Peterson Wins Decision, Hurts Hand

By Mario Ortega Jr. & Michael Swann (ringside)

A big boxing weekend started Thursday night at the Orleans Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. WBO #3 ranked lightweight Anthony Peterson (27-0, 19 KOs) cruised to a unanimous decision against Fernando Trejo (30-14-4, 18 KOs) of Jarrell, Texas over twelve repetitive rounds to win the fringe Interim NABF Lightweight title. For much of the bout, Trejo, 132, kept a turtle shell defensive guard, waiting patiently for Peterson to stop punching. Peterson, 133, did land several telling blows to Trejo’s body and displayed impeccable defense himself. Early in the bout it was clear that the stationary Trejo could do no better than last the distance, which he did. All three judges scored the bout for Peterson, with scores of 119-109 and 120-108 twice. After the bout, Peterson admitted he did not accomplish what he thought he would against Trejo. “I am real disappointed in my performance,” said Peterson. “But I will come back and do better next time.” It was discovered after the bout that Peterson had injured his left hand. He was taken to the hospital for X-rays.

Former U.S. Olympian Vanes Martirosyan (20-0, 13 KOs) of Glendale, California dropped former title challenger Angel Hernandez (28-7, 16 KOs) of Chicago, Illinois in the first and completely dominated him over the course of ten rounds in a light middleweight bout. Martirosyan, 155, consistently landed solid shots to the body and head of Hernandez, who never got in any sort of rhythm. Midway through Hernandez, 155, seemed content to clown around rather than attempt winning the fight. Martirosyan displayed a technically sound technique, repeatedly firing the left jab and straight right hand to much success. All three judges scored the bout for Martirosyan, 100-89.

After the bout a Top Rank spokesman said, “He’s about ready to move up and go to HBO.” Martirosyan himself refused to call out any names, but said he would leave those decisions to his management. His victory was made more impressive once it was learned that Martirosyan had hurt his left hand early in the fight. “It started to hurt in the third and fourth rounds,” said Martirosyan. “It started to hurt more and more every round.” Vanes did mention that it would not cause him to lose any ring time.

Super Featherweight prospect Miguel Angel Garcia (12-0, 10 KOs) of Ventura, California scored an impressive fourth-round knockout of Jae-Sung Lee (9-2-1, 6 KOs) of Hanam, Korea. Garcia, 127, of the famed Southern California boxing family, kept the pressure on the entire bout, eventually dropping Lee with an overhand left. Lee, 127, rose to his feet, but immediately was caught defenseless against the ropes. The referee called a halt to the bout at 1:15 of the round.

Manuel Perez (12-4, 2 KOs), 130, of Denver, Colorado scratched out a unanimous decision over Aaron Melgarejo (11-6-1, 3 KOs), 129, of Paranaque, Philippines in an eight-round super featherweight bout. All three judges scored the bout 77-75 for Perez. 15rounds.com scored the bout 77-75 for Melgarejo.

Khabir Suleymanov (5-0, 2 KOs) of New York, New York scored six-round split decision victory over Alex Mercado (5-1, 4 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nevada in a hard-fought, free swinging bantamweight bout. Suleymanov and Mercado, who both weighed 120 pounds, stood toe-to-toe for the entirety of the six rounds. In the end, Suleymanov won with scores of 58-56 and 59-55. The lone dissenting judge scored the bout 58-56 for Mercado.

Hector Marengo (4-0-1, 3 KOs) of Arecibo, Puerto Rico scored a first round knockout of Napolean Matthews (1-2, 1 KO) of Seattle, Washington at 1:59 of the first in a scheduled six-round super featherweight bout.

Southpaw Diego Magdaleno (4-0, 2 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nevada kept his unblemished record in tact with a four-round unanimous decision win over Angel Rodriguez (2-2, 2 KOs) of Houston, Texas in a four-round super featherweight bout. Magdaleno, 129, outworked Rodriguez, 129, for the four rounds. All three judges scored the bout a shutout for Magdaleno, 40-36.

The event was promoted by Top Rank and televised nationally on Versus. Top Rank promotes the David Diaz-Manny Pacquiao clash on Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Resort Casino here in Las Vegas.