Boxing News

Results from Morongo

November 23, 2008

From Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in Cabazon, California Golden Boy Promotions with Cerveza Tecate and Ford Motor Company offered another night of boxing featuring a 12 round Latino Super Bantamweight bout with Jhonny Gonzalez taking on Colombian veteran Reynaldo Lopez and in the co-feature, Nelson Rocha squaring off against tough Oscar Andrade in a 10 round bantamweight battle.

The former WBO bantamweight world champion Jhonny Gonzalez (40-6, 34 KOs) started the bout analyzing the hard-hitting Colombian. With seconds to end the first round both got a taste of each other’s power by exchanging a series of punches. Gonzalez landed some impressive left and right hooks that made Lopez nose bleed. Gonzalez known for his speed and accuracy unleashed a barrage of punches sending the Colombian to the canvas.

The 27-year-old Mexican didn’t waste any time and continued to out work Lopez, Lopez trying to finish the third round by holding on, by the fourth round Jhonny was in command and was able to make Reynaldo Lopez (30-2-6 21KO’s) taste the canvas for the second time, Lopez beat the count, but that wasn’t enough to survive the beating Jhonny unleash after he got up. The referee saw enough and stopped the fight 2:17 of the fourth round.

“I felt a little tight because he was a southpaw, he gave me some problems after I dropped him, he got me with a good shot after, but that’s what I needed to finish the job,” said Gonzalez after the fight. “Next year I will fight for a title. I have been asking for Israel Vasquez, but I don’t know… This fight helped me a lot.”

“He’s a strong kid, I couldn’t do my job, I thought it was going to be an easy fight, but… he earned this win,” said Lopez.

Nestor Rocha was the co-featured bout for Telefutura’s “Solo Boxeo”. Rocha (21-1 7KO’s) didn’t waste any time marking his territory with impressive uppercuts from the opening bell, by round two Rocha continued where he left off and continued to dominate the fight forcing Andrade to step back. Oscar Andrade was a last minute replacement; with 35 losses and 36 wins with 2 draws, he was no match for the local rising star.

Andrade was able to last the scheduled 10 rounds but fans were not pleased by his performance, Rocha used the same method of attack for all 10 rounds as Andrade used his experience to survive. Rocha won a unanimous decision with all three judges scoring 100-90.

A street brawl erupted between Demetrio Soto (5-1 4KO’s) from Los Angeles, California and Luis Arceo (20-8-2 13KO’s) from Tijuana, Mexico. Both fighters had the same pressure style and refused to back up. Soto with an amateur style engaged towards the veteran for six rounds in which both exchange heavy artillery. Soto proved he could take as good as he could punch, but Arceo was better at evading punches and countering with precision.

Soto’s face was swollen and blood began to drip down his face, but he continued to load up on the Tijuana fighter until the final bell. In the end, it was Arceo’s experience that proved the difference to the judges. Fritz Werner scored it 57-57, but judges Marty Denkin 59-55 and Alex Rochin 58-56 favored Arceo for a majority decision.

In a heavyweight bout, Ashanti Jordan (7-0, 6 KOs) of San Francisco scored a second round technical knockout over San Diego’s Lawson Baker (5-5-1). A cut over the eye of Lawson forced referee David Mendoza to halt the fight at 2:13 of the round.
Rising prospect Charles Huerta with a perfect record with eight wins and 5KO’s demolished Mexico’s veteran boxer Trinidad Mendoza (22-17-2, 17 KOs) in a featherweight match.

Huerta was in command and unloaded a series of combinations that dropped Mendoza in the sixth round Mendoza beat the count and survived the round. But in the last round, a counter right hand caught Mendoza for a knockdown. He survived that but was pummeled with a nonstop barrage and dropped again. Referee David Mendoza stopped the fight at 2:46 of the round.