It was another fight night at The Nokia Club on Thursday. This intimate room saw the Versus network with Bernard Hopkins and some boxers in attendance like Shane Mosley and Victor Ortiz. Ortiz told me he is looking to get back in the ring in December on a possible Shane Mosley undercard. He said his hand is healing nicely but he still is sporting a cast.
The night featured young Abner Mares but the co-main event saw Oxnard’s David Rodela (14-1-3, 6 KO’s) take on the tough Gamalier Rodriguez (8-2-2, 4 KO’s). It was a good scrap with many trades between the two but Rodela got the unanimous decision and kept the Quaker State belt. Rodela was busier throughout and chased Gamalier around the ring landing shots.
The main event saw rising star Abner Mares (19-0, 12 KO’s) fight Carlos Fulgencia (11-4-1, 7 KO’s). Mares looks to have the tools to be a player in this sport on a major level and he showed them tonight. He has lefts, rights, hooks, crosses and a great body attack to name a few. His competition was not world class but Mares stayed accurate and busy all night and finally got to Carlos with a hellacious body shot at 2:24 of round 6. Fulgencia would not get up and Mares wins again.
Mares has had a tough road with various ailments over the last year but looks back on track and ready for the big stage. Look for big things from him in the future.
The next intsallment of “Fight Night Club” at L.A. LIVE’s Club Nokia in Los Angeles, will take place on September 24th and will feature lightweight Luis Ramos (11-0, 6 KOs), featherweight Charles Huerta (11-1, 7 KOs) and junior featherweight Ronny Rios (6-0, 2 KOs) in separate bouts against opponents to be named. “Fight Night Club,” is a new live monthly boxing series presented by Golden Boy Promotions.
Photos by BIG Joe Miranda