Some fighters assume a nickname before it is earned. Patrick “El Elegante” Lopez is not one of them. Blessed with hand speed to spare and precise punching accuracy, Lopez elegantly picked apart Sergio Rivera before an appreciative fight crowd at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, CA.

Lopez (17-2) built an early lead and an insurmountable advantage by landing a head-snapping jabs between Rivera’s gloves. A southpaw, Lopez used the jab to set up left hands to the head. Undeterred, Rivera (14-4-2) brought the fight but learned he was outgunned in this junior welterweight bout. Every time Rivera pressed forward he was greeted by a Lopez right or left. Lopez grew in confidence with each passing round and was toying with Rivera in the second half of the fight.

The fight took a turn for the worse near the conclusion of the fourth when the fighters clashed heads and both men suffered cuts. Rivera received a gash high on the forehead that painted his face red with blood. Though the Lopez cut wasn’t nearly as deep, it too was troublesome given its location. Lopez sustained a cut on the right eyelid that bled for the balance of the fight.

All three judges scored the bout 80-72 in favor of Patrick Lopez.

 

Alberto Herrera separated Jesus Vallejo from his mouthpiece in the first round and from his senses in the second forcing referee Lou Moret to stop the fight early in the contest. A minute into the second Herrera (6-0) dropped a left hand on Jesus Vallejo (3-2) that left him momentarily defenseless along the ropes.

Referee Moret came to Vallejo’s aid by stepping between the combatants and stopping the junior middleweight contest at 1:06 of the second round. With the KO victory Herrera remained perfect as a pro.
 

Professional opponent Jaime Orrantia (11-25-5) did his job. He forced undefeated light welterweight Hector Serrano (10-0) to fight six spirited rounds. Orrantia didn’t win a round but he did extend Serrano while landing some good shots of his own.

Serrano worked the jab to start each round before letting loose with hooks and uppercuts. Serrano stunned Orrantia in the second and again in the fourth but could not put the seasoned pugilist on the deck. Serrano closed the show with a furious attack in the sixth and won the fight easily on the judges’ scorecards.
 

Veteran welterweights Pavel Miranda and Vardan Gasparyan waged a back-and-forth affair that ended in a majority decision draw.

Gasparyan (11-2-5) pressed the action throughout and was effective when he trapped Miranda against the ropes. Miranda (18-4-1) scored by throwing the left to the body followed by a right upstairs.

Judge David Denkin scored the bout 58-56 for Gasparyan while judges Ray Corona and Jerry Cantu both scored the fight a 57-57 draw.
 

Ramon Valenzuela Jr. stopped fellow junior middleweight Leonardo Saldivar with a left hook to the ribs at 1:59 of the second round to win his professional debut. Saldivar (0-1) started fast but slowed quickly and could not keep pace with the surging Valenzuela (1-0). Valenzuela survived the early onslaught and slowed Saldivar by winging hooks to the body.