OC Fight Club Summer

Tito Mercado and Jesikah Guerra Win at OC Fight Club

By Sophia Reyes

COSTA MESA-Fresh-faced fighters embarked on a beginners' journey during Fight Club OC at The Hangar in Costa Mesa on Thursday. The sold-out show consisted of 6 boxing bouts including the highly anticipated pro debut of the ten-time national amateur champion Jesika Guerra. It was clear from the first bout that the crowd expected movie style knockouts during the event presented by Roy Englebrecht Promotions.

A fight that did not last long was the lightweight bout between a victorious Tito Mercado (7-0 7 KO’s) over Alfredo Rodolfo Blanco (22-11 11KOS) by way of KO 45 seconds into the second round.

Blanco made his way into the ring with no walk out music wearing a blue cape representing Argentina. He made it clear in round one that he likes to constantly move in a giant circle to the left. Mercado was able to catch him with impressive and intimidating double jabs. Mercado let combos rip as Blanco shuffled against the ropes.

In the second round, Blanco was floored in the second round but the fight continued and as soon as the referee signaled “fight” Mercado ran towards his opponent with explosive power punches scoring another KO to his already impressive record.

It was a pro debut for both Jessica Guerra and Seta Vatuvei in the only women’s bout of the evening resulting in Guerra taking home the W by unanimous decision.

Four two-minute rounds were not enough time to showcase what these rising athletes could accomplish. The super welterweight fighters got right to work in the first round showing an eagerness to prove themselves. Soon it became clear that Guerra likes to hold her opponent’s arm while throwing downward punches to the side of their head.

Vatuvei uppercuts in a backwards motion. Some notable punches were thrown in the third round with Guerra landing a sharp uppercut to the chin through her opponent's guard and Vatuvei managed to get some clean hooks in, but the round consisted mostly of turning and twisting due to holding. Both fighters ramped up the intensity in the final round, but Vatuvei was not able to do much with Guerra pushing her head down. Guerra landed a classic one-two combo and the judges scored 40-36, 39-37 and 39-37 all in favor of the pride of Victorville and the Pan American Games gold medalist Guerra. Despite the difficult fighting style of Guerra, Vatuvei showed good sportsmanship

“It was an honor to have the opportunity to face a 10 time National Champ for my very first pro fight. I didn’t get the outcome I wanted, but this experience has made me more hungry than ever to be a great fighter. I can’t wait to step back in the ring and show what I’m really made of,” Vatuvei said.

Other bouts

It was a draw decision for light heavyweights Corona’s Craig Wilkerson (1-1) and Alex Fugon (3-2-1) of Palmdale as the opening fight of the night. In the first round it was clear that both fighters have yet to master the technical aspect of how to move in the ring. Wilkerson absorbed Fugon’s punches and exploded back with counter shots but most of them did land. The remaining three rounds showcased a little bit of inside game, some awkward “bolo” type hooks, and many moments of standing in the ring almost as if they were giving each other a break. The fighters went home with a draw.

The 4 round super welterweight bout was cut short when Anaheim’s Antonio Garcia (pro debut) floored Seattle’s Izaiah Vargas (0-1) in the first round with a left hook and down again by a flurry two minutes and 17 seconds into the second round resulting in fight stoppage by the referee.

Throughout the fight, Vargas walked into all of his opponents' clean punches, making it easy for Garcia to score points. Later on, Garcia seemed eager to get some action himself and started to charge towards his opponent, holding him down with a jab and firing powerful crosses. Vargas reacted by throwing sloppy hooks but did manage to land a decent overhand right. Garcia, the local Southern California native, walked away with a new record 1-0 1KO.

Las Vegas fighter Rebe Moreno (7-0 4KO's) wins by unanimous decision against Charles Clark (3-11 1KO) in the only super featherweight bout of the evening. Timing was very important to the fighters as each one seemed to wait for the right moment to get the perfect combo in.

The first round showed the most punches with each fighter landing notable hooks. As the fight progressed, Clark chose to throw fewer punches and wave his gloves around in some sort of technique to confuse his opponent. This seemed to frustrate Moreno resulting in rushing his opponent and landing a crowd pleasing powerful left hook. The end of round four was an odd spectacle with Clark partaking in some kind of dance in the ring. Moreno takes the W with another achievement to add to his record.

In the final fight of the evening Sonny Robledo (5-0 2KO'S) of San Fernando won by unanimous decision against Orange’s Darynn Leyva (1-4-1) in the super lightweight bout. Robledo was all smiles as he entered the ring while his opponent had his friends and family cheering him on.

Robledo used technical shuffling and level changing combos while Leyva used a jittery fight stance to evade his opponent’s punches resulting in him tripping but somehow managing to land a stinging left hook on his way up.

In the third round, Robledo landed a very long set of flurries following Leyva all across the ring. Despite the long beating, Leyva was unphased and the fight continued. In the final round Leyva landed a solid cross as the crowd cheers but it was not enough as Robledo hit hard with a one-two combo right before the bell. As soon as that last bell rang, the crowd started to leave in large numbers. Robledo was still all smiles as he won 36-34 all across the board to a half empty room.