Chris Arreola got back in the Heavyweight picture with a first round destruction of Seth Mitchell in a scheduled twelve round bout at the Fantasy Springs Resort in Indio, California.
Mitchell came out throwing hard shots but got caught with a left hook that hurt him that him hanging on. Arreola laded a hard flurry of punches that sent Mitchell to the canvas. After Mitchell wanted to fight on, which may have been the wrong decision as he ate another fuselage of punches until referee Jack Reiss rescued Mitchell at 2:24 of round one.
Arreola, 242 lbs of Riverside, CA is now 36-3 with 31 knockouts. Mitchell, 242 lbs of Brandwyne, MD is now 26-2-1.
“I want to thank myself for putting the work in,” said a fresh and jubilant Arreola after the stoppage. “I worked my ass off in Phoenix preparing for this fight. I respect Seth for his power, but the big difference for me was in training camp.”
“I have been my only downfall,” he continued. “I should only have one loss on my record. All my other losses are on me for not training properly. But I came here to win tonight. And it was easy work.”
A stunned Mitchell said, “I got caught. I am very disappointed. I was confident in my ability to win this fight. My heart just hurts right now. This was a big fight for both of us, a fight that I wanted. I didn’t want to step back after beating Jonathan Banks.”
Efrain Esquivias scored the biggest win of his career when he knocked out former two division champion Rafael Marquez in a scheduled 10 round Featherweight bout.
Marquez fought well early as he landed some nice rights and could not miss with the uppwercut. Esquivias slowly but surely got into the fight in round four as he was very effective with the right hand. Esquivias started landing those right at the beginning and end of hard combinations and age was showing on the 38 year-old Marquez.
Esquivias was having a nice round seven until Marquez had his last stand as he landed a huge flurry against the ropes just before the bell. Esquivias got back on track in round eight as he was landing some solid flurries. Esquivias came out in round nine and landed a crushing right hand that sent the future Hall of Famer to the canvas. Marquez wobbled to his feet and the fight was called off just nineteen seconds into round nine.
Esquivias, 126 lbs of Carson, CA is now 17-2-1 with 10 knockouts. Marquez, 126 lbs of Mexico City will contemplate retirement with a record of 41-9.
Esquivias drilled Marquez with a lead right hand in the ninth sending Marquez down. After a brief look, referee Raul Caiz Jr., waved it off without a count. “I am slow starter,” said an emotional Esquivias after the bout. “He caught me early, but I finished strong and that’s what matters.”
When asked about beating a legendary warrior, “It means everything. He’s one of my favorite fighters. When he beat Tim Austin I became a big fan of Rafael. Now, I am in the ring with him and it’s a huge honor. I am still his biggest fan. He’s a great champion.”
Marquez was taken to Desert Hospital on a stretcher.
