By Ken Hissner: At Pechanga Arena, San Diego, CA, on Saturday before DAZN Eddie Hearn (Matchroom Boxing) defeated former WBA Mini, WBA & WBC Light Flyweight and WBC & WBA Super Flyweight Champion Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez defeated WBC Flyweight Champion Julio “El Rey” Cesar Martinez in 12 rounds.
In the Main Event, former 3rd place world champion Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, 51-3 (41), #114 ¾, of Managua, NIC, defeated WBC Fly champion Julio “El Rey” Cesar Martinez, 18 -2 (14) , #116 ½, of Mexico City, MEX, over 12 rounds, won the vacant WBC Diamond Super Fly title.
In the first round, Martinez landed Gonzalez. In the second and third rounds, Gonzalez picked up the pace as he approached the round. In the fourth half, Martinez played busier in the first minute before Gonzalez took over.
In the fifth round, it was all because Martinez let Gonzalez go high in defense. In the sixth inning, it was all about Gonzalez picking his shots with Martinez swinging wildly. Gonzalez rocked Martinez with 30 seconds left in the game. In the seventh and eighth rounds, Gonzalez continued to demonstrate his experience working with the younger Martinez.
In the ninth round, Martinez came back better but not enough to get through the round from Gonzalez, who hurt him several times. In the tenth inning, Gonzalez made more fouls holding Martinez against the ropes that largely hurt him in the final minute.
In the eleventh inning, Gonzalez had more of his punches because Martinez’s quick-landing punches had very little power on them. In the twelfth and final round, Martinez seemed to have had a close but not a fight. Referee Jerry Cantu barely moved. Since Martinez didn’t push the weight, only Gonzalez could win the title.
The scores are 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112 with this writer at 118-110.
In Featherweight tie Mauricio “El Bronco” Lara, 24-2-1 (17), #126, of Mexico City, MEX, stopped Emilio “The Kid” Sanchez, 19-2 (12), #126. of North Hollywood, CA, at 2:59 of the third of 10 scheduled rounds.
In the first half, a counterattack with Lara’s chin made Sanchez count 8 points by referee Ray Corona. Sanchez fought his way through the rest of the half. In the second inning, it went back and forth until the last seconds when a wild right from Lara bounced up Sanchez’s chin. As Lara watched the bell rang.
In the third round, it was all up to Sanchez until the final seconds when the three-punch combo ended with a left punch from Lara to Sanchez’s chin as referee Corona rushed in to stop Sanchez and out.
WBO NABO Lightweight Champion Angel “Tashiro” Fierro, 19-1-2 (15), #134.6, of Tijuana, MEX and San Diego, CA, finished in a majority draw with Juan “Miniburgos” ” Carlos Burgos, 34-6-3 (21), #134.2, of Tijuana, Baja California, MEX, over 10 laps.
In the first half, Fierro was clingy and Burgos counter-attacked. In the second and third innings, Burgos continued to outperform the two when coordinating well. In the fourth and fifth innings, Fierro counter-attacked well enough to win the rounds.
In the sixth round, both fighters had moments with Fierro. In the seventh round, Burgos came back to knock Fierro out. In the round of 16, Fierro came back well while both had their moments of dominance. In the ninth inning, Burgos did better as Fierro missed a punch and ended up on the floor. In the tenth and final inning, Burgos seemed to have more than Fierro but enough to pull it off? The referee is Thomas Taylor.
Scores are 96-94 Fierro, 95-95 twice and 96-94 Fierro this writer.
2016 Olympic bronze medalist and WBA Intercontinental Superweight Welterweight Champion Souleymane Cissokho, 15-0 (9), #153.8, of Dakar, Senegal, Bagnolet, Seine-Saint-Denis, FR, beat Roberto Valenzuela, Jr. ., 23-3 (22), #145, by Augua, Prieta, Sonora, MEX, more than 10 rounds.
In the first two rounds, Cissokho controlled with his stab, causing Valenzuela’s left eye to swell. In the third round, Cissokho caused a cut on Valenzuela’s left eyebrow. In the fourth round, a series of punches ending with a right from Valenzuela to the chin caused Cissokho to be counted 8 points by referee Ray Corona. Cissokho came back to score a knock-out from a counter-attack just above Valenzuela’s chin for a count of 8.
In the fifth to seventh round, Valenzuela tracked Cissokho, who counter-attacked well enough to have both halves. In the eighth and ninth innings, the frustrated Valenzuela stopped following Cissokho, sometimes challenging him to stand still and fight. Cissokho does for a few seconds then keeps moving and gives Cissokho a boxing lesson. In the 10th and final round, Cissokho continued to play too quickly with Valenzuela.
Scores of 100-90 and 99-91 are double that of this writer.
Impressive super middleweight, Diego Pacheco, 20, 14-0 (11), #170, of South Central LA, CA, knocks out Genc Pllana, 9-4-1 (5), #171, of Pristina, Kosovo , Hagerstown, MD, at 1:29 of the second round of a scheduled 8 round.
In the first inning, Pllana came out frantic, leading right from Pacheco’s chin and being counted eight points by referee Jerry Cantu and won the bell. In the second half, a left-right combination from Pacheco hit Pllana’s chin and he went into referee Cantu’s count.
Lightweight Marc Castro, 6-0 (5), # 134 ¾, of Fresno, CA, came off the field to beat Julio “Duro” Medera, 3-2 (2), # 134 , of Mexico City, MEX, More than 6 action sets.
In the first inning, Medera started with a good shot. Halfway through, Castro rocked Medera with a left hook to the chin. In the second half, a left-hand counter-attack by Medera from the chin and down resulted in Castro receiving eight points from Referee Thomas Taylor. He managed to get up with a bloody nose and eventually fought back in a good round.
In the 4th and 5th rounds, Castro showed more punching power with a 4-punch combination but Madera came back with a punch of her own. In the sixth and final innings, both had their moments, with Castro pulling out of the fight after a shaky second inning.
All scores are 58-55 including this writer’s.
Weightlifting Men’s Olympian Skye Nicolson, 1-0 (0), #129, of Yatala, Queenland, Australia, beat nampaw Jessica Juarez, 3-1 (1), #129, of San Diego, CA, in 6 rounds .
In the fifth round, Nicolson moved around the ring with Juarez following but couldn’t cut off the ring. In the sixth and final round, Juarez delivered her best strike of the night with a punch to Nicolson’s chin. Nicholson ended the match with a snake to Juarez’s chin right at the bell.
The score is 60-54 twice and 59-55.
Bantamweight Anthony Christopher Herrera, 2-0 (2), #118 ½, of LA, CA, beat Jose Toribio, 7-5 (1), #118 ¼, of San Diego, CA, 4 rounds.
In the second round, Toribio was slashed in the left eye. In the fourth inning, a body shot from Herrera knocked Toribio out and referee Ray Corona sent him out.
Ring Announcer David Diamante
