Demetrius Hopkins boxed beautifully over ten rounds to soundly defeat Mike Arnaoutis in the main event of ESPN’s Friday Night Fights. Hopkins superior length and hand speed kept Arnaoutis at bay enabling Hopkins to pile up points on route to a 99-91, 99-91, 100-90 unanimous decision.

Arnaoutis kept things interesting but couldn’t consistently get close enough to inflict damage with his left.

In the early going Hopkins (30-1-1) landed clean rights behind the jab. In the third Arnaoutis (22-6-2) closed the distance and managed to land several scoring lefts. Referee Wayne Hedgepeth determined a punch opened a cut on Arnaoutis in the fourth.

Hopkins switched to southpaw in the fifth and got rocked in the transition. Hopkins pressed the action in the first half of the sixth before slowing over the second half of the round. Arnaoutis continued to land a haymaker per round to keep the fight interesting. Unfortunately for Arnaoutis, Hopkins continued to land the jab to control the fight. By the eighth Arnaoutis’ face was busting apart.

Fortunately for Arnaoutis, Hopkins took the round off. The combatants traded leather to open the ninth with Hopkins getting the better of the exchange.
 

Joseph Elegele’s focused body assault on Willie Walton convinced Referee Wayne Hedgepeth to halt their welterweight bout at 1:37 of the third round. Elegele (9-0) attacked the body starting in the first and didn’t let up until the bout was stopped.

Under pressure from Elegele in the third, Walton (4-2) lingered against the ropes and absorbed more punishment than Hedgepeth would allow.
 

Granite chinned Eric Cruz forced KO artist Francisco Contreras to go the distance for only the second time in his professional career. Contreras emerged victorious to remain undefeated in 15 fights, but was forced to fight all eight rounds of the lightweight contest. Contreras (15-0) worked the jab early to set up the right hand. With blazing hand speed and good upper body movement he controlled Cruz and the fight.

Yet Cruz (7-4-3) remained undeterred and pushed the action determined to take the fight Contreras. Cruz had his best round of the fight in the fourth when he landed an overhand right seconds before the bell. For all his desire Cruz was hopelessly outclassed and dropped the eight round bout by scores of 80-72, 80-72 & 78-74.


Off Air Bouts

Eric Mendez dropped opponent Jose Evangelista twice in the opening stanza to win his professional debut in eye popping fashion. Mendez (1-0) set up the first knockdown with a stiff right. He ended the fight with a sizzling left-right combination. When Evangelista fell Referee Hedgepeth didn’t bother to count. The fight was also a first for Evangelista (0-1).

Alex Jimenez shut out fellow featherweight Edgar Flores over four one-sided rounds. Jimenez (2-0) stunned Flores in the third with right hands and again in the fourth with the left. Flores (0-3) remained hesitant throughout the bout and never threatened to stop Jimenez.
 

Welterweight Michael Finney blasted John Dunham (1-7-2) with a single hook to the chin that ended their evening 35 seconds into the opening round. Dunham rose to his feet but could not continue. Las Vegas based Finney is now 4-0 with 4 KOs.


Walk Off Bouts

Randy Caballero’s short right hand 2:00 into the fight brought the Citizens Business Bank Arena to their feet and opponent Jairo Delgado to his knees. Referee Hedgepeth immediately waived off the contest. With the stoppage Caballero improved to 4-0 while Delgado dropped to 3-8.
 

Austreberto Juarez whitewashed Joseph Rios over six rounds to win their flyweight bout by identical scores of 60-54. Juarez (10-0) attacked Rios relentlessly digging body shots and ripping right crosses. Rios (7-5-1) withstood the battering but couldn’t generate enough offense to win a round.
 

Gabino Saenz ripped Brandon Sanchez (1-3) with a hook to the solar plexus to bring their featherweight fight to a sudden and explosive close 34 seconds into the first round. Saenz (1-0) was making his professional debut.