SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA — The most dangerous times for leading contenders are the fights they take while waiting for that world title shot. Super featherweight contender Eloy Perez has had a top three world ranking for sometime now, but still waits for that right opportunity to come his way. Tonight at the Longshoremen’s Hall, Perez steps into the ring against unknown once-beaten Mexican Alejandro Rodriguez, risking everything he has worked so hard for in the process. Their ten-round bout headlines the Telefutura Solo Boxeo telecast. Fighters weighed in Thursday at the Radisson Hotel Fisherman’s Wharf just around the corner from where the fights take place tonight.

Perez (20-0, 5 KOs) of Salinas, California will be making the third defense of his WBO NABO Super Featherweight belt, a regional title he claimed with a fifth-round stoppage of Juan Santiago back in December 2009. It was a win that catapulted Perez into the WBO world rankings at 130-pounds. Currently, Perez sits at the WBO #2 position in the division, a spot that means the next call his manager Kathy Garcia gets could be from Scotland – the home of world champion Ricky Burns.

Before Perez can look at that possibility, he must first get past Rodriguez (12-1, 6 KOs) of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Rodriguez represents that great unknown, as almost all of his fights have taken place in a small arena in Jalisco. In fact, every one of his widely reported bouts have taken place in Jalisco, while it is likely he has more fights under his belt than his listed record indicates. Rodriguez’ claim to fame, if you could call it that, was that he scored a twelve-round stoppage of a 5-0 fighter for the Jalisco State Lightweight title in August of last year. However, Rodriguez’ last win was over an 0-1 opponent, a level of opposition that will not adequately prepare anyone for Eloy Perez. Rodriguez weighed in at 129, while Perez scaled 129 ½-pounds Thursday.

In the televised co-main event, 2008 U.S. Olympian Gary Russell Jr. (14-0, 9 KOs) of Capitol Heights, Maryland will take on long tenured Mexican journeyman Adolfo Landeros (21-18-1, 10 KOs) of Hidalgo, Hidalgo, Mexico in a six-round super featherweight fight. Russell had been slated to appear on a pay-per-view card last Saturday, but had several opponents fall out before finally his bout was scratched. Russell, competing for the second time this year, weighed in at 128-pounds Thursday.

Landeros (21-18-1, 10 KOs) of Hidalgo, Hidalgo, Mexico is as experienced as they come, and enters the bout off of a rare victory. Landeros ended an eight-fight winless streak with a four-round stoppage of usually durable Juan Jose Beltran on April 1st. Prior to the win over Beltran, the last time Landeros tasted victory was a June 2008 split decision over then unbeaten prospect Alejandro Perez. Making the win stand out even more, Perez recently bombed out contender Antonio Escalante and looks to be a player at 126-pounds. Landeros, a super bantamweight in his prime, weighed in at 128-pounds Thursday.

In the first television swing bout, now likely to make air with the announcement today that Solo Boxeo will run two hours long, San Francisco’s Jonathan Chicas will make his debut against Maja Khali of Oakland, California in a four-round light welterweight fight. Chicas has been one of the better amateurs from the Bay Area in recent years while training under Ben Bautista at San Francisco’s Straight Forward Club. Khali, also making his pro debut, weighed in at 139-pounds, while Chicas scaled 140.

In the next swing bout, former amateur standout Bruno Escalante Jr. (2-0-1, 1 KO) of San Carlos, California by way of Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines will take on tough journeyman Shaun Solomon (1-2-1) of Moreno Valley, California in a four-round super bantamweight fight. Though he does not have a glossy record, Solomon should provide Escalante with a stern test. Escalante, the 2008 National PAL Champion at 112-pounds, admittedly would be better suited for a lower weight class, but has taken fights at super bantam due to the dearth of available opponents any lower down the scale. Escalante scaled 120, while Solomon came in at 121 ½-pounds.

Exciting brawler Joe Gumina (1-0, 1 KO) of nearby San Bruno, California makes his much anticipated return to the Longshoremen’s Hall Friday against debuting Harry Gopaul of Sacramento, California in a four-round cruiserweight fight. Gumina excited the local fight fans with a first-round demolition of Jose Jesus Hurtado at the Longshoremen’s Hall in February. Gumina had planned to return to the ring in late March, but promoters in Fairfield, California had a hard time finding an opponent willing to get in the ring with the slugger. Gopaul, a professional mixed martial artist, gets the assignment tonight. Gumina weighed in at 181, while Gopaul came in at 183-pounds.

In another interesting cruiserweight attraction set for four rounds, Lamont Williams (3-1, 1 KO) of Fairfield will take on Juan Hernandez (1-0, 1 KO) of Redwood City, California. Williams comes in off of a hard-fought four-round split decision over much larger heavyweight Hector Martinez in February. A rematch had been planned between the two, before Williams was sidelined with a minor injury. Hopefully Williams is fully healed, because he may have his hands full with Hernandez, a powerhouse cruiserweight in the mold of former champion Kelvin Davis. Hernandez bombed out Seth Keeling in his debut in August of last year, but has been idle since. Hernandez scaled 197, while Williams came in at 194-pounds.

Tickets for the event, promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, Don Chargin Productions, Jorge Marron Productions and Paco Presents, are available online at http://theboxingtruth.vbotickets.com/events

Quick Weigh-in Results:

WBO NABO Super Featherweight Championship, 10 Rounds
Perez 129 ½
Rodriguez 129

Super Featherweights, 6 Rounds
Russell Jr. 128
Landeros 128

Light Welterweights, 4 Rounds
Chicas 140
Khali 139

Super Bantamweights, 4 Rounds
Escalante Jr. 120
Solomon 121 ½

Cruiserweights, 4 Rounds
Gumina 181
Gopaul 183

Cruiserweights, 4 Rounds
Williams 194
Hernandez 197

Photos by Mark Ortega

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.

Once again 15rounds.com was prominent in the annual and prestigious Barney Awards for 2010 as staff writers took home three awards as Bart Barry took home an honorable mention for best News Story and Norm Frauenheim once again took home multiple awards as he took second place for feature under 1750 words and also was an honorable mention for Investigative Reporting for a piece that ran in Ring Magazine.

Barry and Frauenheim will get their awards on May 6th at the annual BWAA Awards banquet which will take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

This was the 10th annual Boxing Writers Association of America writing contest, known as the “Barneys” in honor of Barney Nagler, the late former president of the BWAA.

Dmitriy “Star of David” Salita notched his third consecutive victory Wednesday evening by earning a workmanlike eight round unanimous decision over offensively inefficient Ronnie Warrior Jr. at the Oceana Club in his hometown of Brooklyn, NY.

With a standing room only crowd cheering him on, Salita took the fight to Warrior from the opening bell, but tumbled to the canvas shortly thereafter following a clash of heads. Those on hand would soon learn that Warrior’s surname gave no indication of the way he fought.

While Salita spent much of the bout ripping body and head shots in close quarters, Warrior struggled to move his hands and relied on dirty tactics. On multiple occasions, the Oklahoma City, OK native led with his head, held and forced his elbow into Salita’s neck during clinches.

Rather than let his counterpart’s dirty tactics take him off his game plan, Salita continued to dominate the action until the completion of the 8th and final round of the welterweight contest.

Scores were 80-72 twice and 79-73.

Salita, whose only defeat came via first round TKO against Amir Khan in a world title bout, improves 33-1-1 with 17 KO’s. Warrior falls to 13-5-1 (4 KO’s) after the disappointing effort.

In his first fight in nearly two years, Luis Collazo (30-4, 15 KO’s, 149lbs) made his return to boxing (and New York City) against Franklin Gonzalez (13-8, 10 KO’s, 151lbs). Despite the disparity in wins, Gonzalez was expected to be crafty enough to show how much rust Collazo had built up during his layoff, and he had enough pop in his punches to show whether or not Collazo was capable of handling the punches at the junior middleweight weight class.

After a boisterous entrance, Collazo went right to work. Both fighters were left handed, so Collazo skipped right past the feeling out process and tried going right into Gonzalez’ chest. Despite not being known as a big puncher, Collazo’s strengths lie in his in-fighting. By the second round, Gonzalez was no match for Collazo. A short left followed by a right dropped Gonzalez just a few seconds before the bell to end the round had sounded. As the third round started, Collazo did not want to take too many risks, so he just went right back to the game plan that was already working.

Collazo landed a sharp combination consisting of a straight left, right hook, right body shot that seemed to hurt Gonzalez. Collazo followed up with a left uppercut, which sent Gonzalez down. After beating the count, Gonzalez was immediately met with another uppercut, and the referee was forced to stop the fight at the 2:14 mark, giving Collazo a TKO victory in the third round.

Although Philadelphia junior middleweight Greg “Hot Shot” Hackett’s professional ledger doesn’t coincide with his moniker, he’s without question tougher than a two dollar steak; or shall we say Philly Cheesesteak. Hackett, 2-8, dropped a hard fought unanimous decision to Mike Ruiz of Long Island, NY where he made the hometown favorite work throughout the six round contest.

Ruiz, 12-4 (6 KO’s), was the busier fighter, landed the cleaner punches and scored a knockdown in the final round with a straight right hand, but Hackett was consistently applying pressure throughout the bout. Hackett connected with a few solid shots that garnered a reaction from the crowd, although he wasn’t consistent enough to make a case for a victory.

Scores were 60-53, 59-54 and 58-55.

Wildly popular Brooklynite Rafael Vazquez scored an emotional third round TKO over Puerto Rico’s Juan Melendez. With autism awareness serving as a focal point of the card, Vazquez proudly sported trunks that read “I love a child with autism”. It was clear that he was out to make a splash to honor his child while pleasing his fans; and that’s exactly what he did. Vazquez was the busier fighter during the first two rounds, where he displayed solid body work.

In the third, Vazquez dominated Melendez and a hard combination sent the latter tumbling into the ropes, which prompted Referee Benjiy Esteves to rule it a knockdown. Before Vazquez could continue his assault, Mendez’ corner elected to end the junior lightweight contest by throwing in the towel.

Time of stoppage was 1:48.

Vazquez improves to 6-0 with 4 knockouts. Melendez slips to 2-5-1.

The first fight of the evening saw Hamid Abdul-Mateen (1-1, 180lbs) in the ring against a man with one name; Bakari (0-1). The bout was a sloppy affair. Abdul-Mateen was the more talented of the two and used his athleticism to gain advantage over Bakari. Bakari did not show much offensive arsenal.

He would go into a shell any time Abdul-Mateen threw a flurry, and after the fracas was over with, he would attempt a wild hook. Abdul-Mateen threw mostly flurries to the body, as Bakari’s defensive shell was difficult to work around. In the end, Abdul-Mateen walked away with a unanimous decision victory with all three judges scoring the bout 40-36 in his favor.

Arben Paloka contributed to this report by covering the Collazo-Gonzalez and Abdul-Mateen-Bakari bouts.

Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that the much anticipated rematch between WBC Lightweight champion Humberto Soto and Urbano Antillon scheduled for the May 7 Pacquiao – Mosley undercard will not happen sue to Soto’s unhappiness and impending exit from Top Rank

“We are no longer with Top Rank and he is not fighting Antillon for sure,” said Fight attorney Michael Miller. “We’ll go out and find out if any other promoter is interested in signing him. We’ll start on that next week and see if Gary [Shaw], Lou [DiBella], Golden Boy, and anyone else, might be interested in making a bid for the guy. And then we have to see if we will seek legal action against Top Rank for the lost purses, which we certainly will. I don’t know why we wouldn’t.”

Miller said Soto and co-manager Antonio Lozada have been unhappy with his promotional agreement for some time and hired him last week as a co-manager and as an attorney to look at his contract.

Miller said there were several issues, including that Soto had been told the contract expired in October, even though Miller said he believed the deal had expired in 2009.

Miller said another serious issue was that even though the promotional contract was with Bob Arum’s Top Rank, he was being paid — and shorted — by Zanfer Promotions’ Fernando Beltran, who works closely with Top Rank on numerous fighters.

“Soto’s contract was with Top Rank and he was getting checks from Beltran and they were 40, 50, 60 percent of what they should be,” Miller said.

Miller said Soto was due a minimum purse of $200,000 to fight for a world title and $300,000 to defend the title.

“He was never paid $300,000 and Top Rank rarely even showed up at his fights,” Miller said. “[Soto and Lozada] would complain to Beltran about the money and he would promise to make it up. He never did. Our quick and dirty numbers are that they are $1.285 million short to Humberto compared to the minimums they owed him for something like 10 or 11 fights. He would complain. He was pissed. He was told they would make it up. And because he was shorted, that means Lozada is owed about $425,000.”

Miller said Soto continued to fight because he needed the money he was getting and because he was hopeful that he would receive what he was owed.

“I wrote Top Rank a letter [Wednesday] advising that he has been grossly underpaid and we need some answers,” Miller said. “Why was Beltran involved since Soto never signed a contract with Beltran?”

Miller said besides being underpaid on his minimum purses, Beltran sometimes paid him in installments — sometimes using cash — on the money he did receive, and another time his check bounced.

“I’m trying to get as much information as possible,” said Top Rank President Todd DeBeouf. “I’m reaching out to them. All I hear is stuff from other people. Right now, our primary issue is is the Soto-Antillon rematch happening? There is a high probability that it is not. If that’s the case, we will make adjustments.”

“Obviously, the supporting cast is fantastic with the return of [former middleweight champ] Kelly Pavlik and with the Wilfredo Vazquez-[Jorge] Arce [junior featherweight] title fight. We’d like to add something sensational.”

DuBoef said that without a rematch against Soto, Antillon likely would challenge Brandon Rios, another of the lightweight titleholders whom Top Rank promotes, on July 9 on Showtime.

“I’d like to do that fight,” duBoef said.

Featherweight prospect and 2008 U.S. Olympian Gary Russell Jr. will make his second ring appearance of the year this Friday night in the televised co-main event on Telefutura Solo Boxeo. Russell, who had been slated to appear on the ‘Action Heroes’ pay-per-view event this past Saturday in Las Vegas, Nevada will take on long tenured journeyman Adolfo Landeros in a six-round bout.

Russell (14-0, 9 KOs) of Capitol Heights, Maryland was slated to fight on the free preview portion of the televised card at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino on Saturday, but had several opponents fall out before finally his bout was scratched. Russell was pegged for a step-up opponent in the form of former prospect Ira Terry, who withdrew earlier last week. Then Russell had been tabbed to me undefeated replacement opponent Sherali Dostiev, who missed his flight to Las Vegas.

Luckily for Russell, the co-feature slot had yet to be filled for this Friday’s edition of Solo Boxeo, emanating from the Longshoremen’s Hall in San Francisco, California. Landeros (21-18-1, 10 KOs) of Hidalgo, Hidalgo, Mexico is as experienced as they come, and enters the bout off of a rare victory. Landeros ended an eight-fight winless streak with a four-round stoppage of usually durable Juan Jose Beltran just eleven days ago, April 1st. Prior to that, the last Landeros victory was a June 2008 split decision over Alejandro Perez, a win that looks even better in retrospect. Perez recently bombed out contender Antonio Escalante and looks to be a contender at 126-pounds.

In the televised main event, WBO #2 ranked super featherweight Eloy Perez defends his WBO NABO Super Featherweight title and risks his world ranking against unknown Mexican contender Alejandro Rodriguez in a ten-rounder.

Tickets for the event, promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, Don Chargin Productions, Jorge Marron Productions and Paco Presents, are available online at http://theboxingtruth.vbotickets.com/events

Photo by Jim Wyatt

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.

PHOENIX –About a year after controversy over immigration legislation forced the cancellation of Jose Benavidez Jr.’s hometown debut as a pro, the Arizona prospect has another chance to fight in his home state for the first time on June 11 at Wild Horse Pass at Gila River in suburban Chandler.

Gerry Truax of Showdown Promotions requested approval of the date Monday at a meeting of the Arizona State Boxing Commission for a card scheduled to feature Benavidez (10-0, 9 KOs), a Top Rank fighter who also is scheduled for a bout on the Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley undercard on May 7 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand.

Top Rank matchmaker Bruce Trampler said a couple of months ago that he had the go-ahead to seek a site and date for Benavidez to fight in Arizona. Before the immigration controversy forced him to stay on the road, Benavidez’ homecoming was scheduled for last July 17, also at Wild Horse and also on a card promoted by Showdown, which represents Antonio Margarito.

“We’ve been waiting for a long, long time to fight,’’ said father-and-trainer Jose Benavidez, Sr., whose 18-year-old son is considered Arizona’s best prospect since Jesus Gonzales and Hall of Famer Michael Carbajal. “I can’t tell you how happy we are at this opportunity. It’s really important, I think, to build a hometown identity.

“My son has been fighting in Las Vegas and Texas and just about everywhere but here at home.

Everywhere we go, everybody knows him, more than they know him here. It’s time to come home.’’

Showdown’s request for Commission approval of the June 11 date coincided with a federal appeal court’s refusal to lift a stay on the toughest parts of the controversial Arizona law, SB1070. The 9th U.S. Court in San Francisco on Monday rejected Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer’s appeal. Among other things, SB1070 would require police to check on an immigrant’s legal status during routine traffic stops.

Benavidez’ homecoming last July was canceled when Top Rank’s Bob Arum said he was told by TV Azteca and beer sponsor Tecate that they did not want to do business in Arizona. At the height of the controversy, World Boxing Council chief Jose Sulaiman issued a directive from his Mexico City office in which he banned Mexican fighters from bouts in Arizona. When two Mexicans fought on a Don Chargin-promoted card in Tucson last August, Sulaiman threatened to suspend both in their home country.

While watching Benavidez spar in February, Trampler said he was given clearance to schedule a hometown fight for the Phoenix prospect because the controversy had begun to subside.

Benavidez, who has been fighting as a junior-welterweight, has been training in Phoenix for the last several months after leaving trainer Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles. He signed as a 17-year-old, whose potential for stardom began to spread far and fast through YouTube clips of his sparring sessions with Amir Khan.

In other business heard by the Arizona commission Monday, Fanbase Promotions requested approval of a Phoenix card at Celebrity Theatre, featuring Gonzales (26-1, 14 KOs) against Henry Buchanan (20-2, 13 KOs) of Capitol Heights, Md., in a super-middleweight bout at Celebrity Theatre. Gonzales (24-20-7, 4 KOs) made his hometown comeback on March 18 with a unanimous decision over Dhafir Smith (24-20-7, 4 KOs) of Philadelphia, also at Celebrity.

Tomasz Adamek tuned up for a September 10th showdown with WBC Heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko with a workmanlike twelve round pounding over Kevin McBride in front of over 7,300 mostly Polish Adamek supporters at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

It was obvious early who this fight would go as Adamek had a what looked at times a “Light Years” speed advantage over the slow, plodding and and even confused McBride as Adamek landed combination s as Adamek concentrated in working the flabby body of McBride. The combination’s were three, four and five punches at a time as it was clear what Adamek was trying to do. It looked like all McBride wanted to do was push a weak jab and lean on Adamek in an effort to tire him out. McBride started to bleed under the right eye as early as round four.

A round later, McBride began to bleed from his forehead but neither cut bothered the big Irishman during the fight. Every once in a while McBride, who did walk Adamek down for most of the fight would land a punch but with the punches that could be timed by a sun dial Adamek was able to move enough to take most of the sting of McBride’s punches.

Over the last half of the fight it was more of the same that saw Adamek move in and out and use his legs to keep away from McBride. For all of his lack of shape, McBride showed good endurance as he didint look much more fatigued then Adamek, who showed signs of tiredness which was mostly due to all the moving and the many times that McBride would lay his ample body on top of the top contender from Poland. McBride was deducted a point in round seven for excessive holding. Adamek closed the show as he landed some hard punches and the two exchanged for most of the final round with neither man ever looking like they would be hurt or knocked down.

The fight, which was billed “The Last Big Hurdle” for Adamek as he jumped over McBride with ease as he won by scores of 120-107; 119-108 and 119-1108.

Adamek, 215 lbs of Jersey City, NJ will via Gilowice, Poland will return to the homeland for what will be the biggest sporting event in the history of that European country when he takes on Adamek with a record of 44-1.

McBrdie, (every bit of) 285 lbs of Brocton, MA via Ireland is now 35-9-1.

The co-feature saw rising Welterweight and former U.S. Olympian Sadam Ali make easy work of Javier Perez by scoring a third round stoppage in a scheduled eight round bout.

Ali wasted no time by landing a left hook that sent Perez to the floor in round one. In round three, Ali landed a huge left hook that flattened Perez as he laid on the canvas for several moments.

The time of the stoppage was 2:40 of round three for Ali, 149 1/2 lbs of Brooklyn, NY who remains undefeated at 12-0 with seven knockouts. Perez, 146 1/2 lbs of Ponce, PR is now 8-5.

Andrzej Fonfara warmed up the large Polish contingent by taking out Ray Smith in round four of an eight round Light Heavyweight bout.

Fonfara landed some nice punches over the first three round and then really turned up the heat in round four as he landed a big right on the ropes that rocked Smith. he followed that up with a big combination that sent Smith to the canvas. Fonfara landed a big right off the ropes that was followed by a perfect left that sent Smith down for the ten count at 1:09 of round four.

Fonfara, 175 lbs of Chicago is now 17-2 with eight knockouts. Smith, 179 lbs of Little Rock, Arkansas is now 9-6.

Joselito Collado remained undefeated by scoring a six round split decision over Rafael Lora in a Featherweight.
Collado was cut early in round one over the right eye and it seemed to have bothered him just a tad but the cut was controlled nicely as the fight went on. The two fighters engaged in nice exchanges with each taking turns getting through with left hooks.

The fight was very close but Collado was a bit more active and scored the split decision victory by scores of 59-54 and 57-56 while Lora took a card 57-56.

Collado, 128 lbs of Queens, NY is now 12-0. Lora, 128 1/2 lbs of Irvington, NJ is now 11-4.

Jose Peralta beat up Eber Luis Perez and stopped him in round three of a scheduled six round Jr. Welterweight bout.

Peralta rocked Perez with a hard right in round two and followed up with a combination that sent Perez to the canvas. Peralta opened up round three with a hard left that started blood flow from Perez nose.
Peralta dropped Perez with a right hand later in the round. With Perez down, his corner decided to stop the bout at 2:49 of round three.

Peralta, 142 lbs of Jersey City, NJ is now 6-1 with four knockouts. Perez, 136 lbs of Cartegena, Colombia is now 12-20

Vinny O’Brien scored a fourth round stoppage over Shakir Aquel Dunn in a scheduled four round Welterweight bout.

It was a tough bout with both guys landing good shots for which O’Brien, who has a terrific fan base, got in the better shots.

In round four, O’Brien landed some thudding shots that ended with a hard combination on the ropes and the bout was stopped just nine seconds before its scheduled conclusion.

O’Brien, 146 ½ lbs of East Hanover, NJ is 2-0 with both wins coming via stoppage. Dunn, 145 lbs of Newark, NJ was making his pro debut

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA — Marcos Maidana may have turned back the challenge of Erik Morales at the MGM Hotel & Casino tonight, but it was the Mexican legend’s unexpectedly heroic performance that will undoubtedly be remembered most.

Few gave Morales (51-7, 35 KOs) of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico any hope of even making the fight competitive in the days and weeks leading up to the fight. More than a few experts were fearful for Morales’ well-being. But after twelve wildly entertaining rounds, some of those same experts were calling for a rematch.

One of the top four fighters in the light welterweight division, Maidana (30-2, 27 KOs) of Jose Leon Suarez, Buenos Aires, Argentina took the Mexican head on and pounded his way to the deserved majority decision.

Maidana, 140, got off to a solid start, as he forced Morales, 140, to the ropes in the very early going. Maidana found Morales’ body with his left hand and shot an uppercut that got the Mexican’s attention. Morales did land one right in the first that seemed to perk up Maidana and prompt the Argentine to close out the round throwing. Morales returned to the corner with a rapidly swelling right eye at the end of round one.

Maidana, the WBA #1 ranked light welterweight, began the second surprisingly measured, but eventually forced Morales to the ropes with a left to the body and a following combination. Morales came off the ropes throwing, and landed one right that looked good and excited the crowd.

In the third, again Maidana fought more tentatively than advertised, and may have allowed Morales to take the round with his jab and greater output. Early in the fourth, Morales landed a counter left hook that landed clean, but the round was mostly Maidana’s. If Morales’ right eye was not bad enough, he was now dealing with a cut over his left as well.

Maidana caught Morales with a right early in the fifth, but the Mexican returned fire with a combination that stopped the always fearless Maidana in his tracks. The warriors took turns rallying off flurries, but Morales landed a right uppercut that backed up Maidana. Glimpses of a younger Morales would flash intermittently throughout the fight. In one such instance, Morales made Maidana miss and countered beautifully circa 2002. Maidana walked slowly across the ring to his corner when the bell for the fifth sounded.

Each fighter had their moments in the sixth, as Morales did well early, but began to tire towards the end. Maidana came on, catching Morales clean with a looping right. Morales fired back and had Maidana in trouble before the round ended. Maidana began the seventh with a jab that staggered Morales, and took the round pretty clearly.

Morales, ranked WBA #5 entering the bout, battled back in the eighth, staggering Maidana, who rolled around behind his opponent and went for a rabbit punch. Morales came back with a one-two combination that had Maidana in trouble again. Not to be outdone, Maidana fired a right, left combination, to which Morales nodded back. Maidana tried pressuring Morales, but the Mexican warrior managed to evade the Argentine until the end of the round.

Maidana hurt Morales with a left to the body, and followed with two more to his back. Just as Maidana began to put the hurt on Morales, “El Terrible” battled back with a combination that stunned the Argentine. Morales pressured Maidana against the ropes and appeared to have Maidana in some trouble. Morales went for a wild punch that missed and forced his head through the ropes. Maidana, who had been rough and somewhat dirty, missed an opportunity to capitalize. By the end of the ninth, Morales’ right eye was not only swollen shut, but a large knot was forming around the socket.

Morales continued to keep the fight in close in the tenth, landing a right. Morales caught Maidana lazily waiting for a break with an overhand right, and followed with a left uppercut. Maidana was forced back to the ropes, but landed a stiff left that had Morales in trouble before the bell.

Another Maidana left hurt Morales in the eleventh. Just when everything was going his way, Maidana gassed out and stood winded, looking to gain a breath. But the 2011 version of Morales could not take advantage of the moment, and Maidana came on to close out the round strong.

Another right rocked Morales to start the twelfth, but it was the Mexican that got the best of the following exchange. As the round came to an end, it was Marcos Maidana that pulled an Erik Morales – throwing everything right at the ten second warning for the final bell. HBO’s unofficial scorer Harold Lederman had the fight a draw, as did one of the official scorers. But alas, the potentially monumental upset was not to be, as Maidana took the other two cards 116-112.

At the post-fight press conference, promoter Oscar De La Hoya pointed the finger at some of those media members who talked down the fight when it was made and said, “I told you so.” De La Hoya stated he would like to put together the Maidana-Morales rematch, something both Maidana and Morales seemed to welcome.

In a thrilling action fight, Robert Guerrero (29-1-1, 18 KOs) of Gilroy, California waged war for twelve rounds with Michael Katsidis (27-4, 22 KOs) of Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. It was the type of fight Katsidis has become known for, but this time he met up with a stronger and more scientifically skilled foe in Guerrero, who came away with a wide unanimous decision to claim two interim titles.

Guerrero, the WBA #1/WBO #1/IBF #4 ranked lightweight entering the bout, flexed his muscle early and often. Determined as always, Katsidis, the WBA #2/WBO #3 ranked 135-pounder, came forward and was effective in spots, especially when Guerrero could be enticed to go blow-for-blow.

In the second round, Katsidis rocked Guerrero with a left. When Guerrero fell back, it appeared that his right glove touched the canvas. It was not ruled a knockdown by referee Russell Mora, who may have felt the fall was the result of contact between their feet. Whatever the cause, it seemed to provoke Guerrero into a firefight. Guerrero comes back with two hard lefts inside.

After a close third round, Guerrero was rocked by a straight right in the fourth, which kicked off another fiery exchange. The momentum of the fight began to turn more heavily in Guerrero’s favor in the fifth, as the three-time champion wobbled Katsidis with a straight left. Still on unsteady legs, Katsidis fired back, but Guerrero was clearly getting the better of the exchange.

In the eighth, the referee got unnecessarily involved after a stray low blow from Katsidis. Though it did not appear flagrant, a point was deducted from Katsidis for the infraction. Motivated to get the point back, Katsidis went for Guerrero’s body, which seemed to be taking an effect. One stray shot, prompted the referee to stop the action and deduct another point from Katsidis, which gave Guerrero time and effectively end the Aussie’s rally. Somewhat comically, the referee Mora seemed to make up for one of the Katsdis deductions by taking a point from Guerrero in the following round for an inadvertent low blow.

The action continued through the tenth, before Guerrero got back out at range and boxed Katsidis in the eleventh. Katsidis came out determined in the twelfth and caught Guerrero with one stiff shot before Guerrero took back over and closed out the fight landing the harder blows again. By scores of 118-107, 118-106 and 117-108, Guerrero claimed the interim versions of both the WBA and WBO Light Welterweight titles.

Former WBA Interim Light Middleweight titleholder Nobuhiro Ishida (23-6-2, 8 KOs) of Osaka, Osaka, Japan scored three first round knockdowns in an unbelievable upset over James Kirkland (27-1, 24 KOs) of Las Vegas. Kirkland, 158, fighting for the third time in a month after a two-year absence, came right out at Ishida, 158. The much taller Japanese import met him square on and took some decent shots.

Kirkland, already the WBO #4 ranked middleweight despite fighting complete fall guys in his two previous bouts this year, stepped right into a straight right from Ishida that dropped him and silenced the crowd. Ishida, the usually light-punching WBA #4 ranked junior middle, dropped Kirkland a second time with another right. Despite moving on wobbly legs, Kirkland still came forward throwing punches. It was an unwise move, as Ishida came straight with a third right to score a third and final knockdown.

With the three knockdown rule in effect, referee Joe Cortez waved off the fight at the 1:52 mark of the first. Afterwards, Kirkland claimed he was not hurt, and that his trips to the canvas (there were three of them) were flash knockdowns. With the victory, Ishida immediately becomes a player at junior middleweight. With the loss, the talk of Kirkland fighting Sergio Martinez for the middleweight crown looks pretty foolish in retrospect.

Paul Malignaggi (29-4, 6 KOs) of Brooklyn, New York jabbed and move his way to a wide unanimous ten-round decision over undersized Jose Miguel Cotto (32-3-1, 24 KOs) of Caguas, Puerto Rico.

Cotto, 147, came out firing in the first and had Malignaggi, 147, in retreat for much of the round. Towards the end of the second, Cotto roughed up Malignaggi with a few right hands. However, by the third round, Malignaggi, the IBF #11/WBO #12 ranked welterweight, settled in to his usual stick-and-move style took over control of the bout.

Cotto, the WBO #11 ranked light welterweight, could not get into range for most of the fight, as Malignaggi moved three steps back anytime the Puerto Rican took one forward. By the late rounds, what steam Cotto carried up to welterweight had mostly come off of his punches, so when he did get his one shot in, it did not have close to the same effect it had early in the contest.

Unable to get in on Malignaggi, Cotto attempted to lure the former champion to him by languishing against the ropes. It was a tactic that did nothing but maybe give both men a short rest, as Malignaggi did not take the bait. In the end, Malignaggi won comfortably by scores of 97-93 and 99-91 twice. With the victory, Malignaggi gained a small measure of revenge over the Cotto family, as younger brother Miguel broke his right cheekbone en route to issuing him his first defeat back in 2003.

Emerging light welterweight contender Danny Garcia (21-0, 14 KOs) of Philadelphia Pennsylvania did everything better, faster and harder on his way to a ten-round unanimous decision over faded former champion Nate Campbell (33-8-1, 25 KOs) of Jacksonville, Florida.

Garcia, 139, showed the poise of a veteran throughout a classy performance. Campbell, 140, did a little showboating and posturing, but never committed to any serious offensive attack. Garcia, the WBC #9 ranked light welterweight, was not baited by any of Campbell’s tactics, even remaining composed when the veteran took a swing at him long after the bell to end round nine. In the end, all three judges had the fight wide for Garcia, by scores of 100-90, 99-91 and 98-92.

With his decisive victory, Garcia looks to be more than ready for the next level of competition. Campbell on the other hand appears to be comfortable in playing the role of opponent at this stage of his career. Campbell had announced his retirement after a loss to journeyman Walter Estrada last November before returning to the ring for tonight’s bout.

2008 Russian Olympic Gold Medalist Rakhim Chakhkiev (9-0, 7 KOs) of Hamburg, Germany by way of Tobolsk, Russia continued rolling as a professional with a measured performance en route to a third-round knockout of journeyman Harvey Jolly (11-16-1, 6 KOs) of Adrian, Michigan.

Chakhiev, 203, pressured and chased Jolly, 203, around the ring for the most part. In the second, Chakhiev was credited with a knockdown when he forced Jolly to hunch over from a body shots. Although Jolly did not go down, he was not defending himself and referee Joe Cortez separated the fighters to administer a standing eight count. Finally in the third, Chakhiev landed the power shot he was looking for, an overhand right that sent Jolly down. The journeyman opted to sit out Cortez’ ten count, with the stoppage coming at 2:18 of the third.

In the opener, heralded former amateur star Mikael Zewski (9-0, 5 KOs) of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Canada had all he could handle in the form of rugged swinger Clint Coronel (4-2-2, 1 KO) of San Jose, California in a six-round split decision victory.

Despite his solid amateur background, Zewski, 151, opted to stand and trade with Coronel, 151, who knows how to do little else. It turned out to be a solid scrap, with Coronel winning over the small crowd and rocking Zewski in the final round. In the end, two judges inexplicably had each fighter a shutout winner, 60-54. The third judge had the fight 59-55 for Zewski, thus maintaining his unbeaten mark.

Photo courtesy Golden Boy Promotions

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, newly crowned WBC Super Welterweight champion Saul Alvarez will make his first defense against Ryan Rhodes of England on June 18th in Mexico in a bout that will be televised by HBO.

“For me it is so huge, but for my Mexican people it’s going to be even bigger,” Alvarez said backstage at the weigh-in for Saturday night’s Erik Morales-Marcos Maidana fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena. “It was my dream to have my first defense in Mexico and now the dream is reality. I am very happy.”

“After seeing the ratings Canelo had, the highest [‘Boxing After Dark’] ratings in like three years, they obviously are very interested to have Canelo back live on the network,” Golden Boy Promotions Richard Schaefer said of the new television arrangement. “To have Canelo live on HBO before he does his first pay-per-view is the right approach.”

Featherweight contender Daniel Ponce De Leon of Mexico will open the HBO telecast, Schaefer said. Ponce De Leon (41-3, 34 KOs), a former junior featherweight titleholder, fought his last bout on the Alvarez-Hatton undercard, when he moved up to junior lightweight and lost a close, debatable decision to prospect Adrien Broner.

Ponce De Leon’s opponent has not been signed yet. “We have two names we are talking about, so we are working on it,” Schaefer said.

“They criticize Canelo for fighting smaller guys like Jose Cotto or Matthew Hatton. Now he’s actually fighting a bigger guy, a substantially bigger guy, because Ryan Rhodes has fought many middleweight fights,” Schaefer said. “He’s a big guy, he’s a strong guy and it’s a real, real test. I told Canelo this is a very tough guy and Canelo looked at me, flexed his muscles and said, ‘So am I.’ ”

Said Alvarez: “I respect my opponent. He is a real opponent. He has fought at middleweight. He’s a real, real challenger. I could do an optional defense, but I choose a real opponent. I just want to prove to the people and media that I am capable of dealing with those type of fighters.”

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA — Beloved Mexican boxing icon Erik Morales returns to Las Vegas as a long shot to knock off fearsome puncher Marcos Maidana with a vacant interim title at stake to headline an event dubbed ‘Action Heroes’ at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino tonight. Fighters for the HBO Pay-Per-View event weighed in Friday at the same venue where the fight will be taking place tonight.

The match-up has many questioning aloud Morales’ readiness for such stiff competition and worrying about his well-being. Morales (51-6, 35 KOs) of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico returned to the ring a year ago last March, and has scored three wins against mid-level opposition. Morales, the WBA #5 ranked light welterweight, won over the hearts of Mexican fans everywhere over his long career with his aggressive and fiery style. Though he is a classy boxer when he wishes to be, he has a penchant for trading once the action heats up and the crowd gets into it. It is a penchant that could get him in serious trouble tonight. Morales weighed in at 140 Friday, bearing no resemblance to the anorexic guy that used to make 122-pounds.

Maidana (29-2, 27 KOs) of Jose Leon Suarez, Buenos Aires, Argentina claimed the interim WBA title which is at stake tonight back in June of 2009 with an upset of Victor Ortiz and made three defenses before running into full champion Amir Khan last December. It is Maidana’s obscene knockout percentage that has many worried about Morales’ health. If there is one thing to pick out on Maidana’s resume that could give Morales supporters hope it would be the Argentine’s off night against DeMarcus Corley last August. Even though he won a clear decision, Maidana struggled with the classy boxer in a bout that went the full twelve. Maidana, the WBA #1 ranked light welterweight, weighed in at 140-pounds.

In the fight most insiders are predicting will steal the show, Robert Guerrero (28-1-1, 18 KOs) of Gilroy, California will take on Michael Katsidis (27-3, 22 KOs) of Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia in a twelve-rounder with two interim belts on the line.

Guerrero, the WBA #1/WBO #1/IBF #4 ranked lightweight, appears to be on the cusp of breaking through as a major player in the sport and an impressive victory over Katsidis would go a long way in making that happen. In Katsidis, the WBA #2/WBO #3 ranked 135-pounder, Guerrero has an adversary that could make for a thrilling war, which is the type of fight that could launch the Gilroy native into stardom. Guerrero claimed titles at featherweight and super feather before abdicating the latter title for a move up to 135-pounds a year ago. Guerrero came in at 134-pounds Friday.

Katsidis is a blood and guts warrior in the mold of the late Arturo Gatti. Katsidis, a former WBO Interim Lightweight titleholder, has tripped up at the elite level, but always given a good account of himself in those situations. Does Robert Guerrero represent the elite level of the sport? That is the question that will be answered tonight. Katsidis, who unveiled a beach bum character throughout fight week, donning sunglasses and suntan lotion on his nose, scaled 134 as well. If you try to keep on the crazy title belt situation, this fight is for both the WBO and WBA interim versions of the lightweight crown. Juan Manuel Marquez holds the more recognized versions of both those titles.

In his first test since regaining his freedom after a 17-month prison term, former rising star James Kirkland (27-0, 24 KOs) of Las Vegas take on former interim belt holder Nobuhiro Ishida (22-6-2, 7 KOs) of Osaka, Osaka, Japan in an eight-round middleweight attraction. Kirkland returned to action for the first time in two years just one month ago and has already scored two quick stoppage victories. However, the former junior middleweight contender did look rusty in his last outing on March 18th, which ultimately ended in the second round.

Ishida, who claimed the WBA Interim Light Middleweight title in 2009 before dropping it to Rigoberto Alvarez by split decision last October, does have a sizeable height and reach advantage over the power-punching Kirkland. The loss to Alvarez was Ishida’s only fight outside of Japan, and it was a loss. Kirkland, already the WBO #4 ranked middleweight, and Ishida, the WBA #4 ranked junior middle, both scaled 158-pounds Friday.

The always colorful Paul Malignaggi (28-4, 6 KOs) of Brooklyn, New York, who takes on Jose Miguel Cotto (32-2-1, 24 KOs) of Caguas, Puerto Rico in the ten-round pay-per-view opener, stole the show at Friday’s weigh-in, as came out painted up like a golden Green Lantern, spandex shorts and all. The former 140-pound title holder is now campaigning at welterweight and will take on the diminutive brother of Miguel Cotto in his second fight at the new weight class.

Cotto, who was underpowered as a lightweight title challenger, did rock current 154-pound titlist Saul Alvarez early in their meeting last May before succumbing to a ninth-round stoppage. Malignaggi has a history with the Cotto family, having fought Jose’s brother Miguel to a twelve-round decision defeat in a war back in 2006. Malignaggi, the IBF #11/WBO #12 ranked welter, and Cotto, the WBO #11 ranked light welterweight, both scaled the 147-pound welterweight limit Friday.

Fast-rising light welterweight contender Danny Garcia (20-0, 14 KOs) of Philadelphia Pennsylvania looks to embellish his reputation a victory over faded former unified lightweight champion Nate Campbell (33-7-1, 25 KOs) of Jacksonville, Florida in a ten-rounder that will be televised just before the pay-per-view hits the air at 6 o’clock.

Garcia has been on a knockout tear over the last year, most notably knocking out former title contender Mike Arnaoutis last October. Campbell retired after a shocking loss to journeyman Walter Estrada via split decision last November. Garcia is expected to get the victory, but a win over Campbell will look good on your resume nonetheless. Garcia, the WBC #9 ranked light welterweight, scaled 139, while Campbell came in at 140-pounds.

In the heavyweight attraction, former international amateur star Rakhim Chakhkiev (9-0, 7 KOs) of Hamburg, Germany by way of Tobolsk, Russia takes on journeyman Harvey Jolly (11-16-1, 6 KOs) of Adrian, Michigan. Chakhiev, who is apparently moving down to cruiserweight, weighed in at 203-pounds, as did Jolly.

In the scheduled curtain raiser, touted former amateur star Mikael Zewski (8-0, 5 KOs) of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Canada takes on west coast tough guy Clint Coronel (4-1-2, 1 KO) of San Jose, California in a six-round light middleweight fight. Zewski and Coronel both weighed in at 151-pounds.

2008 U.S. Olympian Gary Russell Jr. (14-0, 9 KOs) of Capitol Heights, Maryland was slated to fight on the free preview portion of the televised card, but had several opponents fall out before finally his bout was scratched. Russell was originally pegged to fight Ira Terry, and his replacement opponent Sherali Dostiev missed his flight to Las Vegas.

According to Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer, a late replacement opponent for undefeated Omar Figueroa (10-0, 8 KOs) of Weslaco, Texas that was matched late Thursday also missed his flight. Originally tabbed opponent John Figueroa fell out early Thursday.

Ivan Morales (9-0, 5 KOs) of Tijuana, a southpaw that bares a striking resemblance to his older brother Erik, never had an opponent scheduled and fell off of the card.

Tickets for the event, promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, Box Latino and Universum Box Promotions, are available online at Ticketmaster.com.

Quick Weigh-in Results:

WBA Interim Light Middleweight Championship, 12 rounds
Morales 140
Maidana 140

WBA Interim Lightweight Championship
WBO Interim Lightweight Championship, 12 Rounds
Guerrero 134
Katsidis 134

Middleweights, 8 Rounds
Kirkland 158
Ishida 158

Welterweights, 10 Rounds
Malignaggi 147
Cotto 147

Light Welterweights, 10 Rounds
Garcia 139
Campbell 140

Heavyweights, 4 Rounds
Chakhkiev 203
Jolly 203

Light Middleweights, 6 Rounds
Zewski 151
Coronel 151

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.

PRIMM, NEVADA — Former world champion Vivian Harris remained on his stool after a rough first-round against Jessie Vargas Friday night at the Buffalo Bill’s Resort & Casino. When referee Joe Cortez made his way into the corner, Harris informed the official he was not continuing in the bout. Moments after the loss, his third in a row, Harris announced he was hanging up the gloves on his Facebook page.

“Just lost my fight [and] I am done with boxing because I [can’t] get a fight at the weight I want to,” said Harris, referring to his desire to fight at 147-pounds. “Boxing gave me a lot, thanks to all my fans.”

Harris’ post came roughly 45 minutes after he had left the ring. Harris (29-6-1, 19 KOs) of Brooklyn, New York by way of Georgetown, Guyana had told 15rounds.com prior to Thursday’s weigh-in that he had been planning to fight at welterweight, but all his offers came in for light welterweight opposition. “I want to go up to 147, because making 140 was definitely a hard thing for me to do,” admitted Harris Thursday. “But I have to take the fight because I have a family to feed and I can’t just sit at home or at the gym training. I have to pay the bills and I have a mortgage to pay and stuff like that. That’s why when the fights come at 140 I have to take it.”

Harris claimed the WBA Light Welterweight title in 2002 with an eye-opening second round stoppage over Diosbelys Hurtado. Harris would make three defenses before a shocking knockout loss to Carlos Maussa, who had replaced Arturo Morua on short notice, in 2005. Though he notched a couple victories on the comeback trail, Harris never regained the career momentum he had heading into the Maussa bout.

Harris would be stopped by Junior Witter in a failed attempt at the WBC version of the 140-pound title, a fight that the Guyana-born former champion had been the favorite among boxing insiders. Two fights later, Harris collapsed in the ring after a second-round headbutt against Noe Bolanos in Tucson, Arizona. In his three fights since, Harris has been stopped inside the distance each time.

While retirements made in the immediate aftermath of a tough loss rarely stick, this writer hopes Harris is one of the exceptions to the rule. The former champion made a good run and one can only hope that he finds life outside the ring to be just as rewarding as his time as a champion.

Photo by Mark Ortega

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.

PRIMM, NEVADA — Rising light welterweight Jessie Vargas announced his arrival with a stoppage of former world champion Vivian Harris in the televised main event of Telefutura Solo Boxeo emanating from the Buffalo Bill’s Resort & Casino on Friday night. The bout ended after the first round when Harris remained on his stool, a decision that may effectively end his career, or at minimum its relevancy.

Vargas (15-0, 8 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nevada stunned Harris (29-6-1, 19 KOs) of Brooklyn, New York by way of Georgetown, Guyana with the first shot he threw, a solid left hook. Vargas’ body attack clearly bothered Harris, 145, from the outset as well. Vargas, 143, allowed himself to get backed into the ropes briefly, but the Las Vegan quickly turned the situation around, landing a body shot that hurt Harris again.

Seconds later, Vargas landed a right that may have found Harris high on the head which ruined the former WBA Light Welterweight titleholder’s equilibrium. When action resumed, Vargas dug to Harris’ body before following with a straight right. The blow dropped Harris on the seat of his pants to the bottom rope, but with the bell ringing, referee Joe Cortez opted to not rule a knockdown. It proved to be academic, as Harris informed Cortez that he would not be continuing in the bout. According to Harris’ corner, it was completely their fighter’s decision to stop the contest.

With the victory, Vargas has a good name on his resume that could make him viable for an opportunity with a name fighter and perhaps a world ranking. Unfortunately for Harris, it appears to be the end of the line. A career that was so promising in 2003 has sputtered sharply downward. Harris had trouble making the contracted 144-pounds at yesterday’s weigh-in, taking the scale four times to get down to 145. Harris had said he wanted to fight as a welterweight, but needed to take the fights that he was offered in order to take care of his financial responsibilities. It is a formula that may lead Harris unwisely back into the ring.

Eddie Gomez (4-0, 3 KOs) of the Bronx, New York was not the aggressive puncher we have seen on television for his first three pro bouts, but he still outclassed Roberto Lopez (4-2-2, 1 KO) of Kissimmee, Florida in the six-round co-feature. Gomez, 150.5, did put the hurt on Lopez, 150.5, late in the opening round. The left hook was his primary effective weapon throughout the fight and it did the damage early. Gomez stunned Lopez with it, forcing the San Diego resident into the ropes for a damaging flurry of mostly lefts.

Somewhat inexplicably Gomez turned into a mover in the second round, and remained one thru most of the middle rounds. Gomez hurt Lopez in the third, as he uncorked a left hook and followed up with a flurry along the ropes. Gomez connected with two more left hooks before getting back on his toes and moving around the ring. In the end, Gomez was the unanimous winner by scores of 60-53, 59-55 and 59-54.

In an upset of sorts, power-punching prospect Bastie Samir (10-0-1, 10 KOs) of Las Vegas by way of Accra, Ghana was held to a six-round draw by Lester Gonzalez (11-3-2, 6 KOs) of San Diego, California by way of Havana, Cuba. Samir revealed plenty of defensive faults, but that may have been due to his low level of respect for Gonzalez’ power. In stretches it was an exciting fight, but in others it was not.

The free-swinging Samir, 161.5, was caught clean in several exchanges, but it was clear that Gonzalez, 163, was no puncher. The action really heated up in the third round, as neither fighter had any regard for defense and traded wildly. Samir was caught clean plenty, but did not appear to be too affected. Gonzalez, game, especially in the early going, landed a few wild swings himself.

The pace slowed in the middle rounds, but Samir appeared to be getting the more damaging punches through. Gonzalez was less and less willing to trade, before turning up the aggression in the sixth and final round. In the end, two judges had it 58-56 each way. The third judge made the draw with a 57-57 scorecard.

In a sloppy, but entertaining slugfest, Alexander Flores (4-0, 2 KOs) of Rowland Heights, California scored a minor upset over Quadtrine Hill (4-2, 1 KO) of Hollywood, California via four-round unanimous decision. Hill 219.5, you may recall was on the cover of ESPN The Magazine back in December of 2009, due to his status as a former University of Miami fullback and NFL practice squader. Flores, 225.5, decided he was not going to stick to the script, and he outslugged Hill en route to the decision by scores of 40-36 and 39-37 twice. Flores’ ability to make the off balance Hill pay for his mistakes was the difference.

In the opener, Paul Green (2-1) of Compton, California outworked Kai Zama (5-3, 3 KOs) of Costa Mesa, California by way of Tokyo, Japan over four rounds in what ended up being scored a split decision. Green, 136.5, was the quicker and flashier boxer in the bout. Zama, 139, moved forward and made a fight, but appeared to be outworked in just about every round. One judge favored Zama, 39-37. The other two judges had the fight for the winner Green, 39-37.

In a rousing walkout bout, Tatini Anderson (3-1-1, 3 KOs) of Las Vegas fought returning Lissette Medel (2-1-1) of Maywood, California to a four-round majority draw. Affectionately referred to as Mini Tyson, Anderson, 139, had the clear power edge, especially early. Medel, 138, was nothing if not game, especially considering she was ending a four-and-a-third year layoff.

Fighting in a Tyson-esque style, Anderson landed well and often in the first. Medel managed to back her to the ropes, but Anderson quickly landed a right that forced the Maywood native back to center ring. Medel landed a left that caught Anderson flush early in the second, and Anderson responded with a flurry to the body. However, Anderson’s punches seemed to have lost a little steam by the end of the round.

After a solid back-and-forth third round, which may have been edged by Anderson, both females opened up to start the fourth. Before ring announcer Joe Martinez could finishing telling everyone ringside that it was the fourth and final round, Anderson and Medel were going toe-to-toe, trading heavy shots. In the end, one judge had it for Anderson, 39-37, but was overruled by the other two, 38-38.

Promoter Roy Englebrecht informed the media that should both combatants be willing to do a rematch, he would attempt to put it together for his May 19th event at the Hyatt Regency Irvine in Irvine, California. After the fight, members of Medel’s team informed this writer that Anderson’s side already turned down the immediate rematch. That information is unverified as of press time.

Tonight’s card was a special edition of the “Fight Club Primm” series, which normally features both boxing and mixed martial arts. Roy Englebrecht Promotions will team with Golden Boy Promotions for another special edition of the series at Buffalo Bill’s on July 9th. When tickets go on sale, they will be made available online at Ticketmaster.com.

Delays

Not to close on a sour note after an excellent night of action, but something that requires mentioning, even though it is common practice for televised boxing events, would be the delays television crews cause in the flow of an event for the audience on hand.

Several TV-related delays occurred around the second fight of the night, the heavyweight clash between Alexander Flores and Quadtrine Hill. The fight was delayed several times after Flores entered the ring. The reason for a delay of close to ten minutes was that the TV crew needed time to film a segment, but the live show was continuing on regardless. After some confusion, Hill came out to the ring, but the fight was still held up for television taping. After another five minute pause to allow the cameramen to get into taping position of the introductions, the fight took place.

After the final televised fight ended, the women’s attraction remained, but production caused a delay in the start of that bout as well. Promoter Roy Englebrecht, clearly bothered by the delays, informed the TV crew that they needed to wrap up so that the fighters could come to the ring. Finally Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer ordered the next fight out, ending the delay.

The issue of balancing producing a televised event, while still keeping the house crowd entertained – and not halting the flow of the show – has become a consistent problem and one that has become more and more noticeable in recent weeks. This issue is something the powers that be in the sport need to address if they wish to keep fans coming thru the turnstiles instead of turning on their television.

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.

Dyah Davis scored an upset victory when he won a ten round unanimous decision over previously undefeated Marcus Johnson in Laredo, Texas.

Davis boxed well early as he boxed and moved with precision. Davis landed rights and jabs and was out of range before Johnson could set. Johnson followed Davis around the ring without much success except for spots where he would get his jab in.

Davis all but sewed up the fight in round nine as he landed a right hand to the ribs that sent Johnson to the canvas. Davis wasn’t challenged for the final four plus minutes of the bout and took the bout in the home state of Johnson.

Davis, 169 1/4 lbs of Boca Raton, FL won by scores of 98-91; 98-91 and 96-93 to raise his record to 19-2-1. Johnson, 170 lbs of Houston, TX is now 20-1.

Gabriel Bracero scored an emphatic eight round unanimous decision over former U.S. Olympic alternate Danny O’Connor in a Jr. Welterweight bout.

Bracero dominated the bout simply coming forward and landing combinations that bloodied the nose of O’Connor in round four.

That seemed to discourage O’Connor as Bracero turned up the heat as the rounds went on with less coming back from O’Connor.

Bracero, 140 lbs of Brooklyn, NY won by scores of 80-72; 80-72 and 79-73 to stay undefeated at 15-0. O’Connor, 137 3/4 lbs of Framingham, MA is now 14-1.

Vincent Arroyo scored three knockdowns en route to an eight round majority decision over previously undefeated Willie Nelson in a Welterweight bout.

Despite having an eight inch disadvantage, Arroyo got in the better shots and it was evident early as in round one he buckled Nelson with a good right. In round three, Arroyo was deducted a point for holding but seconds later he more than made up for it by landing a huge left that dropped Nelson for the first time.

Nelson seemed to be getting in rhythm in the middle rounds until he was dropped again in round six from another right and once again in round seven from a hard right hand.

Arroyo, 144 3/4 lbs of Buffalo, NY scored his second consecutive win over an undefeated opponent as he stopped heralded Jeremy Bryan last April and is now 11-1. Nelson. 145 3/4 lbs of Cleveland is now 16-1-1

Labeled the next coming and undefeated, David Lemieux found out it wouldn’t be a cakewalk to a world championship as veteran Marco Antonio Rubio scored a shocking come from behind seventh round stoppage in front of a stunned crowd at the Bell Centre in Montreal in a Middleweight title elimination bout.

Lemieux dominated the first five plus rounds with the first round being a typical Lemieux type of fight as he landed thudding punches that had Rubio against the ropes. Lemieux continued to land hard shots against Rubio who seemed to be waiting to take Lemieux into the late rounds.

In round six, Rubio got into the fight and landed a nice right hand that buckled the hometown favorite. Rubio finished up the round the round strong as he continued to pressure Lemieux.

Rubio wasn’t capitalizing early in round seven and allowed to get his legs back until Rubio landed a huge right that knocked Lemieux slumped into the corner which was was ruled a knockdown. Rubio kept up the presure and landed a barrage of punches which coerced Lemieux’s cornerman Russ Anber to wave the white towel at 2:36 of round seven.

Rubio, 160 lbs of Mexico will now face the winner of the June 4th fight between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Sebastian Zbik and now has a record of of 50-5-1 with forty-four knockouts. Lemieux, 160 lbs of Montreal is now 25-1.

After nearly a year off, Adonis Stevenson took out Derek Edwards in round three of a scheduled ten round Super Middleweight bout.

Stevenson dropped Edwards twice in round two with left hands. The second coming from a vicious left for which Stevenson got full extension that bloodied and possibly broke the nose of Edwards.

In round three, Stevenson landed another vicious left that sent Edwards down and out at 1:48 of round three.

Stevenson, 166 lbs of Montreal is now 14-1 with eleven knockouts. Edwards, 167 lbs of Winston-Salem, NC is now 25-2.

Elider Alvarez wiped out Ernesto Zamora in round three in a scheduled four round Cruiserweight bout.

Alvarez dropped Zamora three times in the third round with booming rights and the final came on a hard combination at

Alvarez, 195 lbs of Montreal via Colombia is now 4-0 with three knockouts. Zamora is now 10-19-1

PRIMM, NEVADA — Rising light welterweight prospect Jessie Vargas aims to add the name of former world champion Vivian Harris to his resume before a hometown crowd at the Buffalo Bill’s Resort & Casino. Their intriguing ten-round clash is the featured main event of tonight’s Telefutura Solo Boxeo telecast. Fighters weighed in Thursday evening at the casino’s Star of the Desert Arena, where tonight’s action takes place.

Vargas (14-0, 7 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nevada has built his reputation mostly against the usual list of suspects, but has the opportunity to raise a few eyebrows if he can impressively defeat Harris, who only a few years ago was a serious contender. Vargas had hoped to get in the ring with a former champion in his last bout, but Jose Armando Santa Cruz was ruled out and replaced by journeyman Cristian Favela on short notice. Vargas ended up notching an eight-round unanimous decision victory in that fight last October.

Harris (29-5-1, 19 KOs) of Brooklyn, New York by way of Georgetown, Guyana looked to have the potential as a force at 140-pounds when he knocked off veteran WBA Light Welterweight titleholder Diosbelys Hurtado in the second-round back in October of 2002. Harris made three defenses before his steady decline began with an upset knockout defeat to unheralded Carlos Maussa in June of 2005, just as his name was being mentioned for a possible showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Harris’ last outing, a devastating third-round knockout to Victor Ortiz last September, has led some to question whether or not he should continue fighting. A loss to Vargas tonight would definitely relegate him to the opponent category, but a win would go a long way in making him a more viable entity once more.

Thursday’s main event weigh-in provided more entertainment value than was advertised. Vargas came in a pound under the contracted 144-pound catchweight for tonight’s ten-round bout, but on his initial try Harris scaled 146.5-pounds. Vargas’ team, led by former world champion Cornelius Boza Edwards, insisted that Harris lose one-and-a-half pounds (in Nevada there is a one pound leeway for non-title bouts). An hour later Harris returned and took to the scale in the nude, but was still over at 145.2-pounds. Boza Edwards still insisted that Harris lose the .2-pounds. After a third and fourth try, Harris came in at 145-pounds, thus avoiding paying out a percentage of his purse in fines.

Light middleweight prospect Eddie Gomez (3-0, 3 KOs) of the Bronx, New York will take on Roberto Lopez (4-1-2, 1 KO) of Kissimmee, Florida in the six-round co-feature. Gomez, a former New York Golden Gloves Champion, will be making his U.S. debut as a professional after scoring three exciting stoppages on Puerto Rican soil this past winter. Lopez was undefeated prior to his last outing, a six-round decision defeat to now 10-0 Jake Giuriceo last September. Gomez and Lopez both weighed in at 150.5-pounds.

Bastie Samir (10-0, 10 KOs) of Las Vegas by way of Accra, Ghana will take on Lester Gonzalez (11-3-1, 6 KOs) of San Diego, California by way of Havana, Cuba in a six-round middleweight bout. Samir, who is trained by the respected Kenny Adams, has literally blown through his competition. Only one fighter, tough guy Loren Myers, has taken him past the third round. Gonzalez, currently on a three-fight skid against solid competition, has failed to last the distance just once in his career, but that came in his most recent fight. Samir came in at 161.5-pounds, while Gonzalez made the contracted 163 right on the nose.

In the featured women’s attraction of the evening, the powerfully-built Tatini Anderson (3-1, 3 KOs) of Las Vegas will meet Lissette Medel (2-1) of Maywood, California in a four-round light welterweight bout. Anderson, who was affectionately refereed to as Little Tyson at the weigh-in, scored three straight knockout victories before dropping a decision to Kuulei Kupihea almost exactly one year ago. Medel, who did not appear to be intimidated by Anderson’s muscular build, has not fought in over four years. Anderson weighed in at 139-pounds, while Medal came in at 138.

Former ESPN The Magazine cover boy Quadtrine Hill (4-1, 1 KO) of Hollywood, California looks to keep his winning streak going against Alexander Flores (3-0, 2 KOs) of Rowland Heights, California in a four-round pairing of heavyweights. Hill has posted three straight decision wins since admittedly running out of gas and getting stopped last September by Yohan Banks on pay-per-view. Flores, who turned pro in March of 2010, weighed in at 225.5-pounds. Hill, who has been training at the Wild Card Boxing Club since relocating from Florida, weighed in at 219.5-pounds, which is the lowest of his career.

Paul Green (1-1) of Compton, California takes on Kai Zama (5-2, 3 KOs) of Costa Mesa, California by way of Tokyo, Japan in a four-round light welterweight bout. Zama, who scaled 139, will be making his U.S. debut, as he has fought entirely in Japan until now. Zama’s last outing was a four-round decision defeat to Mitsumasa Takahashi last August. Green, who weighed in at 136.5-pounds, fought just last month, dropping a four-round decision to Juan Reyes in Tustin, California.

Tickets for the event, promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and Roy Englebrecht Promotions, are available online at Ticketmaster.com.

Quick Weigh-in Results:

Welterweights, 10 Rounds
Vargas 143
Harris 145*

Light Middleweights, 6 Rounds
Gomez 150.5
Lopez 150.5

Middleweights, 6 Rounds
Samir 161.5
Gonzalez 163

Heavyweights, 4 Rounds
Hill 219.5
Flores 225.5

Light Welterweights, 4 Rounds
Anderson 139
Medel 138

Light Welterweights, 4 Rounds
Green 136.5
Zama 139

*Harris made weight on his fourth attempt, originally scaling 146.5

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Heavyweight champions Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko will each fight anticipated bouts in the coming months.

Wladimir will defend his IBF/WBO and Ring Magazine world championships against WBA champ David Haye on either June 25th or July 2nd in a bout that has been brewing for a couple of years while Vitali will defend his WBC strap against Tomasz Adamek providing Adamek gets by Kevin McBride this Saturday in Newark, New Jersey.

“It’s pretty simple: Wladimir was the first one in 2009 who wanted to face Haye after Haye attacked him first, verbally in London at a press conference for a charity cause,” said Klitschko manager Bernd Boente. “From the beginning it was always going in that direction. From the contract side it’s possible it could change but, as of now, they made the decision between themselves.”

There still remains a possibility that Vitali (42-2, 39 KOs), who is coming off a first-round knockout of mandatory challenger Odlanier Solis on March 19, will also fight June 4 against an opponent to be determined in Germany.

“Maybe Vitali will fight then, but it depends on the TV situation in Germany,” Boente said.

“It will be Wladimir fighting Haye and Vitali is fighting Adamek, but Adamek has to win or he’s out,” Boente said.

Boente and Adam Booth, Haye’s manager and trainer, were in New York last week meeting with American television executives about deals for the U.S. rights to the fights. HBO is the likely outlet, Boente said.

“There is interest in America but, in the end, my gut feeling tells me HBO is the station,” Boente said. “Last week we went to HBO, to Epix and to Showtime. It’s not written in stone, but I think we are back in business with HBO.”

“June 25 or July 2, but it really depends on the stadium deal,” Boente said. “We are still not sure which one it will be in. It could still be outside of Germany, but it has to be agreed on by Adam Booth and myself. This is a true 50-50 deal.”

Argenis Mendez will vie for his first world title when he travels to South Africa to take on Mzonke Fana for the IBF Jr. Lightweight title on June 11 according to Dan Rafael of espn.com

The 24-year-old Mendez (18-1, 9 KOs) scored a first-round knockdown and went on to outpoint former titleholder Cassius Baloyi in South Africa on Jan. 29 in the eliminator that earned him the title shot against Fana.

“I’m glad he had that last fight in South Africa,” Lou DiBella, Mendez’s promoter, told ESPN.com. “It was very good experience to have fought there before going into this fight. He won the decision there and did very well. He will be comfortable fighting there again. I am very confident he can win the title there.

“Fana is still a good fighter, but [Mendez] has a lot of advantages going for him and he will be well-served by having fought there before. He is excited about the opportunity to win a title.

Fana was hoping to meet Scotland’s Ricky Burns in a summer unification fight after Burns and his promoter, Frank Warren, called him out. However, they were unable to make a deal.

“The offer Frank made for us to come to the U.K. for a unification was just a little bit more money than a normal challenger would get,” Branco Milenkovic, Fana’s promoter, said. “I doubled the offer and up to this moment they can’t make up their mind. No disrespect, but I think they didn’t want the fight to happen. The easiest way to kill the fight is to offer too little money.

“After I doubled up, they still were not prepared to come to South Africa. Maybe Burns wanted the fight, but Frank doesn’t. I understand. But don’t go three months telling me you want to make a deal. We were really looking forward to a unification fight in South Africa, but we couldn’t get it made, so I decided to go with DiBella because I saw Warren is not interested and I have a good working relationship with Lou. So we were able to make a deal. Mendez fought well when he was in South Africa.”

Former world champion Eric Morel stopped former world title challenger Luis Maldonado after four rounds of their scheduled ten round Jr. Featherweight bout at the Fantasy Springs Resort in Indio, CA.

Morel dropped Maldonado at the end of round one from a right hand and continued to pressure Maldonado until the bout was stopped after four rounds.

Morel, 119 lbs of San Juan, PR is now 44-2 with twenty-two knockouts. Maldonado, 119 1/2 lbs of Mexicali, MX is now 37-5-1.

Good looking twenty year old prospect Randy Caballero stopped Felix Perez in round two of a scheduled six round Super Bantamweight bout.

Caballero dropped Perez in the first from a left to the head and again dropped Perez in round two with a left to the body body and the bout was stopped at 2:42 of round two.

Caballero, 120 1/2 lbs of Cochella, CA is now 9-0 with five knockouts. Perez, 120 1/2 lbs of Carolina, PR is now 7-3.

Ramon Valadez scored a spectacular one punch knockout over Rob Diezel in round one of their scheduled six round Lightweight bout.

After a nice exchange, Diezel walked into a perfect right that knocked him down and out at 1:42 of round one.

Valadez, 131 3/4 lbs of Ontario, CA is now 7-1 with four knockouts. Diezel, 129 lbs of Seattle, WA is now 5-4.

Alfonso Blanco remained undefeated by scoring a four round unanimous decision over Ricardo Malfavon in a Jr. Middleweight bout.

Scores were 39-36 on all cards for Balnco, 153 3/4 lbs of Caracas, Venezuela and is now 4-0. Malfavon, 151 3/4 lbs of Mexico is now 1-5.

MAIN EVENT — Joel “El Rey” Castillo sent a wave of electricity through the Aviator Sports Complex in Brooklyn, New York Saturday night when he delivered a violent one punch knockout to Billy Cunningham just eighteen seconds into the fight!

The punch, a vicious left hook on the button, sent Cunningham crashing stiffly the canvas where he would remain until ringside physicians propped him up onto a stool for a medical examination.

Cunningham came out of the corner, circled Castillo, and walked right into a perfectly placed left hook. He immediately crumbled. His legs stiffened upon hitting the mat, his eyes rolled to the back of his head, Undertaker-style.

The crowd, who had been awaiting a knockdown of note got more than they bargained for in the main event. Not only was it a knockdown of note, it was a KNOCKOUT of note.

With one murderous left hook less than twenty seconds into the fight, the Bronx’s Castillo improved his record to 8-0, 5 KOs, while Cunningham, a native of Jackson, Mississippi’s, fell to 5-10, 4 KOs.

Mark Davis vs. Ramesis Gil — 6 Rounds, lightweight

In the night’s co-main event, Cincinnati, Ohio’s Mark Davis scored a TKO victory over the Dominican Republic’s Ramesis Gil when Gil was unable to answer the bell for round six.

It was clear from the onset that Davis’ superior hand-speed and overall athleticism was going to be a lot for Gil to handle, and it was. To make matters worse for the Dominican, his defense was average at best.

The speedy Davis first hurt his counterpart in the second round when he landed a textbook one-two to the face of Gil. He continued to find Gil with ease for the next two, including a huge right hand to the chin that wobbled Gil in round four. While Davis was unable to shut the door at that particular moment, he only needed one more round the finish the job.

In the fifth round, Davis started to attack Gil’s body. After an exhausted Gil recovered from a grazing low blow, Davis turned up the heat and began wailing away at Gil’s midsection. As he back him into the ropes, Davis delivered a bruising left hook to the liver of Gil, who immediately absorbed a flurry of more body shots courtesy of Davis before falling to the canvas.

When Gil returned to his corner after the round concluded, his corner stepped in and advised the referee to call a halt to the bout at the end of round five.

Davis improved his record to 15-0, 5 KOs with the win, while Gil loses his second fight and sees his record morph to read 6-2-4, 5 KOs.

Leon Moore vs. Felipe Almanza — 6 Rounds, bantamweight

Lean “Hurry Up” Moore cruised past Felipe Almanza

When watching this fight, I was trying to think of new nicknames for Moore. I only came up with two, and they are both sub-par, but here you go. Leon “Hurry Up And Get This Fight Over With” Moore? Leon “Hurry Up And” Snore?

Point is, Leon Moore is an extremely talented fighter, and his record shows it — 28-2, 23 KOs.

With that said, his style is not exactly crowd-pleasing.

The Guyanese-born Brooklynite works methodically behind his crisp jab, taking little risks to land punches that would offer large rewards. But in all fairness to Moore, he didn’t have to take unnecessary risks in this fight, and he didn’t.

The bout saw some fiery exchanges, but they were few and far between. Although the bout was pretty much out of Almanza’s reach by the fourth round, he was deducted a point by the referee for hitting after the break. That, if nothing else, sealed his fate.

In the end, Moore took home the unanimous decision victory. All three judges scored the bout 59-54 in his favor.

Ramadan Yasser vs. Mario Flores — 4 Rounds, heavyweight

In the night’s lone heavyweight bout of the evening, the Egyptian-born New Yorker, Ramadan Yasser scored a majority decision victory over Washington, D.C.’s Mario Flores.

Yasser, a flamboyant boxer, clubs more than he punches. His ‘punches’ are awkward and extremely wide, but he throws them from all angles, which created problems for the Chris Arreola (but fifty pounds lighter) look-a-like, Flores.

Throughout the fight, Yasser taunted Flores, doing all kinds of showboating over the course of twelve minutes. While it didn’t seem to phase Flores, I know if it was me, I would have been pissed. Flores, took it in stride, and continued to try walk down his opponent, who seemingly was treated this fight as some sort of comedy act.

Flores’ only round won on my scorecard was the second round, where he made a commitment to attack Yasser’s body. He got away from that however, and didn’t see much success elsewhere.

In the end, judge Julie Lederman scored the bout even 38-38, while the other two judges agreed that Yasser won the bout by a score of 39-37.

With the win, Yasser stays perfect as a professional, improving his record to 4-0, 3 KOs, while Flores drops his first professional fight, and falls to 1-1, 1 KO.

Frank Galarza vs. Noel Garcia — 4 Rounds, junior middleweight

Hometown favorite Frank Galarza easily outpointed the lesser talented Noel Garcia in a four round junior middleweight bout.

Garcia looked hesitant from the opening bell, as if he wasn’t sure he wanted to be in the ring that night. Conversely, Galarza looks like a boxer and he acts like one too.

Galarza controlled the pace and domination the action from bell to bell, stalking Garcia around the ring. The only knock on Galarza this bout is that when he had Garcia hurt, he showed no desire to follow-up quickly and try to stop his opponent. Instead, he chose to slowly stalk his prey, which worked as well, resulting in another ‘W’ in the young prospect’s win column.

With the win, Galarza runs his record to 3-0, 1 KO, while Springfield, Massachusetts’ Garcia falls to 2-8-1, 1 KO.

Tommy Rainone vs. Arthur Medina — 6 Rounds, welterweight

Arthur Medina’s trunks read “All Heart.” His tattoo that arched across his back said the same. After the fight ended, I didn’t doubt those words. Too bad he has “All Heart” and not much else, however.

His opponent, Tommy Rainone’s trunks, read “Razor” across the waist. And that too turned out to be an appropriate nickname as he continually sliced through Medina’s shoddy defense with a razor-like left hand.

I was convinced by the third round that if Rainone’s trunks said “Hammer” across the belt-line instead of “Razor”, his “Hammer” would have trumped Medina’s “All Heart” and this fight would have been over by the second round.

Rainone dominated this fight bell to bell, literally. No more than seconds into the fight Medina was sporting a cut on the cheekbone under his right eye. While the cut never became a factor in the fight, it certainly was an indicator of the now would go for Medina.

The Colorado native, Medina, was too easy to find for Brooklyn’s own Rainone. Time after time, Rainone shot his left hand through Medina’s hand-made uprights.

While Rainone never lost control of the bout, it was a dirty and chippy fight that saw the referee constantly getting in-between the southpaw, Rainone, and the orthodox, Medina.

In the third round, Rainone through a half straight left/half push that resulted in Medina falling to the canvas. Referee Sparkle Lee, incorrectly in my view, ruled it a knockdown.

Later in the fight, in the fifth round, however, Rainone scored a legitimate knockdown when a one-two sent Medina to the mat.

When it was all said and done, all three judges awarded Rainone the victory. Scores were 59-53 and 60-52, twice..

With the win, Rainone improves 14-4, 4 KOs, while Medina drops to 14-23, 5 KOs.

Jonathan Arias vs. Angel Cruz — 6 Rounds, super flyweight

While there was no doubt that Joel Castillo’s knockout of Billy Cunningham was the knockout of the night, there was also no doubt that Jonathan Arias versus Angel Cruz was the fight of the night.

The bout opened up with fireworks and the they were constant throughout, until the finale, which commenced at the sound of the bell to end round six. Arias, the crowd favorite and Dominican Republic native now resided in New York City exchanged blows with the Puerto Rican, Miami resident, Cruz from the opening ‘ding.’

In the second round, Cruz stumbled Castillo with a huge one-two which backed Castillo against the ropes. Cruz continued to attack, but Castillo weathered the storm and fired off a few crushing blows of his own.

The best action of the best fight came in round five when Arias hurt Cruz with an uppercut, forcing him to backpedal until he reached the ropes. Arias continued to wail away at Cruz, who was covering up and not firing back. After absorbing a few more blows, it was Cruz’s turn to fire back, and in doing so the crowd was on their feet, half the arena cheering for while Arias, while the Puerto Rican fans in attendance adopted Cruz to root for.

Although Arias gave it everything he had, Cruz was the more technical, less wild, and quicker boxer, with heavier hands. Ultimately, that carried him to victory.

Scores were 59-55 and 58-56, all in favor of Cruz.

At the end of the fight, HBO’s unofficial offical, Howard Lederman, who was sitting in the first row exclaimed, “Man that’s as good as it gets! Incredible!”

With the win, Cruz improves to 5-1, 4 KOs, while Arias drops to 11-7, 9 KOs.

DonYil Livingston vs. Greg Hackett — 6 Rounds, middleweight

In the evening’s first contest, Los Angeles, California’s DonYil Livingston scored a narrow unanimous decision victory the hard-nosed Greg Hackett of Philadelphia.

The underdog, Hackett, gave Livingston all he could handle in this fight and all three judges agreed he had one half the rounds. However, his downfall came in the sixth and final round when he delivered his third low blow to Livingston and was deducted a point.

That point proved vital as all three judges scored the bout in favor of Livingston, 57-56.

With the win, Livingston improves his record to 3-0, 2 KOs, while Hackett drops to 2-7.

At the BB Kings Blues Club in Times Square, NY, Jose Pedraza, a fighter with one professional fight under his belt, headlined a Broadway Boxing card. The Broadway Boxing series has played a part in producing most of New York’s top boxers. His being showcased as the main event so early in his career brought about some criticism from people who have yet to see Pedraza.

Pedraza (1-0, 1 KO) was set to take on Corben Page (1-2). Pedraza wasted little time getting things going, as he knocked down Page with a well timed right. Page beat the count, but it was clearly evident that he was not going to last long against what we found out was a true talent. With blood pouring out his nose, he took a mean combination and was down on the canvas again. After beating that count a second time, he was met with more punches which forced the referee to stop the fight at the 2:25 point of the first round giving Pedraza a TKO victory.

The co-feature pitted Willie Monroe Jr. (10-0, 4 KO’s) in a tough matchup against the notorious spoiler Darnell Boone (17-17-3, 7 KO’s). The fight was scheduled for eight rounds, and everyone in attendance expected it to go the distance. The fight started out at a slow pace. Oddly enough, it was Boone that was pressing the action with a body attack. In the fifth round, after some infighting, Monroe went down, but the referee ruled it a slip. The bout continued at the same pace, with Boone looking stronger as the fight progressed. In the eighth round, a right hand knocked down Wilson, and the folks in attendance pretty much knew that Boone would be getting the decision. In the end, the scores read 78-73 and 77-74 for Boone and 76-75 for Monroe, giving Boone a split decision victory.

The popular Seanie Monaghan (6-0, 4 KO’s) took the ring against Michael Glenn (2-2, 1 KO). Monaghan makes up for a lack of technique with hard work and overwhelming punching. His workmanlike style and constant pressure was too much for Glenn, who had nothing to provide in response. The fight ended with scores of 40-36 for Monaghan, giving him a unanimous decision victory.

Former Golden Gloves champion who somehow stayed below the New York hype, Travis Peterkin (1-0, 1 KO’s) completely bum rushed Abdellah Smith (1-1, 1 KO) as soon as the opening bell rang. Thudding shots were heard from even outside the room. The ref was forced to stop the beating at the 2:33 point of the first round, giving Peterkin a TKO victory.

The tall and athletic Delen Parsley (4-0, 2 KO’s) took on the difficult David Lopez (3-4, 3 KO’s). Lopez is a southpaw notorious for making his opponents look bad. This fight wasn’t much different for him. Despite a few heated exchanges, Lopez made it difficult for Parsley to showcase his range and versatility. Still, he did not provide much offense in return, so Parsley was clearly in the lead. After a decent scrap, scores of 59-55, 59-55, and 58-56 giving Parsley a unanimous decision victory.

Scott Burrell (2-0, 2 KO’s) took on Jemell Tyson (0-0-1) in a four round match. Burrell used his superior talent and harder punching to dominate the fight from start to finish, winning the fight with scores of 40-36, 40-36 and 39-37, giving Burrell a unanimous decision victory.

Gabriel DuLuc made his professional debut against Joel Alarcon (0-1) in a fight scheduled for four rounds. Right hands were the name of DuLuc’s game, as he often avoided throwing jabs for long stretches of time. A right knocked Alarcon down briefly in the first round, and the rest of the bout saw DuLuc’s right hand constantly pepper his opponent’s face. The scores from all three judges read 40-35, giving DuLuc a unanimous deicision victory and his first professional win.

And a blistering hot sun it was today at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter Florida for today’s outdoor boxing event, “Fight for the Pink.” Jason Gavern headlined the card and proved to the crowd and the boxing world that he is a legitimate threat to all the heavyweight belts as he retained his own WBC Caribean heavyweight belt in a 7th round TKO over a very game and hard hitting Darnell “Ding a Ling” Wilson. Both men came out with bad intentions early with a smattering of hard shots from both sides in the first few rounds with Gavern the more busy fighter establishing his jab early. The middle rounds were more Gavern as he started to seemingly frustrate Wilson by not letting him set for his punches. Gavern a crowd favorite toyed with the ringside observers throughout the fight while Wilson was trying to get off the one big shot. The end came at 1:44 of the 7th round with an overhand right from Gavern that landed flush on the head of Wilson opening a huge gash prompting referee Frank Santore Jr to call a stop to the action. Gavern improves to 20-7 and this fight should move him closer if not in to the coveted top 10 rankings in the world for the big men.

In the other headliner of the day Patricia “Patty Boom Boom” Alcivar continued to impress with another gem of a performance over an extremely tough and game Savannah Hill. Alcivar led off round one with a flurry of punches connecting with several and setting the pace for the fight which would stay much of the same, Boom Boom booming shots into the face and body of Hill. Alcivar showed she was the superior fighter using sometimes 5 and 6 punch combinations all the while maintaining her composure and nimble feet. “Boom Boom” won a unanimous decision after 6 rounds of fighting winning every round on all the judges score cards and she improves her impeccable unbeaten record to 5- 0 and rumor has it she is fighting for a title sometime this year. Much more to come from this exciting young fighter.

On the undercard Swedish Heavyweight David Loy improved to 2-0 with a solid knockout of Justin Riegle in the second round. It should be noted that Loy donated his whole purse to the Fight Breast Cancer cause. Former Florida gold glover had his hands full in his pro debut with veteran Alex Cruz Medina before finally Medinas corner put a stop to the action at 1:22 in the third. Cuban Heavyweight Luis Ortiz improves his record to 7 wins and no defeats with a one sided victory of the slick, elusive now journeyman Jerry Butler. Look for Ortiz to shake up the heavyweight division over the next couple of years if he keeps focused. Finally Arturo Santiago improved to 7-3-1 in a win over Kadel Luiz Martinez in what was a very exciting back and forth match. All in all today’s fight were a success for the fighters the fans and the fight against cancer.

“Hammerin” Hank Lundy scored a ten round unanimous decision over Patrick Lopez in a Lightweight bout at the
Fox Theater at Foxwoods in Connecticut.

Lundy took control early on the strength of a knockdown in round two that came from a quick left hand to the head. Lopez began to bleed from the corner of his right eye in round three. Lundy suffered the same fate with his right eye in round five.

It was clear who the faster man was but Lopez had the look of a guy who was just beginning to stalk his prey

Lopez started to up the pressure in round’s seven, eight and nine that began to swing the tide in his favor. The two exchanged wild flurries that that excited the crowd all the way to the final bell.

Lundy, 135 lbs of Philadelphia won by scores of 99-91; 97-92 and 95-94 to raise his record to 20-1-1. Lopez, 135 lbs of Londonderry, NH is now 20-4.

Vladine Bioose scored a fifth round stoppage over Tim Connors in a battle of Super Middleweight southpaws that was scheduled for eight rounds.

Biosse dropped Connors in round five from a straight left. Biosse was continuing his dominance until he drilled Connors with another big left that sent him down to the canvas just thirty-seven seconds into round the round.

Biosse, 168 lbs of Providence, RI is now 11-0 with six knockouts. Connors, 167 lbs of St. Louis is now 10-3.

Former world title challenger stopped Joe Gardner when Gardner could not come out to start round five in their scheduled six round Super Middleweight bout.

Ayala dropped Gardner twice with body shots in round four and Gardner did not want to take any more punishment and the bout was stopped before round five could commence.

Ayala, 168 lbs of New Haven, CT is now 22-5-1 with ten knockouts. Gardener, 169 lbs of Rhode Island is now 7-2-1.

Raymond “Tito” Serrano scored a fifth round stoppage over Corey Alacorn in a scheduled eight round Welterweight bout at the Asylum Arena in South Philadelphia.

Serrano scored a knockdown in the first round from a left to the body. The battering was evident in round two as Alacorn’s nose started to bleed from some solid straight right’s from Serrano. In round four, Serrano rocked Alacorn repeatedly from rights to the head and lefts to the body.

In round five, Serrano drilled Alacorn on two separate occasions to score two knockdowns and the fight was stopped just forty-four seconds into the fifth frame as the hometown kid put on a dominant performance.
Serrano, 147 lbs of Philadelphia is now 15-0 with eight knockouts. Alacorn, 147 lbs of Denver, CO is now 14-17-1.

In the co-feature, Andres Taylor took four round unanimous decision over awkward Rayshawn Myers in a Cruiserweight bout.

Myers seemed more concerned about clowning around then he did to win and in round one it cost him as he tried three bolo punches with the third he got countered and dropped on the seat of his pants.
Over the next three rounds, Taylor tried to make the fight in spite of Myers antics with Myers having little success.

It was Taylor’s willingness to fight that gained him the unanimous decision by scores of 40-35; 40-35 and 38-37.

Taylor, 194 lbs of Johnstown, PA is now 17-1-2. Myers, 190 lbs of Cleveland, OH is now 3-7.
Patrick Majewski remained perfect by obliterating an overmatched Allen Medina in a scheduled six round Middleweight contest.

Majewski came out and landed two hard rights that rocked Medina. A third right sent Medina down the canvas. Majewski jumped on Medina and landed five consecutive hard blows and the fight was stopped just seventy-four seconds into the contest.

Majewski, 160 lbs of Atlantic City, NJ is now 16-0 with eleven stoppages. Medina, 158 lbs of Denver is now 8-19.

Ardrick Butler scored a sixth round stoppage over gutty Michael Denby in the final scheduled round of their welterweight bout.

Butler rocked Denby in round one from a big right hand and dropped him in round three from a left hook. Denby shocked the crowd by landing a huge right that sent Butler to the canvas. Butler seemed hurt but was able to make it out of the round.

Butler came out in round six by rocking Denby with a big right that had Denby stumbling bad into the ropes. Referee Blair Talmidge separated the two combatants and when he gently pushed Denby back, he fell to the canvas proving how hurt he really was and Talmidge had no other recourse then to stop the bout Tat forty-one seconds of round six.

Butler, 147 ½ lbs of Philadelphia is 6-4 with three knockouts. Denby, 150 lbs of Felton, DE is now 3-9-3.
Juan Rodriguez was very consistent in pounding out a four round unanimous decision over Andrew Jones in a Welterweight bout.

Scores were 40-36 on all cards for Rodriguez, 147 lbs of Union City, NJ to remain undefeated at 6-0. Jones, 147 lbs of Buffalo, NY is now 0-5-1.

Kamil Lasczyk was knocked down from a counter left in the first minute of his bout with Javier Ramos but came back to land a vicious body shot that dropped and stopped Ramos at 1:48 of that same round in a scheduled four round Featherweight bout.

Lasczyk, 127 ½ of North Bergen, NJ is now 3-0 with three knockouts. Ramos, 128 ½ lbs of Mayaquez, PR is now 2-6.

Keenan Smith scored a four round unanimous decision over Joshua Nieves in a Jr. Lightweight bout.
Scores were 40-36; 39-37 and 39-37 for Smith, 132 ½ lbs of Philadelphia and is now 4-0. Nieves, 129 ½ lbs of Bronx, NY was making his pro debut.

John Mecurio remained undefeated by pounding out a four round unanimous decision over William Miranda in a Heavyweight tussle.

Scores were 40-37; 39-37 and 39-37 for Mecurio, 266 lbs of Philadelphia and is now 4-0. Miranda, 236 lbs of Allentown, PA suffered a cut from who is nose is now 2-3.

The show was promoted by Andre Kut and KEA Boxing.

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ — In the main event of the evening, Yuriorkis Gamboa sent Jorge Solis to the mat five times in four rounds to remain undefeated in front of a sold out crowd at the Adrian Phillips Ballroom at Boardwalk Hall.

The opening round saw little action as both fighter’s were content with feeling one another out. The second round was a different story, however, as Gamboa overwhelmed his counterpart, sending him crashing to the canvas on two separate occasions.

Gamboa’s first knockdown came courtesy of a crisp left hook. Solis beat the ten count, and quickly regained his legs, only to be met with a flurry of punches from Gamboa. Eventually, Gamboa dropped Solis again after a combination ending with a right hand, combined with little push, sent Solis down.

Gamboa cruised through the third round and with only ten seconds remaining he delivered a skull-crushing left hook that collapsed Solis to the mat for a third time. He was able to beat the ten count and walked backed to his corner between rounds on shaky legs.

In the fourth, it was more of the same, Gamboa landed a quick one-two flush that sent Solis flying on his back and to the mat for a fourth time. Solis, looking over at his corner while on a knee, waved to his corner to let the fight continue. That proved to be unwise because as soon as the fight continued Gamboa rushed to Solis and fired off a flurry of punches that would ultimately send Solis to the canvas for a fifth and final time.

Referee David Fields stepped in and called a halt to the bout at the 1:31 mark of round four.

“Of course, I knew that Solis had shown a great fight against Pacquiao”, said Gamboa after the fight. “And, of course, it was an extra motivation to beat him faster than Pacquiao did. I wanted to make a statement tonight. I always enter the ring to prove that I am the best fighter in the world. Whoever wants to prove me wrong should just come and fight me. I don’t care about my opponent’s names – I want the big fights to show the world that I am the best.”

Promoter Ahmet Oner was once more thrilled by Gamboa’s performance. “That was exactly the Yuriorkis Gamboa we all know and want to see”, said Oner. “He didn’t look as determined and explosive in some of his last fights. But today he showed the full package again: his extraordinary hand speed and overall movement plus his enormous power and accuracy. He is definitely one of the most exciting fighters in the world today. And I don’t see anybody he has to be afraid of. Gamboa is simply made for this sport. He’s a natural born boxer and winner.”

With the win, Gamboa remains undefeated and improves to 20-0, 16 KOs, while the veteran Solis drops to 40-3-2-1, 29 KOs.

In another championship bout featuring two undefeated fighters, Miguel Angel Garcia became the new NABF and NABO featherweight champion as he stopped the former unbeaten fighter, Matt Remillard.

The first round saw good action, with Oxnard, California’s Garcia ultimately getting the better of his counterpart. The best action came about two minutes in when Garcia hurt Remillard with a barrage of punches that hard a hurt Remillard covering up his face with his back against the ropes.

In the second round, Manchester Connecticut’s Remillard found success by applying constant pressure. His best punch came about midway through the round when he landed a straight right flush on the left side of Garcia’s face.

Garcia started break Remillard’s defense in round three as he continuously sent shots straight up the middle, Garcia’s fists always finding their target. At times in the third round, Remillard seemed a bit lost, his only answer to Garcia’s punches was to flick an ineffective left jab at him.

The middle rounds belonged to Garcia, as continued to breakdown the red-faced Remillard. Garcia fired straight shots up the middle, but when Remillard would sure up his guard there, Garcia would hook in punches around the gloves.

In the ninth round, Garcia dropped Remillard with a grazing left hook. Remillard beat the referee’s ten count but stood on shaky legs. Garcia quickly greeted the hurt champion with a barrage of punches that forced Remillard into retreat. Garcia then landed a crushing left hook right on the button that sent Remillard violently back to the canvas. He impressively beat the ten count once again and stood just in time to hear the bell concluded round nine.

In the tenth, Garcia picked up where he left off, continuing to punish the champion. Once again Remillard went down the canvas, this time courtesy of a Garcia right to the head.

In between rounds ten and eleven, Remillard’s trainer, Mike Skowronski stepped in to save his fighter and stop the bout.

As a result, Miguel Angel Garcia captures the NABF and NABO featherweight titles and improves his record to 25-0, 21 KOs, while Remillard suffers his first professional defeat and falls to 23-1, 13 KOs.

In an electrifying USBA super bantamweight title bout, Philadelphia’s Teon Kennedy successfully defended his title against a tough Jorge Diaz.

It was a battle of wills between the two undefeated prospects, a battle that would somehow go the distance even though each boxer was on the receiving end of some vicious blows.

The fight opened with Diaz acting as the aggressor. He constantly came forward, continuously finding a home for his right hand. Kennedy, who is an above average counterpuncher in his own right, seemed uneasy and awkward in the opening rounds in this fight.

In the second round, Diaz caught Kennedy flush with a left hook to the side of his face. It was quickly followed a by a straight right, a combination that momentarily hurt the champion. It also resulted in a cut to open over Kennedy’s right eye.

In the third round, Kennedy began to turn the tides. With his back nearing the ropes, Kennedy caught Diaz with a left hook high on Diaz’s head, forcing the challenger off-balance to the point where both his gloves touched the canvas, resulting in a knockdown. It was only after this knockdown did Kennedy come forward for the first time in the fight.

In the fourth round, the two continued to exchange blows. A divided crowd was more than alive by this point as chants of “Jorge! Jorge” were countered by chants of “Teon! Teon!” Late in round four Diaz seemingly hurt Kennedy with a straight right, but Kennedy recovered quickly.

In the sixth round Kennedy countered a Diaz right hand that sent him crashing to floor. Somehow Diaz was able to beat referee Steve Smoger’s ten count and continue the fight. The game Diaz stood on clumsy legs, wobbling back into the ropes as Kennedy tried to finish the fight. Four consecutive head shots were landed and any other referee other than Smoger probably would have stepped in and called a halt to the bout. He didn’t and no less than twenty seconds later did the resilient Diaz rattle off a three punch combination of his own. As the round concluded, Diaz — who was clearly still hurt — clutched Kennedy’s hip and dragged them both mat as the bell sounded.

When round seven opened up, Diaz clinched frequently, buying time for his legs to regain their strength. By this time, Diaz’

s eye was beginning to severely swell, to the point where he was having trouble opening it. Smoger kept looking in at Diaz’s face, but decided to let the bout continue.

The fight continued to electrify the crowd for the final three rounds, as each fighter was willing to eat a few punches to dish out a few of their own. Both fighter’s fought to keep their undefeated record until the final bell sounded.

When it did, the judges scored the bout a unanimous decision in favor of the champion, Kennedy. Judge Steve Weisfeld saw the bout 115-111. Judge Alan Rubenstein scored the fight 118-109 and judge John Poturaj had it 117-109, all for Kennedy.

With the win Kennedy retains his USBA championship and improves his record to 17-0-1, 7 KOs, while Diaz loses his first professional bout and drops to 15-1, 9 KOs.

Baltimore Ravens’ safety and former Notre Dame football captain, Tommy Zbikowski improved his professional boxing record to 3-0 with a win over former MMA fighter, Caleb Grummet.

Zbikowski, who trained under the tutelage of Emanuel Steward for this fight, showcased an impressive arsenal of weapons throughout the first two rounds of this bout, before fading heavily.

Zbikowski began the fight as a southpaw, making a visible commitment to attack his heavier opponent’s body. Grummet took the punches well and returned fire with a few successful body blows of his own.

The second round was all Zbikowski as he hurt Grummet early in the round. With Grummet dazed and agains the ropes, Zbikowski was able to land some devastating uppercuts, as well as a vicious three punch combination to Grummet’s body. Grummet was able to survive Zbikowski’s onslaught in the second round and came out firing on all cylinders in the third round.

Grummet came out aggressive in the third round, constantly walking forward, forcing Zbikowski to retreat. The former cage fighter continuously landed flush punches to a fatigued Zbikowski, but he was deducted a point for his third low blow of the round.

In the fourth round, Grummet continued to fight like it was his Super Bowl. Again he was relentless with pressure, forcing an absolutely exhausted Zbikowski against the ropes. Zbikowski absorbed three minutes worth of Grummet punches, and twice during the round, took his eyes off his firing opponent to check how much time was left in the bout.

In the end, the first two rounds coupled with the point Grummet lost due to low blows, was enough for Zbikowski to earn a unanimous decision and improve his record to 3-0, 2 KOs. Judges scores read as follows: 39-36, twice, and 38-37.

With the loss, Grand Rapid’s Michigan’s Caleb Grummet falls to 0-1-1.

Undefeated prospect and former Manny Pacqiuao sparring partner, Glen Tapia, scored a unanimous decision victory over the durable Eberto Medina.

The first opened up with good action, both fighters throwing a healthy mix of body and head punches. The highlight of the first round came midway through when Tapia landed a one-two that stunned Medina momentarily.

The second round began with Tapia bombarding his surprised counterpart, who immediately backed against the ropes where he was met with a head-snapped right hand. Medina, who was clearly hurt by that punch, went from corner to corner in retreat. Tapia continued to apply pressure, but Medina was able to weather the storm early in round two.

Medina started to find some success in round three as he continuously applied pressure and walked Tapia into corners. Tapia seemed comfortable fighting with his back near the ropes, as he successfully countered Medina time after time. Towards the end of round three, Tapia caught Medina with a left hook that sent him stumbling backwards until he took a seat on the canvas. He beat the referee’s ten count with ease, and continued on to hear the bell to conclude round three.

The fight continued to entertain as both fighters continued to engage one another. It was Tapia, however, who continued to land the cleaner, more devastating blows. Credit Medina for battling, however, as he continued to pressure Tapia in hopes of landing one big punch until the final bell sounded.

In the end, all three judges scored the bout in favor of Passaic, New Jersey’s Tapia. Scores read as follows: 59-54, 60-53, and 60-52.

With the win Tapia improves his already perfect record to 9-0, 5 KOs, while Newark, New Jersey’s Medina drops to 5-6, 1 KO.

Former National Golden Gloves Champion Miguel Cartejena probably didn’t anticipate his professional debut to be a brawl — and it wasn’t at first. But after a vicious wild-swinging exchange between he and Omar Gonzalez opened the third round, that’s what it became.

For the final six minutes the two fighters dug in and traded blows, with Cartejena consistently getting the better of the southpaw, Gonzalez.

It wasn’t an aesthetically pleasing bout, with both fighters colliding numerous times due to the orthodox-southpaw match up. It was a crowd pleaser, however, as the Cartejena fans — who were numerous and audible throughout the bout — cheered their fighter throughout.

Puerto Rico’s Camilo Perez needed exactly three minutes to dispose of his now 0-2 opponent, Desi Williams. It was clear from the onset that North Carolina’s Williams was in over his head. The crisper, more technically sound, and flat-out better fighter — Perez — first knocked Williams down against the ropes with a half punch/half push right hand. Shortly after, with Williams running across the ring in retreat, the stalking Perez landed a left hook to the side of William’s face that sent him down for the ten count.

With the win Perez improves his record to 2-0 with 2 knockouts.

Photos–Chris Farina / Top Rank

FAIRFIELD, CALIFORNIA — Three years ago Alejandro Perez was an emerging undefeated prospect with the backing of a powerful promoter, but one slip up derailed his rise. With an eye-opening first-round stoppage of world ranked Antonio Escalante Friday night at the Fairfield Sports Center, Perez appears ready to fulfill the promise of years passed.

Escalante (24-4, 15 KOs) of El Paso, Texas by way of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico is normally a forward-moving brawler, but did little of either in the one round of action Friday. The strategy played into the hands of Perez (15-2-1, 10 KOs) of Salinas, California, who was able to time the movement of Escalante’s left hand. Midway through the round, Perez, 130, jabbed and missed Escalante, 130, with an overhand right by several inches. Though the combination failed to accomplish its mission, the idea behind it was correct.

Escalante continued to keep his lead hand held at his waistline, and when Perez jabbed downstairs a second time, it brought the Texan’s left down even further, setting up the overhand right that landed flush on his jaw and ended the fight. Escalante, who hit the back of his head hard on the mat, sat up before signaling to referee Ed Collantes that he could not continue. Time of the stoppage was 2:57 of round one.

Perez, who had fought at 122-pounds nearly his entire career, had been scheduled to fight last Friday against featherweight prospect Ronny Rios in Costa Mesa, California. Soon after that fight fell out, Perez was offered Escalante at super featherweight. Although he carried his power all the way up the scale, Perez plans to drop back down to the 126-pound featherweight division.

Despite having just scored the biggest win of his career, which played to a national television audience on Telefutura’s Solo Boxeo, Perez could not be goaded into calling out one of the marquee names of the featherweight division. “I am just taking it one day at a time,” says Perez. “I can say I want to fight this person or that person, but only time will tell. Whatever comes our way, we will sit down and make a decision.”

For Escalante, who entered the fight the IBF #6/WBO #14 ranked featherweight, it is hard to imagine a scenario in which he becomes a viable contender again any time in the near future. The loss to Perez marked the second straight early round kayo loss of his career, the first coming at the hands of former champion Daniel Ponce De Leon last September.

In the competitively matched co-feature, Clint Coronel (4-1-2, 1 KO) of San Jose, California came away with a six-round split decision nod over journeyman Carlos Musquez (3-5-3, 3 KOs) of Sacramento, California.

Neither fighter may be craftiest or quickest pugilist you ever saw, but both Coronel and Musquez bring their hard hat and lunch pail, planning to put in the work for however many rounds they are scheduled. The naturally larger Coronel, 150 ½, did his best work when he gave himself enough room to score with his looping overhand right, which was the showiest punch continually landed in the bout.

Despite his apparent height and strength disadvantages, Musquez, 149 ½, was effective pressing Coronel and landing in combination to the San Jose resident’s body. Several of the rounds were hard to score, as each had their moments in most every round. In the end, two judges preferred Coronel by the scores of 59-56 and 58-56. The lone dissenting judge had it for Musquez, 58-56.

Former amateur standout Manuel Avila (3-0, 2 KOs) of Vacaville, California scored three knockdowns in under two completed rounds to halt Frank Gutierrez (2-9-2, 1 KO) of Highland, California

Avila, 121, boxed cautiously before landing a straight right midway through the first round. The tentative southpaw Gutierrez, 120, flicked out a jab, but offered little else that might prevent Avila from utilizing any of the weapons in his arsenal. When Gutierrez lunged forward awkwardly, Avila landed two lefts that forced his foe to stumble to the mat for the first knockdown of the fight late in the first.

Gutierrez made it out of the round, but found himself deposited on the mat by a short counter left seconds into the second. Gutierrez returned to his feet before unwisely leaving out a lazy jab moments later. Avila seized the opening, sending out a laser right that dropped Gutierrez a third and final time. Referee Ray Balewicz waved off the fight without a count at 59 seconds of the second round.

Unfortunately for the television audience at home, the fight of the night did not make air as former amateur standout Guy Robb (3-0, 1 KO) of Sacramento battled debuting Manuel Morales (0-1) of Orosi, California tooth and nail en route to a well earned four-round majority decision victory.

One punch that was there all night for Robb, 131, was his straight right, which was the first telling blow he landed early in the first. Morales, 136, let it be known right then that he was not going to be an easy out. Morales charged inside, and forced Robb to fight from the ropes. Robb, though clearly the more schooled boxer, opted to trade from the ropes rather than spin out and box at a distance. Just as Morales appeared to be coming on, Robb uncorked left on the inside that bucked the Orosi native nearly down to a knee right at the bell.

Although Morales had come in heavier, three pounds over the contracted weight, Robb looked bigger and was clearly the stronger puncher. Neither of those facts deterred Morales, as he continued to press Robb throughout the fight. Robb may have been a little out of his comfort zone, but he seemed to be enjoying the toe-to-toe action nonetheless. Robb’s power-punching and ability to shorten up his punches on the inside gave him the edge in rounds two and three.

Undeterred, Morales broke through with some clean shots of his own late in the fourth. After the final bell, fans ringside applauded both fighters. One judge had the fight even, 38-38, but was overruled by the other two official scorers who had Robb a shutout winner, 40-36.

What looked to be a physical mismatch proved to be just that, as Trevor McCumby (2-0, 2 KOs) of Glendale, Arizona wasted no time in dispatching Nathan Ortiz (0-2) of Crystal River, Florida in the opening contest of the night. Hands held low, McCumby, 183, moved in and pressed the stocky Ortiz, 182, from the outset.

McCumby, the 2010 Under 19 National Champion at light heavyweight, punctuated an unanswered series of blows with a left hook to score the inevitable knockdown. The fight continued as the wobbly-legged Oritz managed to make it to his feet. However, with their man taking punches along the ropes, Ortiz’ corner signaled for referee Ray Balewicz to stop the fight. Official time of the stoppage was 1:13 of the first round.

Super bantamweight prospect Roman Morales (2-0, 2 KOs) of San Ardo, California put his wide arrange of abilities on display for four-rounds in a unanimous decision over durable Danny Pantoja (0-4-2) of Fairfield. Pantoja, 125, never stopped trying, but was simply outgunned in every way.

Morales, 123, never changed his expression as he systematically picked Pantoja apart from round one. Morales’ well-timed counter right started the damage midway through the first, opening Pantoja up for a series of clean headshots along the ropes. Pantoja turned defensive and was countered with a chopping right before round’s end.

Over the course of the following three rounds, Morales pulled many of his tools out of the toolbox. The former amateur champion switched to southpaw and back, boxed in spots, landed punches from multiple angles and mixed up his power shots from body to head and vice versa. To his credit, Pantoja never went completely defensive, as he fought back in spots, perhaps hoping to land that one Hail Mary shot that could turn around the fight. It never came as Morales took the decision 40-36 on all three official cards.

Photos by Stephanie Trapp/StephanieTrapp.com

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.

In what is considered an upset, Carlos Molina held the heralded an undefeated Erislandy Lara to a ten round draw in a Jr. Middleweight bout at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas.

Molina pressed the action and gave Lara his toughest test to date and the score cards proved that. It took a late rally from Lara to even get a draw that had the pro-Molina crowd booing the decision that read 97-93 for Molina and 95-95 on two cards.

Molina of Chicago is now 17-4-2. Lara of Miami is 15-0-1.

Cuban Jr. Middleweight Yudel Jhonson stopped Richard Gutierrez in round seven of their scheduled ten round bout.

Jhonson rocked Gutierrez with a right hook and landed five more shots before referee Russell Mora stopped the fight maybe a little prematurely at 1:09 of round seven.

Jhonson, 153 lb of Miami is now 10-0 with seven knockouts. Gutierrez, 156 lbs of Cartegena, Colombia is now 26-6-1.

Yunier Dorticos kept his perfect knockout streak intact as he stopped Jose Luis Herrera in round two of a scheduled six round Cruiserweight bout.

Dorticos dropped Herrera in round and a follow up flurry made referee Tony Weeks stop the bout at 2:36 of round two.

Dorticos, 199 lbs of Miami is now 12-0 with twelve knockouts. Herrera, 202 lbs of Colombia is now 16-11.

CLICK TO ORDER THE FIGHTS
Osmanu Adama scored a fourth round stoppage over Marcus Upshaw in a scheduled twelve round Middleweight fight that highlighted a championship card at the Hanging Gardens in River Grove, Illinois just outside of Chicago.

Adama landed a big left hook that rocked Upshaw into the corner and the fight was stopped after a follow up flurry at forty-two seconds of the round.

Adama, 160 lbs of Chicago via Accra, Ghana is now 19-2 with fourteen knockouts. Upshaw, 157 lbs of Jacksonville, FL is now 13-5-1.

In what had a hostile build up, Joey Hernandez scored a disqualification victory over Angel Hernandez in a scheduled ten round Jr, Middleweight bout.

Joey dropped Angel at the end of round two and the fight was entertaining throughout. Angel roughhoused during the fight with low blows and hitting behind the head ans was disqualified for the latter infraction.

Joey, 154 lbs is now 18-1-1. Angel, 154 lbs of Chicago is now 30-10.

The two had to be separated at the weigh-in after the the pushed each other and exchanged obscenities

Lanardo Tyner and Adrian Granados fought to a eight round draw in a Welterweight bout.

Scores were 77-75 each way and 76-76.

Tyner, 147 lbs of Houston is 24-4-2. Granados, 148 lbs of Cicero, IL is 7-1-1.

Brooke Dierdorf and Ashley Vurray fought to a four round draw in a ladies Lightweight bout.

Each girl won a card at 39-37 while a third card read 38-38.

Dierdorf, 132 1/2 lbs is now 6-5-2. Curry, 133 lbs is now 3-5-2.

Mike Jimenez scored a four round unanimous decision over Cameron Allen in a sUper Middleweight bout.

Scores were 39-37 for Jimenez, 167 lbs of Chicago and is now 4-0. Allen, 165 lbs of Battle Creek, MI is now 3-6

Eric Estrada won a six round unanimous decision over James Lester in a Super Featherweight bout.

Estrada, 131 lbs of Chicago won by scores of 59-55 on all cards and is now 9-1. Lester, 130 lbs of Detroit is now 9-5.

Antonio Canas dropped Andrew Hartley twice in round one and scored a first round stoppage in a scheduled four round Jr. Welterweight bout

Canas, 140 lbs of Chicago is 4-0 with three knockouts. Hartley 145 lbs of Arkansas is 2-20.

Yuriorkis Gamboa 126 – Jorge Solis 125.5
Mikey Garcia 125 – Matt Remillard 125
Tommy Zbikowski 195 – Caleb Grummett 215.5
Teon Kennedy 122 – Jorge Diaz 122
Glen Tapia 152 – Eberto Medina 151
Camilo Perez 124 – Desi Williams 125
Miguel Cartegena 117 – Omar Gonzalez 119
Rashad Brown 161.5 – Darryl Parker 161

FAIRFIELD, CALIFORNIA — An intriguing crossroads battle headlines tonight’s edition of Telefutura Solo Boxeo, as world ranked contender Antonio Escalante attempts to rebound from a devastating kayo against fellow exciting action fighter Alejandro Perez at the Fairfield Sports Center. Fighters weighed in Thursday evening at the Courtyard by Marriott Fairfield Napa Valley Area in Fairfield.

Escalante (24-3, 15 KOs) of El Paso, Texas by way of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico was last seen in action in September when he took on former champion Daniel Ponce De Leon in a WBO Featherweight title eliminator. Unfortunately for Escalante the power-punching Ponce De Leon proved to be too much, and the fight ended in a brutal third-round knockout loss. Escalante, still the IBF #6/WBO #14 ranked 126-pounder, has opted to move up to super featherweight for this fight.

Much like Escalante, Perez (14-2-1, 9 KOs) of Salinas, California has been known for providing entertaining fights, and much like Escalante, he looks to rebound from a loss. Perez has been out of the ring since dropping an eight-round decision to emerging contender Rico Ramos in November 2009. Perez had planned to move up to featherweight and take on undefeated prospect Ronny Rios last week, but soon after that fight fell out, he was offered the crack at Escalante in a fight one weight class further up the scale.

Weight became a storyline to tonight’s main event at yesterday’s weigh-in. When originally approached for the fight, Perez was asked to sign for a 132-pound catchweight bout. When Perez said that was too heavy, Escalante’s team agreed to 130-pounds and the fight was a go. However, when Escalante first took the scales he came in at 132-pounds, while Perez made 130.

Escalante did sweat off the two extra pounds and make 130 within the two hour time frame allotted by the California State Athletic Commission, but had he not the fight could have been in jeopardy. “He came in two pounds heavier than I did,” said Perez after Escalante’s initial attempt. “I made the sacrifice to lose the weight. I dug down to get to 130, which was the contract. What we decided is that he has two hours to lose the weight, and if he doesn’t, we are not going to fight.” Time will tell if Escalante’s struggle with the scale will have any effect on him, or maybe even add extra fuel to Perez’ fire.

In the televised co-feature, two unheralded fighters get the chance to shine in front of a national audience as Clint Coronel (3-1-2, 1 KO) of San Jose, California takes on Carlos Musquez (3-4-3, 3 KOs) of Sacramento, California in a six-round light middleweight fight. Coronel, who scaled 150 ½, has only one loss on his record, but he just as easily could be undefeated. The lone blemish was the result of a cut stoppage in a fight with Roberto Reyes, which replays indicated was initiated by a headbutt. In his last time out, Coronel fought undefeated Richard Hargraves to a four-round draw. Musquez, who came in at 149 ½, ended a two-and-one-half year layoff in January with a four-round draw against unbeaten Anthony Martinez.

In a four-round super bantamweight swing bout, former local amateur standout Manuel Avila (2-0, 1 KO) of Vacaville, California takes on Frank Gutierrez (2-8-2, 1 KO) of Highland, California. Avila pleased his local following with a fourth-round kayo of Carlos Garcia at the Fairfield Sports Center just last month. Originally scheduled to fight last week, Avila, who scaled 121, is pleased to have another opportunity to fight at home. Gutierrez, who came in at 120, has met a tough run of prospects and faces another one tonight.

Fresh off of a dominant showing at this same venue last month, Guy Robb (2-0, 1 KO) of Sacramento, California looks to thrill his local fan base again, this time against debuting Manuel Morales of Orosi, California in a four-round lightweight bout. For the second straight time, Robb’s opponent came in heavy, as Morales scaled 136-pounds. Robb, who plans to campaign as a featherweight eventually, scaled 131-pounds Thursday.

Super bantamweight prospect Roman Morales (1-0, 1 KO) of San Ardo, California will take on tough luck pro Danny Pantoja (0-3-2) of Fairfield in a four-round bout. Morales, promoted by Gary Shaw Productions, capped a stellar amateur run with a gold medal at the Four Nations Tournament in France last November and turned pro with a first-round knockout in February. Pantoja has fought prospects almost exclusively, coming up short in two majority decisions and one split decision. Morales scaled 123-pounds, while Pantoja came in at 125.

Trevor McCumby (1-0, 1 KO) of Glendale, Arizona will take on Nathan Ortiz (0-1) of Crystal River, Florida in a four-round cruiserweight bout. McCumby, the 2010 Under 19 National Champion at 178-pounds, was quite the imposing figure as he scaled 183-pounds Thursday. Ortiz, who will be at a great height disadvantage, weighed in at 182-pounds.

Remaining tickets for the event, promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, Don Chargin Productions, Jorge Marron Productions and Paco Presents, will be sold at the door.

Quick Weigh-in Results:

Super Featherweights, 10 Rounds
Escalante 130
Perez 130

Light Middleweights, 6 Rounds
Coronel 150 ½
Musquez 149 ½

Super Bantamweights, 4 Rounds
Avila 121
Gutierrez 120

Super Bantamweights, 4 Rounds
Morales 123
Pantoja 125

Lightweights, 4 Rounds
Robb 131
Morales 136

Cruiserweights, 4 Rounds
McCumby 183
Ortiz 182

Mario Ortega Jr. can be contacted at ortega15rds@lycos.com.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, one-time pound for pound king and now faded legend Roy Jones Jr. will travel to Moscow, Russia to take on former world cruiserweight title challenger Denis Lebedev on May 22nd.

On Thursday evening, Jones signed on to face rugged cruiserweight contender Denis Lebedev on May 22 in Moscow, John Wirt, CEO of Jones’ Square Ring promotional company, told ESPN.com.

Wirt said the fight, scheduled for 10 rounds, will take place at cruiserweight limit of 200 pounds.

“I actually think he beat Huck and got ripped off in Germany,” Wirt said. “I think he’s the legitimate WBO cruiserweight champion and he is one of the toughest opponents in the division.”

“I do believe the weight is to Roy’s advantage,” Wirt said. “Roy has had a lot of trouble getting down to 175 pounds in the last few fights. He was so dried out for the Hopkins fight and I think that showed in his performance.”

“We didn’t budge and they came to our number and when they did, we signed,” he said.

“We had some different things on the table. We had an offer in Canada, something in the U.S., but this was a unique opportunity,” Wirt said. “How many big fights have been in Russia? That was kind of a neat aspect that was intriguing about this. Roy has no problem and no issue with going to Russia. He is not concerned about fighting over there. We’ll have fair judges and a fair referee. We’ve already been in contact with the Russian federation to make sure we know all the rules.”