Uppercut Magazine.com - Rios Wins

By Wendy Rodriguez

Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios (28-0 20 Kos) of Oxnard  remained undefeated and continues to be the WBA world lightweight champ after stopping Urbano Antillon (28-3 20 KO’s) of Maywood at the Home Depot.

Both warriors met in the center of the ring and exchanged punches. They were both connecting with powerful shots. Antillon was getting caught with uppercuts and had his head snapped up several times. As the first round ended they had an exchange of words and showed their dislike for each other.

In the second round Rios dropped Antillon with a right uppercut.  He took the eight count and signaled to Rios that he was not hurt. Rios attacked.

The third round came and Rios landed a left uppercut followed by a right and dropped Antillon again. Antillon was hurt. He got up to continue the fight and clinched. The referee stepped in to break them apart. As they separated, Antillon stumbled. Rios was about to go after him when the referee stopped Rios and waved the fight off at 1:49 of the third round. Urbano was upset , but it was a good call by referee David Mendoza.

In the super welterweight division Carlos Molina (19-4-2 7 KO’s) of Chicago defeated Kermit Cintron (32-4-1 28 KO’s) of Puerto Rico. Cintron used his reach and threw jabs.  Molina went to the body and landed over hand rights. Cintron slipped punches and began to duck low. Molina began to figure him out and aimed at his head and caught him every time Cintron ducked his head low. Cintron was not throwing enough. When he did throw, it was no more than two punches followed by a clinch. Molina continued to move forward and attacked more and got the better shots. All three judges scored the fight 98-92 for Molina after 10 rounds.

In the lightweight division Mercito Gesta (22-0-1 11 KO’s) of San Diego defeated Jorge Pimentel (22-12-0-1 15 KO’s) of Guaymas Mexico Gesto came in and looked sharp as he threw his combos and dropped Pimentel. Pimentel took the eight count and continued to fight. Gesta used his speed and went to the head and body. He dropped Pimentel again in the second round. In the third Gesta landed a straight left, right upper, straight left combo and again dropped Pimentel. The referee stepped in stopped the fight at 2:23 of the third round.

Light heavyweight prospect Mike Lee (6-0 4 KO’s) of Chicago remained undefeated after stopping Michael Birthmark (2-6) of Montana. Lee came out throwing his combinations and landed an over hand right to drop Birthmark. Birthmark got up and Lee attacked against the ropes. Birthmark began to move and dodge punches but was not able to get away from Lee’s body shots and went down two more times. The referee put a halt to the fight at 2:54 of the third round.

Welterweights Alonso Loeza (0-0-1) of Gilroy CA and Ricardo Malfavon (1-5-1 1 KO) of Santa Ana fought to a draw. Malfavon was coming forward and landing uppers and straight rights and quickly made Loeza bleed from the nose. Loeza, who was making his pro debut, jabbed and tried to keep Malfavon away. Malfavon landed hard left hooks and body shots, but Loeza responded back  with a good uppercut and turned the tables around. Loeza was now coming forward and landing punches. The action kept going back and forth as if they were taking turns. The both threw punches from the opening of the first round to the end of the fourth and final round. The judges scored the fight 39-37 Malfavon and two judges scored 38-38 for a majority draw.

In the lightweight division Jose Roman (11-0 9 KO’s) of Santa Ana defeated Randy Arrellin (8-6 4 KO’s) of Albuquerque, New Mezixo with a first round TKO. Roman landed a left hook and dropped Arrellin. Arrellin got up and tried to fight back but was caught with a hard straight right and went down again. Roman attacked after Arrellin  got up. He wobbled as Roman landed more punches. The referee stepped in an stopped the fight at 2:07 of the first round. 

Indio’s Gabino Saenz  (4-0 4 KO’s) defeated Quinice Wesby (1-2) of Dallas with a third round TKO. Saenz came to fight and began to throw combination. Wesby dodged punches and threw his jabs to keep Saenz off of him. Saenz then landed a left hook and dropped Wesby. In the third round Saenz continued to attack and landed a perfect liver shot that dropped Wesby. Wesby got back up and tried to survive, but ran out of luck when he was caught with another liver shot and went down. The referee stepped in and stopped the fight at 1:41 of the third round declaring Saenz the winner.

In the middleweight division, Matt Korobov (16-0 9 KO’s) of Russia remained undefeated after taking a unanimous decision over Lester Gonzalez (12-4-2 6 KO’s) of San Diego CA. Korobov started off good using  lateral movements and catching Gonzalez with good combinations. Gonzalez became more aggressive and began to counter punch.  They both continued to exchange punches. At the end of the fight all judges scored the fight 78-74 for Korobov. The crowd was disappointed and booed as they believed that Gonzalez should have taken the win.

In the super featherweight division Paul Fleming (10-0 7 Kos) of Sydney, Australia defeated Juan Jose Beltran (20-25-2 12 Kos) of Los Mochis, Mexico. Fleming made it a quick night as he stopped Beltran at 52 seconds of the first round and added another win to his record.