QAC

TKO Announces Larenas-Evans for “Ultimatum”

Icho Larenas is interviewed after his win over Jacob Conliffe at TKO 20. Photo by Luigi Di Serio.

Well a rematch against Steve Bosse won’t be happening at TKO 32: Ultimatum for Icho Larenas but that doesn’t mean that the former TKO heavyweight champion won’t be facing a tough challenge.

TKO Championship Fighting has announced that Larenas will take on fellow heavyweight Lance Evans at the event.

Larenas is coming off of a controversial stoppage win over popular Quebec hockey enforcer Steve Bosse at TKO 31: Young Guns last month. TKO president Stephane Patry claims that Larenas may have verbally submitted after receiving an unintentional poke in the eye during the second round. Larenas reportedly told referee Yves Lavigne that he was unable to see and Lavigne ended up giving Larenas a few minutes to recover.

Under the rules of the Quebec Athletic Commission, the fight should have been stopped once Larenas said he was experiencing vision problems. The bout was put under review by the Quebec Athletic Commission but we haven’t been able to find out any information pertaining to an official decision.

Evans, the older brother of UFC light heavyweight contender Rashad Evans, was victorious in his last fight as well, stopping Bob Landry with strikes in the first round of their fight.

Just like Larenas-Bosse, the fight was a controversial one. While Evans worked an effective ground and pound assault on his opponent, Landry looked over to referee Yves Lavigne to let him know that he had been illegally struck in the back of the head. Since the bout was not stopped, Evans continued to pound away with strikes and forced Lavigne to stop the bout. Landry put up a minor protest after the fight but his argument went on deaf ears.

Larenas-Bosse Rematch May Happen at TKO 32

Steve Bosse throws a right hand against Jody Burke at TKO 30. Photo by Al Quintero.

A rematch between former TKO heavyweight champion Icho Larenas and popular hockey enforcer Steve Bosse may take place at TKO 32: Ultimatum on February 28th according to TKO president Stephane Patry.

Patry indicated the possibility of the fight to The Fight Network earlier this week.

Larenas and Bosse fought for the first time at TKO 31: Young Guns last month where Larenas ended up stopping Bosse with strikes in the third round.

After the fight, Patry stated that Larenas may have verbally submitted after receiving an unintentional poke in the eye during the second round. Larenas reportedly told referee Yves Lavigne that he was unable to see and Lavigne ended up giving Larenas a few minutes to recover.

Under the rules of the Quebec Athletic Commission, the fight should have been stopped once Larenas said he was experiencing vision problems. The bout was put under review by the Quebec Athletic Commission but we haven’t been able to find out any information pertaining to an official decision.

Bosse is currently recovering from a hand injury that will keep him out of action for 2-3 weeks.

Larenas-Bosse Under Review by QAC

Loretta Hunt of The Fight Network is reporting that the fight between former TKO Heavyweight Champion Icho Larenas and popular hockey enforcer Steve Bosse that took place at TKO 31: Young Guns this past weekend is currently under review by the Quebec Athletic Commission.

TKO president Stephane Patry revealed the news on The Fight Network’s daily radio show yesterday.

According to Patry, the QAC will be looking to see if Larenas verbally submitted during the bout. Larenas suffered an unintentional poke in the eye by Bosse during the second round of the bout. Referee Yves Lavigne stopped the bout and allowed the ringside physician to take a look at Larenas.

Larenas apparently told Lavigne that he was unable to see and Lavigne ended up giving Larenas a few minutes to recover:

“It was bad. The doctor [asked] me if I could see and I said, ‘No, I can’t see. I was seeing double. It was bad, very bad,” Larenas told The Fight Network following the bout. “I couldn’t focus, so he told me ‘Take your time. We’ll give you two or three minutes to decide.”

Now this is an interesting situation. Normally when a fighter can’t see because of a cut the fight is always stopped. But this is a poke in the eye. Fighters are traditionally given up to five minutes to recover. If the doctor checked his eye, cleared him to continue, and Larenas said that he wanted to keep fighting even though he said that he couldn’t see earlier, there’s no reason to overturn the decision since the events occurred under the correct guidelines.

Here’s Patry’s take on things:

“[Yves] Lavigne, the referee, checked the cut and then he had the right to call the doctor in, which he did, which is perfect,” Patry said. “But once the doctor has a look at the cut, he has to decide right away can he continue – yes or no. If the doctor says ‘Yes’, which he did, then the referee has to [ask] Icho ‘Yes or no?’ If Icho says ‘Yes,’ he has to continue. If he says ‘No,’ Bosse wins by TKO. Icho told the referee ‘I can’t see anything,’ and he took the five minutes. It’s not Icho’s fault. They gave him five minutes. Of course he’s going to take it.”

It seems to me already that there are mixed signals here. It’s going to come down to the commission’s interpretation of Larenas’ original “I can’t see.” If they interpret that as Larenas giving up before having his eye checked, then Bosse would become the winner by TKO due to injury. It’s going to be interesting to hear the ruling.