Thompson Boxing Promotions presented a night of boxing at the Omega Products International in Corona, Calif. Friday night titled “High Stakes”. The five-bout card lived up to its name. In the main event for the WBC USNBC title, unbeaten Mauricio “El Maestro” Herrera (12-0, 6KO’s) dominated Seattle’s young prospect Jason “Young Gunz” Davis (11-4, 3KO’s) in five rounds to retain his perfect record.
From the opening bell, “El Maestro” from Riverside, CA, was in command with his signature right jab while applying heavy pressure cruising thru the first two rounds. Davis tried to start the two-way action but it was Herrera’s precision that made it impossible for Davis to land a telling blow. By round 4, “Young Gunz” was clinching and holding as Herrera kept landing devastating over right hands with 1-2 combinations. In the 5th round, Herrera came out strong and pounded away enough for Davis’ corner to throw in the towel. The flop sided bout came to end at 0:57 of round 5.
In a junior welterweight uphill battle, Josesito Lopez (25-3, 14 KOs) won a unanimous decision over Escondido veteran Sergio De La Torre (11-12-3, 1 KO) in the six round co-main event. They traded leather from the start. The 25-year old from Riverside showed the faster hands but De La Torre stayed in the pocket and bullied his way into the inside often by landing his share of quick shots. Josesito didn’t hold back and continued to chop his foe apart. Many boxing fans kept yelling to stop the fight as De La Torre kept getting hit with some power shots which made the Escondido veteran conservative with his punches but it was his heart that kept him standing. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to impress any of the judges. All three judges scored it 60-54.
Trained by Freddie Roaches older brother Dominic, a former featherweight known as “Pepper”, knew the blue print for his fighter as Khabir Suleymanov ” Crazy Russian” (8-0, 3KO’s) to demolish and destroy Jonathan Arias “El Diamante” (15-5, 8KO’s) from Indio, CA. Both fighter began slow as each analyzed one another but by the second round, Suleymanov unleashed a series of punches which accidentally hit Arias on the back of the head. Arias was forced to take a 5 min break but after recovering, he was hit with ton crane that almost sent him to the canvas. “El Diamante” survived the 2nd and 3rd round but the “Crazy Russian” kept the pressure on and continued swinging away until the referee Ray Corona waived it off at 1:49 of round 4.
With Shawn Estrada, a 2008 Olympian by your side, Walter Sarnoi “Schoolboy” (4-0, 2KO’s) scored a convincing four-round unanimous decision over John Lopez from Ontario, OR.
Both fighters delivered the best in them but Sarnoi was just a bit more active and more precise. Lopez lost his pro debut.
Scheduled to fight September 26 against WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, undefeated Cristobal Arreola and his team came to support and worked the corner of their young prospect Jonathan Arrellano (3-0, 1KO) who won a unanimous decision over Hugo Ramos (2-2-1, 1KO) from Palm Springs, CA. Arrellano easily dismantled Ramos as he pressured and walked him down through out the scheduled 4 rounds. Ramos absorbed a lot of punishment with out going down but his bravery wasn’t enough to impress any of the judges. All three judges scored it 40-36.
All Photos by Big Joe Miranda