Gonzalez Reaffirms His Contender Status in Las Vegas
Fighting on his 29th birthday, Jhonny Gonzalez dropped Jackson Asiku three times in less than six rounds to wrest the IBO Featherweight title and validate his standing among the top 126-pounders in the main event of a pay-per-view telecast emanating from the Las Vegas Hilton in Las Vegas, Nevada on Wednesday night.
What ended up becoming a dominate showing for Gonzalez (46-7, 40 KOs) of Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico, was actually a highly competitive fight for the first three rounds. Asiku (26-4, 14 KOs) of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia by way of Uganda traded on even ground with the Mexican free-swinger, and may have deserved the nod in the first and third rounds. The third round especially featured some excellent two-way action.
Gonzalez, 125.8, turned the fight completely in his favor with a picture-perfect left hook that landed squarely on Asiku’s chin halfway through the fourth round. The punch rocked Asiku, 125, with Gonzalez’ follow-up swings leading to the first knockdown. Asiku returned to his feet and stayed on his toes the remainder of the round. Gonzalez closed the gap late, but time ran out before he could really punish him any further.
Early in the fifth, Gonzalez, the WBC#3/WBA #3/IBF #4 ranked featherweight, dropped the defending IBO titlist with another clean left to the chin. Asiku showed great heart in getting up again, but he would taste the canvas after another left late in the round. Referee Kenny Bayless looked to have thoughts about stopping the fight then, Asiku still had the foot work to maneuver around the ring and out of the round.
Asiku’s bravery would be for not, as Gonzalez rocked the Ugandan into a corner with a two-handed flurry early in the sixth, leaving Bayless with little other choice but to leap in and stop the fight. The official time of the stoppage was 1:09 round of round six. The victory netted Gonzalez the IBO title and could put him in line for a crack at one of the major title holders or other top featherweights. “I am ready for anybody,” boldly proclaimed Gonzalez after the fight.
All-action super featherweight Miguel Roman (31-7, 23 KOs) of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico notched a quality win over Tyrone Harris (24-7, 16 KOs) of Lansing, Michigan via fifth-round stoppage. Roman, 131.8, began asserting himself in the second round, pressuring Harris, 130, and landing a few big shots.
Even though he took control early in the bout, it looked as though Roman may get himself into trouble with fouls. Referee Jay Nady warned him twice for headbutts and called a timeout for a low blow in the third. Harris took his time recovering from the low blow, which may have been an indication that his dedication to the fight was waning.
Roman continued to press the action into the fifth, before landing a rib-caving left to Harris’ body that prompted a delayed knockdown. At 2:03 of round five, Nady counted Harris out. This fight was put together on short notice, when Harris’ originally scheduled opponent Juan Carlos Salgado pulled out of their fight with an injury. Roman had been slated to fight Cuauhtemoc Vargas on the undercard. By weighing in over the super featherweight limit, Roman may have cost himself a fight against Salgado, which would have been for the IBO Super Featherweight title.
Middleweight prospect Marcos Reyes (17-1, 15 KOs) of Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico made short work of journeyman Victor Villereal (9-6-2, 5 KOs) of Longmont, Colorado, scoring a second-round technical knockout. Reyes, 159, opened up early in the second, eventually hurting Villereal, 158, with a right to the body and dropping him with a follow-up barrage upstairs. Villereal beat the count, but was soon down again from another body shot. When Villereal rose again, Reyes pounced looking for the knockout. With Villereal covering up and moving against the ropes, referee Russell Mora stopped the fight at 2:57 of the second.
Khadaphi Proctor (6-5-1) of Hesperia, California took advantage of his reach advantage to score a four-round unanimous decision over Rynell Griffin (6-3-1, 2 KOs) of Las Vegas. Griffin, 133, boxed well to open the fight as he outworked the longer Proctor, 135.2. As the fight wore on, Proctor began to move his hands and stay out of the shorter Griffin’s punching range. One judge scored the fight even, 38-38, but was overruled by the other two judges who had the fight a shutout 40-36 for Proctor.
In the televised opener, Yohan Banks (4-4-3, 1 KO) of Redwood City, California rescued a decision defeat with a right uppercut induced knockout over ESPN The Magazine cover boy Quadtrine Hill (1-1, 1 KO) of Sunrise, Florida with less than a minute to go in the fight. Hill, 228, controlled the pace for much of the bout and landed two hard left hands which may have left him overconfident. With one swift right, Banks, 272, made all of Hill’s hard work for not. Officially the knockout came at 2:24 of round four.
Photo by Naoki Fukuda/Roy Englebrecht Promotions
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.