WOODLAND, CALIFORNIA — Rising prospect and local draw Alan Sanchez thrilled his vocal following yet again with a hard-fought eight-round unanimous decision over Alberto Herrera in the Telefutura Solo Boxeo main event at the Woodland Community & Senior Center on Friday night.

Sanchez (9-2-1, 3 KOs) of Fairfield, California entered the ring four times in 2011, three times in Fairfield and once in nearby Woodland. All four times Sanchez emerged victorious in fairly one-sided, but action-packed bouts.

On Friday, Herrera (8-4-1, 5 KOs) of Riverside, California fought the type of fight he needed to in order to be successful. Sanchez just made certain he was not. The shorter and shorter-armed Herrera, 146, took the fight to Sanchez’ chest, but was still outfought nonetheless. When Sanchez, 149, did get at range and keep Herrera on the end of his punches, the Riverside resident was even less successful.

Sanchez utilized a lead right from the early going. It was a punch that Herrera rarely had a remedy for from a defensive standpoint. After maintaining his distance for the first two rounds, Sanchez decided to exchange with Herrera at close range to end the third. Herrera managed to land his first few clean blows, but it was still a Sanchez round.

The fourth was perhaps the only round that Herrera won outright. Herrera, the younger brother of world ranked light welterweight contender Mauricio Herrera, briefly forced Sanchez to the ropes and kept the fight at close range for much of the round. Though he faded late in the stanza, Herrera did well early and got the best of a heated exchange late.

As the fight progressed, Sanchez would fight toe-to-toe in stretches, but eventually find a way to utilize his edge in reach. Sensing he was behind in the fight, Herrera came forward non-stop in round seven. However, Sanchez picked his shots well and landed clean whenever he let go with his hands. To his credit, Herrera fought hard until the end, but just did not have an answer for Sanchez’ size and reach.

All three official scorers, Dan Collins, Marty Sammon and Michael Tate, had the fight for Sanchez by the score of 79-73.

Guy Robb (7-0, 3 KOs) of Sacramento, California sent his large contingent of supporters on hand home happy with a dominant fifth-round stoppage over durable Hugo Ramos (3-11-2, 1 KO) of Palm Springs, California.

Heading into the bout, Ramos, 127, had been stopped only once, having gone the distance with prospects Randy Caballero, Jonathan Arrellano, Joel Diaz and Gabriel Tolmajyan. Robb, 127, predicted a knockout and decided early on a concentrated body attack was his best hope to make his prediction come true.

Ramos was fleet of foot early, but Robb began to land his right to the body by late in the first. It would be Robb’s go to punch throughout the fight, as Ramos continually covered up, leaving his body exposed. Though he clearly had the better boxing skills, Robb was quite comfortable mixing it up at close quarters as well.

By the fourth, Ramos was really feeling the effects of every right to his ribs. While he continued to swing away, the sting had really left Ramos’ punches as Robb relentlessly pursued him around the ring. Sensing his man was in trouble in the fifth, Robb upped his attack even more, eventually catching Ramos with against the ropes. Finally protected his body, Ramos left himself open for a series of clean blows to his head, which prompted referee Ed Collantes to stop the bout at 2:18 of the fifth.

Unbeaten light welterweight Jonathan Chicas (4-0, 3 KOs) of San Francisco, California looked impressive in spoiling the debut of heralded former amateur standout Paul Cano (0-1) of Clovis, California via second-round kayo.

Cano, 144, pressed the action early, but could not avoid Chicas’ counter right hands. Late in the opening round Chicas, 144, caught Cano with a right in an exchange. Two more overhand rights followed, the last one forced Cano to the mat for a knockdown. Cano appeared to have clear eyes as referee Ray Balewicz gave him a standing eight-count with seconds to go in the round. After one more Chicas overhand right, the round ended with Cano a bit shaky going to his corner.

Cano came out pressing again in the second, but again found himself on the end of a series of overhand rights in an exchange. After six straight overhand rights, Cano legs came out from under him as he fell back into the blue corner. Though he popped up quickly, Balewicz opted to stop the fight without a count. Time of the stoppage was 31 seconds of the second round.

In a battle between former sparring partners, Nicolas Balestra (2-1, 1 KO) of Sacramento outlasted Will Walters (0-3) of Sacramento en route to a third-round stoppage. Balestra, 146, and Walters, 146, came out at each other with no feeling out process from the opening bell. Walters boxed well early, but it appeared Balestra’s edge in power began to take over early in the third. Balestra’s right began to find a home without an answer coming from Walters. After a succession of rights by Balestra snapped Walters’ head back, referee Ed Collantes stopped the contest at 1:13 of the third.

In the opener, Oscar Godoy (4-1, 2 KOs) of Watsonville, California dominated journeyman Juan Carlos Diaz (7-16, 6 KOs) of Lakeside, California by way of Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl, Estado de Mexico, Mexico en route to a third-round stoppage.

After two one-sided rounds, Godoy, 150, really pressed the issue in the third. With Diaz, 152, covering up against the ropes, Godoy unleashed in combination and landed a damaging right that forced the Mexican to wilt against the third strand. With Diaz prone, Godoy continued to throw before referee Ray Balewicz waved off the bout at 2:44 of round three.

In the walkout bout, Dmitry Chudinov (6-0, 3 KOs) of Los Angeles, California by way of Serpukhov, Russia turned back the challenge of short notice opponent Tony Hirsch (12-5-2, 6 KOs) of Oakland, California via six-round majority decision.

Hirsch, who took the fight on a day’s notice and at his holiday weight, 180, was successful in spots in a bout that featured some hard to score rounds. Chudinov, 178, likely got credit for coming forward and for some clean punching on the inside. Hirsch fought off his back foot looking to counter the naturally larger Chudinov. Judges Dan Collins and Marty Sammon saw the fight 59-55 and 58-56 respectively for Chudinov. Judge Michael Tate had the fight even, 57-57.

Photos by Stephanie Trapp/trappfotos@gmail.com

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.

WOODLAND, CALIFORNIA — In the season finale of Telefutura Solo Boxeo tomorrow night, welterweight prospect Alan Sanchez will appear on the network for the third time this year as he takes on late fill-in opponent Alberto Herrera in the eight-round main event emanating from the Woodland Community & Senior Center. Fighters weighed in this afternoon at Paco’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant in downtown Woodland.

After taking his entire early career on the road, Sanchez (8-2-1, 3 KOs) of Fairfield, California will be fighting near home for the fourth consecutive time as he takes on Herrera (8-3-1, 5 KOs) of Riverside, California.

Sanchez comes in off of a dominate performance in June, as he battered durable Clint Coronel before forcing a cut-induced seventh-round stoppage in Fairfield. Sanchez is currently riding a three-fight win streak which began after a controversial draw against Luis Grajeda in September of last year. Sanchez had Grajeda down twice, but left San Diego, California with the draw in a fight he clearly deserved.

Herrera, the brother of world ranked contender Mauricio Herrera, ended a three-fight skid this past October with a six-round unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Marcus Robinson. Herrera took the fight with Sanchez on short notice, after originally scheduled KeAndre Gibson was forced to withdraw with a training injury. Herrera scaled 146, while Sanchez came in at 149-pounds at today’s weigh-in.

In the televised co-feature, Guy Robb (6-0, 2 KOs) of Sacramento, California will take on tough Hugo Ramos (3-10-2, 1 KO) of Palm Springs, California in a six-round super featherweight bout. Robb comes in off of his career-best win to date, a dominate six-round decision over heralded prospect Pablo Armenta this past September. Ramos has been in with many of the top featherweight prospects in the state and always held his own. Robb and Ramos both weighed in at 127-pounds.

In an intriguing match-up, unbeaten Jonathan Chicas (3-0, 2 KOs) of San Francisco, California will take on debuting former amateur standout Paul Cano of Clovis, California in a four-round welterweight bout. Chicas, who holds a win over former accomplished amateur and frequent Cano sparring partner Michael Islas, weighed in at 144-pounds. Cano, who has been one of the top amateurs in the nation at his weight class over the last two years, also weighed in at 144.

Nicolas Balestra (1-1) of Sacramento will take on former gym mate Will Walters (0-2) of Sacramento in a four-round welterweight bout. Balestra, a former MMA competitor, got into the win column with a four-round decision over Alex Vlas in November. Walters, who used to spar Balestra on a daily basis, is still in search of his first pro win after two hard-fought battles with Bret De La Torre in April and November. Walters and Balestra both scaled 146-pounds.

Dmitry Chudinov (5-0, 3 KOs) of Los Angeles, California by way of Serpukhov, Russia will take on rugged Tony Hirsch (12-4-2, 6 KOs) of Oakland, California in a four-round super middleweight bout. Chudinov, a 2008 World Cup Championships bronze medalist, weighed in at 169-pounds at today’s weigh-in. Hirsch, who took the fight on very short notice, will weigh in tomorrow.

Oscar Godoy (3-1, 1 KO) of Watsonville, California will take on journeyman Juan Carlos Diaz (7-15, 6 KOs) of Lakeside, California by way of Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl, Estado de Mexico, Mexico in a four-round light middleweight bout. Godoy, originally scheduled to take on Luis Sanchez, weighed in at 150-pounds. Diaz, who has dropped his last ten bouts, including nine to undefeated opponents, weighed in at 152-pounds.

Tickets for tonight’s event, promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, Don Chargin Productions, Paco Presents and Jorge Marron Productions, are available by calling Paco’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant in Woodland at 530-669-7946, Taqueria Guadalajara #1 in Woodland at 530-668-0628 or Travis Credit Union in Woodland at 530-668-0573.

Quick Weigh-in Results:

Welterweights, 8 Rounds
Sanchez 149
Herrera 146

Featherweights, 6 Rounds
Robb 127
Ramos 127

Welterweights, 4 Rounds
Chicas 144
Cano 144

Welterweights, 4 Rounds
Balestra 146
Walters 146

Light Middleweights, 4 Rounds
Godoy 150
Diaz 152

Super Middleweights, 4 Rounds
Chudinov 169
Hirsch*

*will weigh-in tomorrow

Mario Ortega Jr. can be contacted at ortega15rds@lycos.com.

Troubled youth finds his way into a boxing gym and turns his life around. Yes, that is a story that has been told before, but there are reasons why it never gets old. There is something captivating about what boxing has done and can do to so drastically change lives for the better. Former amateur standout Paul Cano, who turns pro this Friday at the Woodland Community & Senior Center in Woodland, California, is yet another example of the positive impact the sport can have.

Before he found boxing at the age of fifteen, Cano, who grew up and resides in Clovis, California, was headed down a dangerous path. “I was a troubled kid,” recalls Cano. “I was getting in a lot of trouble in school and with my parents. I was stealing, gangbanging, doing a lot of drugs.”

First it was Cano’s brother Roman that took to boxing, at the behest of his parents. “They were getting into some trouble, and their dad kind of showed up at my PAL center,” recalls Pete Lopes, who ran the boxing program for the Clovis Police Athletic League and would go on to train both Cano brothers. “Me and Roman started working, and things started going well with him. Paul kind of figured it was working for his brother, so he decided to check out this Coach Pete guy and see what could happen.”

Almost right away Lopes could recognize qualities in Paul Cano that gave him the idea he had a fighter with potential on his hands. “At first I didn’t know what to make of him, because he was really quiet and didn’t say much,” remembers Lopes. “But I knew his brother had a lot of moxy, so I just kind of figured he was not too far off from his brother. And him being the youngest, he’s probably learned a lot from them. The minute we put him in the ring, he was really tough. He was raw and chunky and out of breath, but he was a tough, tough kid.”

When Cano first came to the boxing gym, he was a troubled kid that played lineman at about 220-pounds. Soon everything would change. “What boxing did for me was teach me a lot of discipline and also made a lot of my energy go from doing all those bad things to spending all my energy at the gym. So by the time I got home from the gym, I didn’t have time or energy to sneak out or do those other things. The whole change in my life was huge, everything from my relationship with my parents getting better, to me going back to church.”

With his new found discipline, Cano quickly got into shape and started to have success in the ring. “Within a couple months, he was sparring everyone in the gym and I noticed he was real addictive as far as the training was concerned,” says Lopes. “He worked really hard and lost a lot of weight quick. His first amateur fight was at 178-pounds and he stopped the guy.” By his eighth fight, Cano had won the California state tournament to advance to the 2008 Junior Olympics in Michigan, where he advanced to the quarterfinals at 138-pounds.

In 2010, Cano would take trips to Little Rock, Arkansas for the National Golden Gloves and Colorado Springs, Colorado for the USA Boxing National Championships, where he made it to the quarterfinals, losing to USA Boxing #1 ranked 141-pounder Pedro Sosa. “It was big for me, to see that boxing could take me not just around Fresno County, but to where I could go on a plane to another state where I had never been before,” says Cano. “It was huge for me to be over there and get that experience and to represent California. That was another big eye opener to be blessed to do something like that.”

Despite his success as an amateur, Cano and his team have always felt his style was much better suited for the pros. In addition, as Cano carved out his reputation in the amateurs, it became increasingly difficult to find willing opponents, so over the course of the last year especially Cano’s focus shifted more towards preparing himself for his debut and becoming a more experienced and technically sound fighter.

“We’ve definitely been in the gym for a long time,” says Cano. “We haven’t been traveling for competition as much, but we have been traveling to get good sparring and for training. We have had our minds set on the pros and becoming the best pro. We’ve been going up and down California getting the best sparring with champs.” In the last year Cano has shared the ring with world ranked contenders Eloy Perez and John Molina Jr. among others.

For his first pro bout, a four-rounder contested at 145-pounds, Cano is doing something most former national level amateur fighters never do and that is fight a 3-0 fighter, in this case Jonathan Chicas of San Francisco, California. The move is just one step in a larger plan for Cano and his team.

“We want to change the way boxing is a little bit,” explains Lopes. “We want to be the ones that will step up and say we will come to your backyard and fight you. I know who I have as a fighter. I know his reputation and I appreciate Jonathan Chicas in taking the fight, for stepping up, because it is a risk on his part. We really have nothing to lose. He has a 3-0 record and it would be really hard to find a 0-1 guy or a 1-0 guy that would be willing to fight Cano. We would literally have to get someone from another country, because everyone else knows him. We feel like we are between a rock and a hard place, but we also feel like we can win this fight and win this fight in convincing fashion.”

Cano is very much onboard with Lopes’ plan. “We are ready for anything,” says Cano. “My team and I, we’ve been training so hard. We know who we can beat and we know that we can beat Chicas. It was a surprise to us that he took the fight, but now that we know he is going to take the fight, we want to show boxing and the world that I am coming out. I am not ducking anybody. We are here to fight anybody at any time. We are here to come up and let everyone know we are the best. We are here to do the quick. We don’t want to fight any bums. We want to fight the best and let everybody know that we are the best.”

While success in the ring may be expected of Cano as he ventures into the pros, nothing in this sport is ever guaranteed. However, Cano has already succeeded in transforming his life, no matter how many wins or losses he amasses. “I am very proud of him and the professionalism he’s shown in his work ethic,” says his trainer Lopes. “He is just a quality individual and it makes me happy. It makes me hopeful that he is going to be a great example for other kids who have a life just like him, or have a life worse than him. That they can fall in love with something and people will help them, and help them evolve to be a good person and a professional. And that’s the most important thing, a professional.”

Tickets for Friday’s event, promoted by Don Chargin Productions, Paco Presents, Jorge Marron Productions and Golden Boy Promotions, are available by calling Paco’s Mexican Restaurant in Woodland at 530-669-7946, Taqueria Guadalajara #1 in Woodland at 530-668-0628 or Travis Credit Union in Woodland at 530-668-0573.

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.