?WAR AT THE HOME DEPOT? ? COMPLETE FIGHT RESULTS WITH PHOTOS
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 11 Jul 2011
Carson, California:- Top Rank?s nine-fight show held at the awesome tennis court of the Home Depot Athletic Center shown live on ShowTime certainly lived up to its billing.
Although only fewer than three thousand came to witness the smashing fight card, none-the-less, those who were smart enough to pay and see the show live came off with their money?s worth.
It was hot as heck when they started the first fight at 4:30 PM in the middle of Los Angeles summer but the temperature dropped down considerably as the fights progressed.
With the sun shinning full blast, it was a nightmare taking photos as lighting of the ring was uneven. Some sections were well lit by the sun and others where under the shade of the canopy overhead. That, drew havoc to the photographer?s ?white balance.?
In contrast to the temperature that fluctuated from the high 90?s during the day to the low 60?s as the day passed on, the fight grew ?hotter? as they evolved.
In the curtain raiser, 2008 Olympian Paul Fleming (10-0-0, 7KO) of Sydney, Australia set the tone for the evening. The KO artist from Down Under took all of 52 seconds to finish off a clearly out-classed journeyman from Los Mochis, Mexico, Juan Jose Beltran.( 20-25-2, 12K0)
Fleming vs Juan Jose Beltran.
Then a slam-bang 8-round fight followed featuring one of Top Rank?s great Russian hopes, Matt Korobov (16-0-0, 9KO) of Orotulkan, Russia and Lester Gonzales (12-4-2, 6KO) from nearby San Diego. The fight was a slugfest but Korobov showed better grit and power although he seemed to run low in gas as the fight went on. In the end, the judges thought that Korobov has done enough to win and they gave Korobov a unanimous decision win. The scores were all identical 78-74 for the Russian sensation
Korobov vs Gonzales.
Then Top Rank put up one of their budding prospect from Indio, California, the undefeated Gavino Saenz. (4-0-0, 4KO) against Quince Wesby (1-2-0, 1KO) of Dallas, Texas. The kid from Indio dropped the Texan in round 2 and twice in the third. Referee Tony Crebs waved off the fight at 1:41 of round three for TKO win for Saenz.
Saenz vs Wesby.
Another undefeated gladiator came up next to the ring. Jose Roman (11-0-0, 9K0) of Sta. Ana, CA. Roman was matched against Randy Arrelin (8-65-0,4K0) of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Roman put Arrelin down on the canvas on the first minute of round one with a left hook to the head and later on dropped him again with a hard right to the temple. Arellin got up each time he was dropped but it was obvious he had nothing left prompting
referee Raul Caiz, Jr to stop the fight at 2:02.
Roman vs Arrelin.
A light heavyweight fight then followed. Mike Lee (6-0-0, 4KO) of Chicago, Illinois who prides himself as a graduate of that famous football school, Notre Dame, extended his winning form without a defeat with a third round K0 of Michael Birthmark (2-6-0,0K0) of Glasgow, Montana. Lee dropped Birthmark with a strong right in round one and then dropped him two more times in round three with body shots prompting referee Jerry Cantu to step in and wave the fight off. Time 2:54.
Lee vs Birtmark.
An old fashion brawl in a phone booth followed. Alonso Loeza of Gilroy, CA who was making his pro debut was pitted against Ricardo Malfavon (1-5-1,1KO) of Sta. Ana, CA.
The two put up a non-stop ? hit-me-and-I-hit-you? kind of a fight that had the crowd cheering endlessly. Loeza bled profusely from the nose and a cut in the mouth early in round one till the end of the fight but his cut-man did a marvelous job in managing the problem between rounds allowing his ward to continue. In the end of a 4 round smash-up, the scores were 39-37 for Malfavon. The two other judges both scored it as 38-38 thus the fight ended in a majority draw.
Malfavon vs Loeza.
Up and coming Filipino star, Mercito Gesta who now makes his home in San Diego, CA was next. Gesta (22-0-1, 11KO) extended his winning ways with a TKO win over the clearly out-classed journeyman, Jorge Pimentel (22-12, 1NC, 15KO) of Guayamas, Mexico.
Gesta who was making his first fight under the banner of Top Rank Promotions dropped Pimentel in rounds 1 and 2 and then again in round 3. The final KD was a result of a tremendous upper cut. Referee Raul Caiz Jr waved off the fight at 2:23 of the third round.
Gesta vs Pimentel.
Team Gesta.
After the fight Bob Arum was quoted to say ?I am happy of Gesta?s performance and I would like to see him fight for a world title before the end of the year? The most logical opponent would be IBF Lightweight champion, Miguel Vasquez.
Then the supporting main event followed. It was the first fight shown on TV by ShowTime. The fight featured Carlos Molina (19-4-2,6KO) of Chicago, Illinois versus former IBF welterweight champion, Kermit Cintron (32-4-1,28KO) of Carolina, Puerto Rico. Molina scored an upset UD by landing the better shots than Cintron who did not seem to get it going. The scores where all 98-92 by the three judges on ringside.
Molina vs Cintron.
The main event then finally got on center stage. As promised by the two combatants during the press conference last Wednesday, it was going to be a war.
Indeed it was a war, albeit short.
WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (28-0-0, 20K0) of Oxnard, CA was defending his title against a fellow Mexican-American, Urbano Antillon(28-3-0,20K0) of Maywood, CA.
Rios vs Antillon.
It was a typical-barn-burner from the get go. The two fighters who never really liked each other met at ring center and traded shots as if there is no tomorrow. Early in the third round, Antillon was dropped to the canvas. But Antillon beat the count and fought back like a wounded tiger, at times even landing clear shots that did not seem to bother Rios.
Then Antillon was dropped again landing face first on the canvas. The game Maywood fighter again beat the count, but clearly the end was inevitable. As Antillon walked away from the referee after beating the count, he staggered into the ropes clearly showing that his night was over.
Seeing this, referee David Mendoza immediately waved off the fight triggering a wild ring celebration from the Rios camp.
Photos by Dr Ed de la Vega.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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