Welterweight Ed “The Lion” Paredes 27-3-3(16KO) fought off a very tough and ready Juliano Ramos 16-5(13KO) who came after Paredes the entire fight. Ramos started very strong pressuring the taller Paredes and landing some very nice inside shots while Paredes touched the Brazilian from the outside. Ramos stuck to his game plan nicely for the opening few rounds pushing Paredes back and making the rangy brawler fight going backwards.
Paredes adjusted and started to create distance landing cleaner punches midway during round three which slowed Ramos down and turned the early momentuem into his direction. Ramos slowed as the fight wore on and Paredes got stronger landing bigger shots wearing the tough and tested Ramos down. Regardless Ramos stalked The Lion down looking to get inside but the sharp punching Paredes did his damage breaking his Brazilian counterpart down until a big right hand in the eight dropped Ramos, who got up slowly and staggered just enough to have Telis Assimenios wisely wrap him up and wave him into safety at 2:07 of the eighth.
WBC’s #8 ranked lightweight Richard Abril 16-2(8KO) dropped and stopped Sergio Rivera 25-8(16KO) fighting out of Mexico, with a big right hand to the body in the fifth round. The punch was initially called low however Rivera refused to continue. The blow was very suspect as far as being low and it would look like Rivera took an early siesta on a good body shot. Abril set the pace early with a steady diet of jabs and straight right hands and outclassed the tough Mexican showing superior hand speed and landing at a high percentage. The fight was called a TKO 1:28 in the fifth round. Abril has his sights set on WBA Champion Brandon Rios and hopes to soon see him on the other side of the ring.
Heavyweight prospect Luis “El Mercedes” Ortiz 13-0 (11KO) took the TKO win over Arron Lyons 12-11(9KO) from Mississippi. Ortiz clobbered and bloodied Lyons throughout the fight with thunderous shots and impressive speed, all while quickly maturing in the professional ring. While taking a nasty beating, Lyons was able to land a few shots but none seemed to faze the former world amateur champion Ortiz who had 381 fights before entering the pro ranks. It will be interesting to see how Ortiz would do with the top of ranks which he should be ready for in a few fights of tougher opponents. Ortiz looked sharp but may need to work on turning his punches over a little more as many of his power shots were somewhat palming the inferior opponent. Ortiz, who is working at fast tracking his way to the top of the heavyweight ranks, holds both the WBA Federation and the WBC FECARBOX titles which were not on the line tonight. Lyons was cut badly early in the fight and by the end of the seventh the ringside physician had advised the fight to be stopped. In the end Ortiz did his job and disposed of the tough but outclassed Lyons.
In a 105 lb hotly contested bout among a raucous crowd Carlos “el Chocorritonito Buitrago 20-0 (15KO’s) squared up against a fiery Mexican fighter Felipe Riveras 9-9(4KO). The first round were “choc” full of good exchanges and jeers from the crowd with both men getting in some nice shots to oohs and ahhs of the Nicaraguan and Mexican fans. The second round was more of the same with both men getting off some great shots with an extra dose of showmanship from Rivas before the end of the round. Third round was more of Riva getting off the better and cleaner power shots. The 4th ended up with more of the same all Rivas. The 5th round there was a shift in the momentum with Buitrago starting to get off the cleaner shots with Rivas doing more of the Ali shuffle then boxing. The 6th round showed a clear shift in the action with the Nicaraguan starting to dictate the action and dominate the fight. The 7th and 8th rounds gave the crowd a little less action with Buitrago and Rivas going back and forth equally with not man winning the rounds in spectacular fashion. The ninth and tenth rounds gave us more back and forth leaving a nail biting decision for the crowd to wait on.
Lightweight Yoelvis Gamboa 7-0(3KO), the younger brother of WBA and IBF Featherweight World Champion Yorkies Gamboa was successful in stopping iron chinned and clearly out matched Larry Yanez 2-3. Referee Frank Gentile stepped in and saved Yanez at 1:54 of the fourth round. This fight could have easily been stopped a stanza earlier.
In a youth vs. age bout Super Bantamweight Cuban amateur star Yoandris Salinas 16-1(7KO) pressured veteran fighter Felipe Almanza 18-27(9KO) from the opening bell and controlled the entire fight with commanding ring generalship and aggression. Salinas was relentless and landing big shots on the Colombian Almanza and in the 3rd the Cuban landed a vicious left hook right hand the floored Almanza who was unable to reach his feet at the count of ten. The end came at 2:35.
