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Quigley Grabs NABF Title With
Victory Over Tapia
By Doug Ellison
Photos: William Trillo
Middleweight Jason Quigley (13-0,10 KO’s) decisions Glen
Tapia (23-4,15 KO’s) over 10 rounds to take the vacant NABF
middleweight title. Final scores read 100-91, 99-91 & 98-92
all in favor of Quigley.
"I felt slow and sluggish this fight," said Tapia. "I feel
like I didn't even get to do to him what I trained in camp
for. I was able to put pressure on him and hurt him a couple
of times. This was not my best performance."
“I’m taking this little bambino home with me, to my people
in Donegal and celebrate with my loved ones,” said Quigley.
“Then when I come back, I’m going to celebrate with my team.
Everyone here has been on my team since my performance under
the Canelo-Lara card, and this is a stepping stone to many
more belts that are coming my way.”
Super Bantamweight Randy Caballero (24-0, 14 KO’s) decisions
Jesus Ruiz (36-7-5, 25 KO’s) over 10 rounds to take the
vacant NABF super bantamweight title. Final scores read
96-94 & 97-93 twice, all in favor of Cabellero.
“I am satisfied with our performance in the ring, and the
better man won tonight,” said Ruiz. “That’s boxing. We gave
it our all, and we are content with that.”
“This was the absolute best way to come back!” said Randy.
“My goal is to become a world champion, and Golden Boy knows
that. With the new NABF title, and coming back with that
performance, I’m on a high right now. My opponent was tough,
but I stayed calm, and was able to come out on top.”
Middleweight Tureano Johnson (20-1,14 KO’s) TKO’d Fabiano
Pena (19-7-1,15 KO’s) at the 2:38 mark of round 2.
“I was pretty anxious to enter the ring after such a long
absence, but I was reminded by my team that I am the IBF #1
ranked middleweight contender,” said Johnson. “Being absent
for so long for my rotator cuff was not ideal, and I know
that injuries happen, but now that we got this fight out of
the way and we shook out the nerves a bit, I am ready to
take on the big guys out there and demonstrate that I am
still someone to fear in this division.”
Welterweight Mauricio Herrera (23-7,7 KO’s) decisions Hector
Velazquez (57-29-3,39 KO’s) over 8 rounds. Final scores all
in favor of Herrera read 80-72 across the board.
“I needed to get this win, regardless of how I got it,” said
Mauricio. “I’ve been in a lot of tough fights, and I needed
this win as a confidence booster. I’m glad that I came out
of this fight pretty clean.”
Super Bantamweight Azat Hovhannisyan (11-2, 10 KO’s) TKO’d
Diuhl Olguin (11-7-3, 9 KO’s) at 2:47 of round 6.
“We knew we were going to have to endure some tough punches
from him, and we were expecting him to come forward,” said
Azat. “We had a great training camp, and I had some tough
sparring partners, but we got what we wanted.”
Lightweight Hector Tanajara (8-0,4 KO’s) decisions Daniel
Perales (10-9-1, 5 KO’s) over 6 rounds. Final scores read
58-55 0n all cards in favor of Tanajara.
“I got too confident in the second round, and when I landed
my shots I wasn’t expecting him to counter the way he did
resulting in me hitting the mat.” Said Tanajara Jr. “After
that, I got angry but my corner told me to just continue to
outbox him. I noticed his eye was starting to swell towards
the end, and so I started to use it as a target in hopes of
getting the knock out. We got the win still.”
Flyweight Marlen Esparza wins pro debut over Rachel Sazoff
(0-3) by decision over 4 rounds. Final scores in favor of
Esparza read 40-36 across the board.
“I’m so grateful for the opportunity to take part in this
show,” said Rachel. “When I was approached by her camp for
the fight, I couldn’t say no. It was a great way to
challenge myself, and I think that Marlen is a great
fighter. I’ve been in combat sports since I was five – I
live for this stuff.”
“This was such a big stage, and fighting in front of a crowd
like this for the first time was something special,” said
Marlen. “I’m glad we got the W, but I was honestly looking
to knock her out. I’m glad that I got this fight out of the
way – I have a lot to grow in. She was a tough fighter, and
she took a lot of my punches.”
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