By Mario Ortega Jr. –
OROVILLE, CALIFORNIA – Veteran welterweight Jonathan Garcia revitalized his career with a spirited six-round unanimous decision over Salvador Briceño at the Gold Country Casino Resort on Friday night.
Briceño (18-8-1, 11 KOs) of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico and representing the Jose Morales Boxing Academy in Roseville, California started off well, landing early with some head-snapping rights and the occasional uppercut.
Garcia (21-2, 16 KOs) of Watsonville, California began to turn the fight subtly in the third. Garcia, ending a two-and-one-half year layoff, started to land first and get the best of exchanges.
After starting off well in the fourth, Briceño, 144, may have been overconfident swinging an overhand right that Garcia would counter with a shorter left. Garcia, 144, then came forward and landed his own overhand right that wobbled Briceño. Garcia would land twice more in close as Briceño failed to maintain his footing, resulting in a knockdown. With half the round to go, Briceño did well to stay on his feet and regain his composure.
After a rough fourth round, Briceño came on strong late in the fifth. By the last third, Briceño was pressuring Garcia and landing well to close it out. Briceño forced the action in the sixth as well, but was never able to pin down the elusive Garcia.
Judge Brian Tsukamoto scored the fight 59-54, while judges Reynante Danseco and Kermit Bayliss both scored it 58-55. With the victory, Garcia, now training under Ruben Guerrero, may become an attractive potential opponent for a young prospect on the rise.
Christian Avalos (2-1-2) of Carson City, Nevada fought through a bloody nose to earn a six-round nod in the eyes of the official scorers ringside over a determined Pedro Angel Cruz (3-5, 2 KOs) of San Jose, California.
Avalos, 134.5, was rocked back with a hard left and performed a minor miracle to keep his balance to avoid a knockdown in the second. Cruz, 136, would find great success with his left hand throughout the bout.
Avalos regained his footing and got back into the flow of fight in the third round. The Cruz left hand appeared to be the difference in the fourth as both exchanged willingly.
By the fifth, the blood was flowing freely from Avalos’ nose as Cruz landed clean with the left. Avalos had a strong sixth round, which ended up sealing the bout on the official cards.
Judges Brian Tsukamoto and Kermit Bayliss scored the bout 58-56, while Reynante Danseco had it 59-55. Cruz was shocked by the decision, which seemingly could have gone his way.
Iris Contreras (4-0) of Richmond, California showed no signs of ring rust as she took a hard-fought four-round unanimous decision over Maribel Guerrero (0-2) of Gilroy, California in an action-packed encounter.
After a close first round, Guerrero, 117, had her best round in the second as she found a home for her right hand. With renewed determination to start the next round, Contreras outworked Guerrero early in the third, before the Gilroy native came on late. Both fighters left it all in the ring to close out the fight, firing in an even exchange until the final bell.
When the fight concluded, all three judges, Reynante Danseco, Kermit Bayliss and Brian Tsukamoto, had scored the bout 39-37 for Contreras.
In a battle between fighters with mixed martial arts backgrounds, Miguel Soto-Garcia (1-2) of Fresno, California by way of Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico scored a four-round unanimous decision over Scott Hayward (0-1) of Redding, California
Soto-Garcia, 148.5, was the slightly more polished boxer. What Hayward, 145.5, lacked in technique he made up for in heart, but a flash knockdown in the second sealed the fight for Soto-Garcia.
Judge Brian Tsukamoto scored the bout 38-37, while judges Kermit Bayliss and Reynante Danseco both had it 39-36.
Clayton Hibbert (1-2) of Los Angeles, California moved into the win column with a first-round stoppage of Ebert Diaz (1-1-1, 1 KO) of Richmond.
Fighting out of the southpaw stance, Hibbert, 142, stunned Diaz, 142, with a clean left hand. Before Diaz could shake the cobwebs, Hibbert landed with the ensuing combinations to score a knockdown. Diaz got to his feet, but was stopped standing shortly after as referee David Hartman did not like what he saw. Time of the stoppage was 2:44.
Marco Ortiz (1-2, 1 KO) of Red Bluff, California avenged a prior defeat in emphatic fashion, stopping Matthew Monroe (1-3) of Sacramento, California in the second round.
Ortiz, 168.5, took control of the fight late in the first round, landing clean with an uppercut with Monroe, 165, backed into a neutral corner.
When action resumed in the second, Ortiz came out aggressively and caught Monroe with a flurry that staggered the Sacramento resident. Referee Michael Margado ruled the ropes held up Monroe to score a knockdown. With Monroe on unsteady footing, Margado called the bout at 1:09 of the round. Monroe edged Ortiz by split decision in their first meeting last year.
Upper Cut Promotions and Fisticuffs Productions, promoters of Friday’s event, present their next card back at Gold Country Casino Resort on July 26th.
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortegajr.mario@gmail.com
