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Mendoza Extinguishes "The Towering Inferno" Fundora
By William Trillo
Photos: Marlene Marquez
On a crisp and cool evening in Carson, California boxing
fans were treated to an evening of knockouts, familiar
old faces and unexpected upsets. In the Showtime Main
Event Super Welterweight Sebastian Fundora (20-1-1, 13
KO’s) was doused by Brian Mendoza (22-2, 16 KO’s). In
what can only be described as a stunning KO, Mendoza,
who is almost eight inches shorter than Fundora, put out
the fire of the tall young boxer.
In the early stages of the fight fans were booing as the
fighters were short on action. Both men were trying to
find the proper firing range with little or no luck. It
was lackluster early on. But Mendoza remained patient
for six rounds as he tried to figure out a way to get to
the chin of the man who literally towered over him.
Then, as the seventh round was barely underway, Mendoza
uncorked a left hand that clipped Fundora squarely on
the chin. The lanky fighters’ knees buckled. Mendoza
jumped in with a rapid one two combination that crumbled
and stopped Fundora who took the ten count. Fight over.
With the upset victory Mendoza captured the WBC Interim
World Super Welter strap.
Afterwards an elated Mendoza announced, “Now that I have
this belt, I want to put this around my mom hopefully. I
earned this… I want to celebrate with my family. But
they can’t deny me now. The next one up is Charlo, he’s
obviously undisputed, but I just always want the best.
When they called me for this, I signed it no hesitation.
So, I’m waiting for a call. We’re ready for the world
man… Mexico, stand up!”
On the stunning loss Fundora said, “It was a good punch.
I don’t recognize that moment, but I’m fine. I’m healthy
now, and I’ll be back. I’ll be back to take the
division, and this is a step up and a step down. It
happened, but I’ll be back. I’m not sorry I took this
fight, this is boxing. We gotta fight and we have to
make these fights. Congratulations to Brian Mendoza he
did his thing, but like I said, I’ll be back.”
As if shot out of a cannon Welterweights Brandun Lee
(28-0, 23 KO’s) and Pedro Campa (34-3-1, 23 KO’s)
started letting the artillery fly as soon as the bell to
start round one rang. Forget any feeling out round, this
one was all about going full speed ahead immediately.
By round three the effects of the Lee punches were all
over the right eye of Campa who was swelling quickly.
But to his credit Campa kept coming, there was no quit
in him. Lee launched Campas mouthpiece numerous times
but that did not stop the Mexican warrior. He was there
to win. In fact, Campa may have won rounds nine and ten
as Lee began to hold and clinch. In a decision the fans
didn’t like, judges scorecards saw Lee ahead easily
after ten rounds, 99-91,97-93 and 98-92.
After the close fight Lee said, “My performance was
great in the first five rounds and then I slowed down
and that’s when he started to come on. That’s a veteran
thing to do. I learned that I’m going to have to pace
myself in these kinds of fights, to realize we’re going
10 round and soon to be 12 rounds and don’t change up
the game plan.”
In the Showtime televised opener, Featherweights Luis
Reynaldo Nunez (18-0, 13 KO’s) and Christian Olivo
Barreda (20-0-1, 7 KO’s) put their undefeated records on
the line in a slugfest that had the vacant
IBF International Feather up for grabs. Using a superior
head snapping jab, Nunez was racking up rounds as the
fight ensued. That work paid off as judges saw Nunez as
the clearcut winner with scores that read 98-92, 100-90
and 97-93.
On his victory Nunez stated, “I was throwing a lot of
punches and I realized he was hurt but I couldn’t
understand how he could take all this punishment and
keep going. I want a title shot. I want to fight the
best in the division. Whatever is available I’ll take
it.”
Super Welterweight Gabriel Maestre (5-0-1, 4 KO’s) took
on an overly seasoned Devon Alexander (27-8-1, 14 KO’s)
in a scheduled eight round contest. Unfortunately,
Devon, who is well past his prime, could not answer the
bell and the fight was halted in between rounds three
and four. Credit Maestra with the TKO and credit to
Alexander who had a stellar championship career.
Heavyweight Frank Sanchez (22-0, 15 KO’s) made a Mole
Hill out of Daniel “The Mountain” Martz (20-10-1, 17
KO’s). By dropping his foe three times in the first
round Sanchez may not even need to shower after this too
easy test.
Bloodied but not deterred, Flyweight Gabriela Fundora
(11-0, 4 KO’s) took everything Maria Micheo Santizo
(11-3, 6 KO’s) had to offer. But in round six Fundora
dropped Santizo and went on to score a unanimous
decision victory. Scores read 79-72 twice and 77-74 all
in favor of Fundora.
Looking as trim as he has been in years, Heavyweight
Chris Arreola (39-7-1, 34 KO’s) clubbed Mathew McKinney
(13-7-3, 9 KO’s) with a right hand at the 1:01 mark of
round two and that was the end of the show. The ref gave
McKinney the ten count and then raised Arreola’s hand in
victory.
In a six-round attraction, Super Featherweight Gabriel
Garcia (9-0, 6 KO’s) and Marco Diaz (6-2, 5 KO’s)
slugged it out in a very fan friendly battle. Both men
gave everything they had to offer, each taking turns at
landing crisp leather. It was almost too close to call.
Final tallies read 59-55 Garcia, 58-56 Diaz with the
final judge scoring 58-56 for Garcia who kept his
undefeated record intact.
Lightweight Viktor Slavinskyi (14-2-1, 6 KO’s) took a
razor close Majority decision over Juan Antonio Lopez
(17-14-1, 7 KO’s) in the opening bout of the night. One
score read 76-76 even but judges scorecards of 78-74 and
77-75 gave Viktor the nod.
Super Featherweight Justin Viloria made his pro debut a
successful one as he KO’d Sirdarious Smith (0-1) in
quick fashion. Officially this one came to an end at the
1:12 mark of the first round.
Midway through the first round Heavyweight Federico
Pacheco Jr (3-0, 2 KO) clocked Felipe Torres (0-2) with
a picture perfect left hook. It stretched Torres across
the mat, there was no reason to count. With concerns for
the safety of the fighter, the physicians at ringside
took Torres out on a gurney. Officially this one came to
a halt at the 1:20 mark. Let’s hope Torres is okay.
In the “Who Has The Bigger Set Of Cajónes” fight of the
night, Lightweights Adrian Corona (9-1-2, 2 KO’s) and
Jerry Perez (14-2-1, 11 KO’s) slugged it out over the
course of the eight round Donnybrook. Fans in the arena
applauded both fighters for their courage. This fight
was just too close to call and judge’s scorecards made
that clear. In the end one judge scored this one 78-74
for Perez while the other two saw it 76-76 even, a
majority decision draw.
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