INDIO, Calif. (Dec. 14, 2017): Carlos “The Solution” Morales (17-2-3, 6 KOs) scored a sixth-round technical unanimous decision victory against Dardan Zenunaj (14-4, 11 KOs) of Los Angeles, Calif. to win the vacant NABA Super Featherweight Title in the scheduled 10-round main event of Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, Calif. Morales, who also fights out of Los Angeles, suffered a bad cut above his right eye due to an accidental headbutt that forced the fight to be stopped at the third second of the sixth-round. Morales outboxed the rugged Zenunaj enough for all judges to score the fight 59-56 in his favor.
“This was not my decision,” said Morales. “I could not see, and the doctor decided to end the fight. I felt I won the rounds, though [Zenunaj] was fighting dirty and headbutting me. It’s my job to get in there in fight, but the doctor stopped it.”
“Morales wanted this fight to stop,” said Zenunaj. “He was getting really tired, and I was starting to tag him. I often look better at the end of the fight, so it was obvious that he wanted it to stop. When he was getting looked at by the doctor, it seemed as if he wanted out. He was happy after.”
Former Mexican Olympian Raul Curiel stopped Israel Villela in round four of a scheduled four round welterweight bout.
In round two, Villela started to bleed from around his right eye. Curiel dropped Villela in round three from a left to the body. In round four, Curiel dropped Villela with an uppercut and the bout was stopped at 2:23.
Curiel, 146.5 lbs of Tamaulipas, Mex is now 2-0 with one knockout. Villela, 145.2 lbs of Mexico City is 6-8.
“After a few months away, I’m just grateful I can come back and fight before all of my fans and supporters,” said Curiel. “We had a minor setback this year, but hopefully I’ll be back in January. The plan is to start adding more rounds and moving up the division.”
Former US Olympian Marlen Espaerza remained undefeated with a six-round unanimous decision over Karla Valenzuela in a super flyweight bout.
Esparza, 111 lbs of Houston, Texas won by scores of 60-54 on all cards to raise her record to 4-0. Valenzuela, 113.8 lbs of Gomez Palcio, MEX is 3-17-3.
“I felt a bit nervous in awkward in there,” said Esparza. “That’s because she would often dip her head, which caused the headbutts when I was trying to land hooks. But I saw it as a perfect opportunity to work on my straight punches. It was also a chance to work on my body shots, which I really liked in there.”
Coachella, Calif.’s Ryan Caballero (4-0, 2 KOs), the younger brother of former IBF Bantamweight World Champion Randy Caballero, scored a first-round knockout victory against Franco Gutierrez (1-1) of Agua Prieta, Mexico in a scheduled four-round featherweight fight.
