Abner Mares shook a little rust and chopped down Carlos Fulgencio in the sixth round of their junior featherweight bout to earn his 19th win in a row. Mares-Fulgencio headlined a full night of boxing action presented by Golden Boy Promotions at Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles.

“I was a little rusty at the beginning”, explained Mares (19-0) following the fight. “I told myself to take my time and I finished him with a body shot.” The kill shot was a left hook to the body that left Fulgencio (11-4-1) doubled over in pain. Referee Lou Moret picked up the count and then waived off the contest when it became apparent Fulgencio wasn’t getting up. “He took a lot of punches early. Later he couldn’t take any more.”

In the first, Mares staggered Fulgencio with an overhand right. Mares clubbed Fulgencio with the punch the rest of the fight and added a jab, a double left hook, and the right hook to the head to his arsenal. Mares had a hard time missing Fulgencio with any punch but inflicted the most damage with the left hook to the body.

Fulgencio enjoyed a height and length advantage but none of it bothered Mares. Mares ducked under the jab and worked hooks to the body once he got inside. By the fourth round Fulgencio’s hand speed and movement curtailed dramatically. Unable to keep Mares from walking him down, Fulgencio absorbed a tremendous number of blows until the left hook to the body ended the fight at 2:24 of the sixth round.
 

In a back-and-forth affair, David Rodela won a six round junior lightweight bout against Gamalier Rodriguez that was closer than the score cards indicated. Rodriguez (8-2-2) started the fight landing uppercuts and left hooks to the body out of the orthodox stance. After a competitive second round Rodela (13-2-3) increased his work rate in the third and pressed Rodriguez with a body attack of his own.

Rodriguez countered by switching to southpaw to open the fourth and began landing counter lefts. The switch swayed the momentum and the tempo of the fight. Rodela was no longer as aggressive and slowed noticeably over the final two rounds. But the judges thought Rodela won enough of the early rounds to award him the fight. Judges Marty Denkin and James Jin Kim scored the bout 59-55 and Jerry Cantu scored it 58-56 for Rodela.
 

It appeared junior bantamweight Sergio Espinoza was fighting a featherweight in David Gaspar. He wasn’t, but Gaspar (11-2-1) punched like a featherweight and dropped Espinoza in the first round and again in the third round of their six round bout. Espinoza (16-6-1) pressured Gaspar and stayed busy but could not deter his hard punching opponent. Gaspar scored the first knockdown with an overhand left and the second with a right uppercut. Gaspar won by scores of 58-54, 58-54 and 59-53.
 

Featherweight Ricky Lopez dropped John Wampash three times on route to a four round unanimous decision win. After losing the opening round Lopez (6-0) turned the tide with a fight altering one-two. Wampash (1-2-1) suffered two knockdowns in the second and one in the fourth.

He also lost his mouthpiece in the third from a stiff jab to the kisser. Lopez went for the kill after the knockdowns but Wampash was able to withstand the onslaught. All three judges scored the bout 39-34.



Off air bouts

Anthony “Strictly Business” Nelson entered the ring wearing a suit jacket and soon thereafter was undressed by Carlos Molina.

Molina (9-0) battered Nelson (7-11-1) for 2:13 before the fight was stopped in the first round by referee Lou Moret.
 

Juan Heraldez stopped Luis Tapia 0:32 seconds into round two of their junior welterweight fight to win his professional debut. Heraldez had Tapia (1-3) in trouble near the close of round one following a series of lead right hands. In the second Heraldez continued the assault until referee Lou Moret separated the fighters and halted the bout.
 

In the final fight of the evening, Kerry Hope won a closely contested six round middleweight scrap against local fan favorite Danny Jevic.

The crowd didn’t appreciate the decision but the judges got it right when they scored the bout 57-56, 57-56 and 59-54. Hope (12-2) of Wales is trained by Talon Boxing out of Lake Arrowhead.