Ramos Back On Winning Track,
Majority Decisions Esquivias In 8

By William Trillo
Photos: Bret "The Threat" Newton
 

Super bantamweight Rico Ramos (21-1, 11 KO’s) squeaked by Efrain Esquivias (16-1, 9 KO’s) with a very unpopular majority decision reading 77-77 and 78-74 twice. The fight went pretty much toe to toe for the entire eight rounds and although it seemed to be Esquivias who was landing most of the hard shots it was Ramos who was doing the “Shoe-Shining” that must have impressed the judges enough to score many of the close rounds in his favor.

From the onset it was Esquivias who pressed the action and more often than naught it was Ramos who was fighting with his back to the ropes. On the occasions when the fight was in the middle of the ring Ramos would land his patented rapid fire shots but they didn’t seem to bother Esquivias at all.

This is one of those fights that is hard to score and depending on what style you like, aggressive come forward pressure or slick but light counterpunching it could go either way.

On this night the judges didn’t go for Esquivias and his pressure but instead went with Ramos and the flashy punches. The win should bolster Ramos confidence after he lost his belt earlier this year. Personally I would like to see the fight with Jhonothan Romero get remade as this was the fight set for Ramos before Romero was sidelined with a hand injury.
 

It’s highly unlikely that super flyweight Matthew Villanueva (8-0-1, 7 KO’s) will ever be in a dull fight. For that matter Bruno Escalante (5-1-1, 3 KO’s) will most likely be in his share of crowd pleasing wars as well. In an old school battle of undefeated fighters these two put on eight rounds of fighting that they can both be proud of.

Escalante looked strong out of the gate and by round two he opened a pretty nice gash over Villanueva’s left eye that had the blood streaming.

Undeterred by the blood Villanueva picked things up in round three and from that point on the momentum swayed and Villanueva took over. The ensuing rounds were exciting but Villanueva was in control.

The fighters went the distance and both showed the marks of a true war. The judge’s scorecard reflected the flow as Villanueva was awarded a unanimous decision on all cards 79-73, 78-74 and 76-75.
 

Light welterweight John Molina (24-1, 19 KO’s) took an eight round unanimous decision over a very game Miguel Angel Munguia (25-24-,21 KO’s). Down twice early by big right hands Munguia found a way to get back up and battle on. Molina was doing damage over and over again but his foe would not quit.

A low blow in round four seemed to be the icing on the cake but again Munguia rose and fought on. Molina kept up his hard punching over the next four rounds and he was too much for Munguia.

As the eighth round came to an end Molina had beaten his foe convincingly 80-69 on all cards.
 

Bantamweight Jessie Villanueva (3-0,2 KO’s) KO’d Frank Liera who was making his pro debut.

Villanueva dropped Liera 3 times in the first round and that is all she wrote.
 

Light middleweight John Hays made a successful debut in a four rounder against Raymundo Inda who fell to 0-4.

Hays used some good boxing skills and some well placed and well timed punches to keep Inda at bay for the entire four round stanza.
 

Heavyweight Malik Scott (34-0,11 KO’s) was less than impressive in a unanimous decision victory over Alvaro Morales (6-11-6).

Scott easily defeated Morales 60-54 on all cards but it just seems Malik is merely going through the motions and has no desire to get to the next level.