PHOENIX – It was a heavyweight main event. But a lightweight stole the show.
Victor Castro, an emerging Phoenix prospect, displayed poise and precision, a combo that overwhelmed Ivan Zavala and offset ranked heavyweight Charles Martin’s sloppy stoppage of Raphael Zumbano Love Saturday night at Celebrity Theatre.
With junior-featherweight legend Israel Vazquez as his trainer, Castro (14-0, 7 KOs), moved forward with tactical skill and a patient awareness. Zavala never had a chance.
Castro dropped Zavala (6-9-2, 2 KO), of Tijuana, with a body shot in the second round and finished him with a right hand at 2:45 of the third.
It wasn’t exactly clear who, where or when Castro would fight next. But a main event in the next Iron Boy Promotions card might be a good bet.
The cheers from a near-capacity crowd quickly turned into boos for the heavyweights. Martin (20-0-1, 18 KOs), the World Boxing Organization’s fifth-ranked heavyweight, gained an early advantage. But he could never get any leverage on his punches until an exhausted Love (35-10-1, 28 KOs) finally collapsed in the 10th.
Martin threw a succession punches, shoved Love into the ropes and then continued punching until Love went to his knees, finished aty 1:47 of the 10th and final round. Love got up and smiled. It was as if he was relieved that it had ended. Everybody else was.
On the Undercard
The Best: Phoenix junior-featherweight Francisco C De Vaca danced and smiled. Bled a little, too. In the end, he also won, scoring a unanimous decision over Saul Hernandez (6-6, 4 KOs) in an entertaining six-round bout.
De Vaca, who had former Oscar De La Hoya trainer Robert Alcazar in his corner, suffered a bloody nose in a toe-to-toe exchange midway through the third. It seemed to wake him up.
De Vaca mocked Hernandez with a wicked smile. He waved him in for another exchange. He dropped his hands. He also landed most of the punches, displaying unique precision from a variety of angles for a 60-54 advantage on one card and 59-55 on the other two.
The Rest: Albuquerque featherweight Jesus Pacheco (2-5) overcame hometown judges and fans, using patience and precision to score a majority decision over Edgar Brito (3-1-1, 2 KOs) of Phoenix.
Welterweight Daniel Garcia (2-0) of Surprise, Ariz., was no surprise, doing what he does best in outworking Stephan McCray (0-6) for a unanimous decision.
Albuquerque welterweight Brian Mendoza (4-0, 2 KOs) got in four rounds of solid work, winning a unanimous decision while dropping Javier Rivera (0-1) of Yuma, Ariz., onto his back with a quick counter in the second round of a one-sided bout.
Featherweight Jose Herrera (1-0, 1 KO) was a knockout in his debut, overwhelming Fernando Alvarez (0-1) of New Mexico with a stinging succession of punches for a stoppage at 1:26 of the first round.
