First Round KO’s For Lizzaraga & Manuelian - Pound4Pound.com

First Round KO’s For Lizzaraga & Manuelian

By Albert Castillo
Photos: William Trillo

The Battle of the Rising Stars by Ed Holmes All Star Boxing Promotions provided boxing fans with an eight fight card from the Commerce Casino in Commerce, CA last Saturday night.

Fan favorite and hot prospect Raul Lizzaraga (9-0, 9 KO’s) destroyed Luis Alberto Vera (11-21-2, 1 KO) knocking him down four times in the process. Referee Raul Caiz Jr could not take any more of this spectacle. He stopped the fight at 1:45 of the first round. It was surprising that Vera’s glass jaw did not shatter.

As a result, Lizzaraga was rewarded with the American Boxing Association Middleweight Championship. Touting a strong fan base there is no doubt that they want to see Lizzaraga step up in competition as he remains perfect with 9 wins and 9 KO’s.

Up and coming Armand Manuelian (4-0, 4 KO’s) demolished Kenny Williams (4-8-1 2 KO’s) dropping him twice with a left hook and then finishing him off with a right hand that sent Williams reeling into the canvas floor.

Referee Armendariz stopped the contest after Williams third knockdown. Manuelian by knockout at 2:25 of the first round.

Jesus Torres Beltran (6-2, 3 KO’s) outlasted Percy Peterson (3-18-4, 1 KO) with a unanimous decision win over 6 rounds.

Judges scorecards read 59-55, 60-54, and 60-54 all favoring Beltran.

Rock ‘em sock ‘em Super Flyweights Fernando Bahena (4-0-1, 1 KO) and Carlos Torres (1-2-1 KO) provided the fans with right and left combinations that snapped back their opponents heads on numerous occasions.

The fight was close as judges’ scorecards indicate – 38-38, 39-37, 39-37 giving Bahena a majority decision win as he remains undefeated in his budding career.

In the lone female fight of the evening Deseree Jamison (2-0) never let her foot off the gas pedal as she pressured Holly Lawson (5-3, 1 KO) the entire fight.

This phone booth fight saw Jamison pound Lawson with a ton of body shots for which Lawson had no answer. Judges had it 40-36, and 39-37 for Jamison while one judge had it even at 38-38. Jamison remains undefeated garnering a majority win decision.

In this lightweight match up William King (3-0-1) outpointed Jeffrey Wells (0-4) for a unanimous win with judges all in agreement 40-36.

Super Lightweight Alex (El Mago) Gonzalez (3-1, 3 KO’s) made short work of Julian Galvan Rojas (0-2 knocking him out at 1:31 of the second round with a left hook to the solar plexus.

“El Mago” displayed patience, cunning, and heavy hands to win his third fight and third knockout.

In the opening bout of the evening two fighters making their debut slugged it out to the delight of the fans. Juan Carlos Hurtado (1-0) demonstrated solid skills beating Jonathan Moskowitz (0-1) to the punch at every turn. By the fourth round Moskowitz was bleeding from both eyes the result of many left hooks and crisp right hands from Hurtado. However, to Moskowitz credit, he showed great heart as he never took a step backward. Unfortunately, every step forward was met with a plethora of punches from Hurtado. In the end Hurtado walked away with a unanimous decision win with judges scoring in his favor 40-36, 40-36, and 39-37.