Uppercut Magazine - Efrain Esquivias War

By Wendy Rodriguez

ONTARIO, CALIF.-In the main event Efrain Esquivias Jr (15-0 9 KO’s) remained undefeated and became the new NABF super bantamweight champion after a hard fought match and taking a split decision over Fernando Beltran (35-7-1 19 KO’s) of Culiacan MEX.

The first round was not a warm up round for Beltran as he quickly got to work and landed his combinations. Esquivias was not responding well to Beltran's southpaw style. He moved and tried to land a few punches but was not fighting like he does.

In the third round, Esquivias began to loosen up and used his great movement to slip and counter punch Beltran. The action kept going back and forth. In the eighth round Esquivias landed a strong straight right and dropped Beltran. Beltran took an eight count and was back in. Esquivias unleashed his power punches and tried to finish Beltran, but he survived another round.  Beltran used jabs to keep Esquivias away, but Esquivias continued to land hard shots. The judges scored 97-92 Esquivias 95-94 Beltran, and 96-93 Esquivias.

In the super flyweight division Miguel Diaz (7-0 3 KO’s) of Allentown PA, out boxed and took a unanimous decision over Felipe Castaneda (6-3-1 3 KO’s) of San Antonio TX. They both started out with good combinations. Diaz used lateral movements and landed uppercuts. Castaneda caught Diaz with straight rights and uppercuts when Diaz stayed in and traded with him. Once he danced around and used his footwork he was catching Castaneda. The judges scored it 59-55, 59-55, and 58-56.

In the junior flyweight division and only female fight, Sindy Amador (6-0 1 KO) of Riverside, Calif. remained undefeated after dominating Blanca Raymundo (0-5) of San Bernardino, Calif. Amador came  in aggressive attacking Raymundo with quick short punches  to the head and body. An unintentional head butt cut Raymundo’s  forehead. Raymundo landed straight punches, but not enough to stop the smaller Amador. Another head butt in the fourth round cut Amador, but did not affect her performance. Two judges scored the fight 40-36 and the third scored it 39-37.

In the lightweight division Sergio Nunez (4-0-1 2 KO’s) of Sylmar defeated Robert “Scrappy” Ortiz (7-4-1 3 KO’s) of Semi Valley CA. Ortiz quickly established his fight game by slipping and getting to the inside landing quick short combinations. Nunez used his reach and landed straight punches followed by liver shots but Ortiz used good body movements and couldn’t be kept away. The third round came and Nunez began to do better. Ortiz seemed to have tired out in the first two rounds with his nonstop moving and punching. Nunez was delivering straight rights and snapped Ortiz’s head back and landing to the body. Two judges scored it 39-37 and the third scored it 40-36 declaring Nunez the winner.

In the super welterweight division Joshua Conley (1-0 1 KO) of San Bernardino starts off with a win by way of knockout after punishing Eduardo Hernandez (0-1) of North Hollywood in his pro debut. Conley waited for Hernandez to make a move and counter punched.

In the middleweight division and first fight of the night, Brandon Adams (4-0 2 KO’s) of Watts defeated Raymundo Inda (0-3-1) of Oxnard CA. Adams started working quick on Inda’s body. He landed a powerful overhand right that seem to hurt Inda as he held on to Adams to survive the round. In the second round, Adams landed hard jab cross followed by body shot and a few low blows. Inda did not complain and continued to fight. He began to get his rhythm and started landing his combinations. In the 4^th round Adams landed to the body and dropped Inda. He stood up before the 8 count but referee David Denkin halted the fight, giving another win by TKO to Adams.