The lightweight Anthony Cuba celebrated his win on Wednesday evening by opening a pack of Pokémon cards on the telecast.
Cuba defeated DeMichael Harris via a unanimous decision on a ProBox TV telecast from Chicken Ranch Casino Resort in Jamestown, California.
Cuba is a 22-year-old from Fontana, California who is a Pokémon collector. Cuba decided to take the opportunity to open a Pokémon Team Up Pack after his victory.
“I grew up watching Pokémon. It is something fun,” Cuba told BoxingScene. “It is a collectable and on top of that, my son likes grabbing my Pokémon cards and playing with them, so it is a big thing to me.”
Cuba was hoping to find a Pokémon card that is hard to come by in victory. That wasn’t the case.
“I tried my luck on a three-card pack. I didn’t get anything rare, but I got the win,” Cuba, 9-1-2 (4 KOs), said.
In the build-up to the fight, Cuba and Harris had a spirited exchange at the weigh-in. Cuba even told BoxingScene he felt disrespected. After the fight, the two shared a bond bred by boxing violence. On top of that, Harris, 12-1-1 (11 KOs), dropped Cuba in the final round when Cuba was ahead on the scorecards. Cuba had felt the lively crowd cheer him on and was exchanging with the heavy-handed Harris. After the fight, Cuba had nothing but respect for Harris.
“Honestly he was a tough opponent,” Cuba said. “I caught him in the second and third round and I kept trying to go for the finish and he is a very strong guy who stayed up for the whole fight. He came back strong too.”
Cuba is now on a two-fight winning streak after losing to Curmel Moton last year via unanimous decision. Harris, 27, suffered his first loss as a pro.
As for what Pokémon Cuba would be after his career-best performance:
“After today I would be a Hitmonchan,” Cuba said, referring to the boxing glove-wearing Pokémon also called “the punching demon.” “I ended up boxing him and doing pretty good.”
Read the full article here
