let his hands go until the round was half over. In the meantime, Villa jabbed and landed enough body work to put him ahead. With the round almost complete, Shawn corralled Villa into the corner and unleashed a round-winning combination that brought audible gasps from the ringside commentators.

Shawn was like a bull in the sixth and final round. He charged after Villa, eating some punches for his trouble, but cornering Villa and battering his body enough to win the round. Both men let their hands go in an exciting final ten seconds of the fight.

The Jewish Boxing Blog scored the bout 58-56 for Sarembock. The judges, however called it a majority draw. Ivan Velasco agreed with The JBB, but the other two judges had the fight even at 57 apiece.

Sarembock is now 8-0-1 with 8 KOs. Though the result was likely disappointing, he put up a good fight and it was a great learning experience in the ring. Villa (5-8-3, one KO) picked up his third straight draw against an undefeated opponent. He is now 2-0-3 in his last five fight against opponents with a combined record of 32-1-3 and once again proved that he is a very tough opponent.