Thompson Boxing Promotions returned to the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, California for another one of their boxing shows on Friday night. They offered us seven fights for our viewing pleasure, and we saw some good ones.

The main event of the evening was between Junior Welterweights Josesito Lopez (28-3-0, 16 KO’s) and Sergio Rivera (26-5-2, 16 KO’s), and was scheduled for eight rounds.

The first round saw both fighters feeling each other out a bit, landing some punches when the opportunity arose. Action picked up in round two as the fighters were much more active, particularly Lopez. He was also doing damage to the body of Sergio.

A quick little right to the head dropped Rivera in the third, but he was up at eight. After taking more body shots, the end came at 2:58 of the third when Lopez finished things off with blows to the head.

The fan favorite Efrain Esquivias (11-0, 7 KO’s) faced off against Vicente Alfaro (4-1, 1 KO). This fight was scheduled for eight rounds in the Super Bantamweight division, and one mans’ undefeated record would be broken.

Esquivias was showing that he had the upper hand in the first couple of rounds, with shots to the head and the body. This continued for round three as well, but each man was giving it their all, and showing why they came in with that undefeated record. While Efrain went to the body a lot, Alfaro would jump back in there and answer back.

Round four saw more punishment done to Alfaro, whose nose had started to bleed during the third round. A solid right hand send Vicente down in the fifth, and while he was allowed to continue, another immediate assault by Efrain brought the fight to an end at 1:48 of the fifth round. Esquivias brought his win record up to 11-0.

We saw a scheduled six rounder in the Welterweight division between Artemio Reyes (8-1, 7 KO’s) going up against Jesus Vallejo (3-3, 3 KO’s). An interesting note here is that Vallejo has had all his wins by KO as well as all his losses.

Reyes was knocked down in the first, in what looked to be as much as an off-balance slip as a true knockdown. Be that as it may, just a few seconds later it was he who was smiling, as a right hand found its target and put Vallejo to the canvas. In what was the shortest fight of the night, this one was stopped at 2:16 of the first round, giving the win to Artemio.

Miguel Diaz (3-0, 2 KO) went a scheduled four rounds against Abel Gomez (3-5, 1 KO) in the Super Flyweight division. Gomez seemed to be going for the knockout in the first round, as he kept swinging for the bleachers. He did connect, but was also way wild at times. Diaz also had his good punches as well.

While Gomez continued to swing wild, Diaz took advantage, and with a quick series of hard punches put Abel down and out at 2:15 of round two.

Jhon Ortega (2-0, 2 KO’s) put that streak on the line against Anthony Reyes (0-1) in a Light Welterweight fight scheduled for four rounds. A lot of action here, as both men got in some hits. These two were quite heavy-handed, as both continued to find their targets in big ways.

The smaller Ortega was able to dish out punishment as well as take it, and both he and Reyes fought hard until the end. Reyes was more the aggressor, stalking Jhon, but Ortega could slow the pace if he wanted. There wasn’t a lot of that though, as these two fought four non-stop rounds. Apparently the three judges felt that they each did their job, as the fight was scored 38-38 across the board for a draw in a really entertaining fight. Put a 1 under the draw column for both men.

Two fighters made their professional debut, as Bantamweights Alfredo Madrigal and Cain Garcia tackled each other to see which one would put that first victory on their resume. This fight was to go four rounds. The first one was a good one, with these fighters showing some talent and drive. Each of them were able to connect with their punches.

Round two was also a strong one for both fighters, who by the way, looked as if they could be brothers. In the third round the punches by both men got even harder as they battled for victory. It was the same story in the fourth round. The decision was unanimous; 40-36, 39-37, and 39-37, all for Madrigal. This was another really good fight, and it is too bad that one of these men had to lose in their pro debut.

Middleweights Manuel Roman (3-0, 2 KO’s) and Jovanni Rubio (6-13, 4 KO’s) went the distance in the scheduled four rounds in the opening bout of the evening. A pretty ugly first round here, as Rubio just kept diving in and grabbing Roman. He did get some hits in, but in quite an ugly style. Round two saw Manuel get in some better shots, while Jovanni was continuing to hold. Third round the same. In the fourth, both men got in some solid hits, but Rubio continued to bear hug his way through the fight. In the end it was 40-36, all for Roman.

So, for the last event of the year by Thompson Boxing Promotions at the Doubletree Hotel, this was a good night. There were some really good fights, fan favorites won, and the fighters put on a good show for us. Already waiting for next years events to begin!



Be safe and God Bless,

Viva La Raza,

Barb.