FAIRFIELD, CALIFORNIA — Rising middleweight Peter Quillin outclassed and busted up Dennis Sharpe on his way to a fourth-round stoppage in the Telefutura Solo Boxeo main event at the Fairfield Sports Center on Friday night.
Quillin (23-0, 17 KOs) of Brooklyn, New York set the tone for the fight in the opening moments of the first round, as he landed a jab, straight right hand combination to back up Sharpe (17-6-3, 4 KOs) of Bayonne, New Jersey. The right hand would be the primary weapon for Quillin, 166, throughout the fight.
Any time Sharpe, 159, would throw a punch, which was not all that often, Quillin seemed to have a perfectly timed counter waiting for him. Having lost the boxing match in the first, Sharpe decided to get into an exchange with Quillin in the second. Quillin got the better of that too, as he tagged Sharpe with two right hands.
By the third round, Sharpe’s nose was bleeding heavily due to Quillin’s right handed attack. In the fourth, two hard rights, followed up by a left hook rocked Sharpe. Another right snapped the Bayonne native’s head back near the ropes. Quillin closed in and landed another right and followed up with a flurry, which prompted referee Marcos Rosales to stop the contest. Official time was 1:54 of round four.
Fairfield’s Alan Sanchez (7-2-1, 2 KOs) dropped John Ryan Grimaldo (6-1, 5 KOs) of Denver, Colorado twice en route to an eight-round unanimous decision victory. Grimaldo, 142, flashed an unbeaten record coming in, but it had been built up against mostly soft opposition. Despite his lack of credentials, Grimaldo showed his heart as he stood up to the varied assault of Sanchez, 144.
The bout began with a cautious and somewhat tentative first round for both combatants. Grimaldo had his best round in the second, as he outworked the inactive Sanchez. The fight changed in the third, as Sanchez caught Grimaldo with a left hook in an exchange. Grimaldo went down, but made it back up and avoided enough of the wild Sanchez attack to last the remaining minute-and-a-half of the round.
Grimaldo seemed to regain his legs in time for the start of the fourth, but he did not mount much of an offense. In the fifth, Sanchez rocked Grimaldo again, this time with a straight right hand. Grimaldo refused to surrender and landed a solid left hook that seemed to bother Sanchez in the sixth. Grimaldo was having one of his better rounds, but Sanchez turned the momentum back in his favor with a left hook of his own late in the sixth.
Grimaldo showed his resolve again in the seventh. The Denver resident stunned Sanchez with a left early, but Sanchez quickly retorted. The local favorite snapped Grimaldo’s head back with a straight right and buckled his knees with a short left hook. In the eighth, Sanchez landed a chopping right and followed with a left hook to drop Grimaldo for a second time. Still game, Grimaldo fought on, even landing a looping right late in the final round. In the end, all three judges scored the bout for Sanchez, 80-70, 79-72 and 78-72.
Fidel Maldonado Jr. (8-0, 7 KOs) of Albuquerque, New Mexico kept his promising career rolling in fashion, as he brutalized late replacement opponent Carlos Hernandez (3-5-2) of San Fernando, California en route to a second-round stoppage.
Maldonado, 145, scored three knockdowns in under four minutes. The first came from a clean, sweeping left hook, which put Hernandez down to the seat of his pants. Hernandez, 142, gamely rose to his feet and fought back, but appeared to have much of his will sapped by another stiff left hand. Moments later Hernandez was on the mat again, this time from a couple rights to the body that did not look to be all that damaging.
The fight could have been halted after the second knockdown, but with the bell following close behind, the fight lasted into the second. Seconds into the round, two quick shots downed Hernandez again. Referee Marcos Rosales called the fight without a count at the time of 37 seconds of the second round.
Manuel Avila (2-0, 1 KO) of Fairfield remained unbeaten with a fourth-round stoppage over willing adversary Jose Garcia (0-3) of Bakersfield, California. Avila, 121, was aggressive at the outset and hurt Garcia, 119, with a right, left combination in the first. In the second Garcia managed to land clean in spots, but his shots did not seem to both Avila too much.
The third round featured some two-way action as well, but Avila landed harder and more often. Avila did not pay too much attention to defense in exchanges, perhaps feeling Garcia did not have the power to hurt him. In the fourth, Avila cornered Garcia into the ropes after landing a hard left hook. A left hook-uppercut hybrid backed Garcia into the turnbuckle and the follow-up flurry prompted referee Ed Collantes to the stop the bout. Official time was 2:28 of round four.
Former amateur star Guy Robb (2-0, 1 KOs) of Sacramento, California scored two official knockdowns and outpointed the naturally larger Omar Sanchez (0-2) of Fairfield via four-round unanimous decision.
Robb, 132, controlled most of the first round with his movement and well-timed punching. The most telling punch of the round was a solid right by Robb, but Sanchez, 138, fought back and landed well just before the bell. The second round was give-and-take. Robb landed a solid right early, and Sanchez landed a hard left hook late in the round.
As the third round progressed, Robb completely took control of the fight. An overhand right from Robb dropped Sanchez midway through the round. Robb kept up the pressure, but Sanchez continued to fire back. In the fourth, Robb staggered Sanchez into the ropes with a left hand. With Sanchez a bit tangled up, referee Ed Collantes ruled it a knockdown. Even without the knockdown ruling, the fight was already Robb’s. In the end the scores read 40-34 and 39-35 twice, all for Robb.
Tonight’s promotional team of Golden Boy Promotions, Don Chargin Productions, Jorge Marron Productions and Paco Presents will promote next Friday’s offering of Telefutura’s Solo Boxeo from the Longshoremen’s Hall in San Francisco, California. There are plans to return to Fairfield, or go to Vacaville, for an event on March 25th.
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.
