Nestor Rocha dominated the indomitable Jose Navarro over eight bantamweight rounds to win a wide unanimous decision over the former title contender from East Los Angeles. “I have to give it to him”, said Navarro following the fight. “He was the better fighter tonight.” Fighting under the cloudless skies of Southern CA, Rocha v. Navarro kicked off Golden Boy’s Mexican Independence weekend festival of fights.

Rocha (23-2) opened aggressively winging wide left hooks and uppercuts. Navarro fired jabs but spent much of the first backing up. Navarro (27-6) answered the bell for the second with a bruised right eye; courtesy Nestor Rocha. In the third Rocha drove Navarro to the corners where he aimed the left at Navarro’s quickly closing right eye.

Navarro landed the best punch of the round but couldn’t slow the rush. Rocha kept a hurried pace throughout the fourth, outworking Navarro and beating him to the punch. As if a closed right eye weren’t enough, Navarro suffered a cut to his left eye in the fifth. Navarro landed pretty counter rights in the round to offset the work Rocha put in.

Rocha pressed ahead in the sixth, landing left hooks and right uppercuts. Navarro kept his defense tight and didn’t push the panic button when a lesser fighter would have. Rocha staggered Navarro with a left-right-left combination mid way through a dominant seventh.

“I knew I hurt him but then I got wild”, said Rocha. “It shows I still have a lot to learn.” The eighth and final round resembled the first, with Rocha winging hooks and Navarro firing jabs while giving ground. All three judges scored the bout 79-73.
 

Junior welterweight prospect Luis Ramos Jr. floored John Figueroa late in the eighth but had to settle for an unequivocal unanimous decision. Ramos (17-0) capped a winning first with a jarring uppercut at the bell. Pressing Figueroa’s back to the ropes, Ramos leaned in and unloaded both hands in the second. Figueroa buckled moments before the bell and then staggered back to his corner.

In the third Figueroa (7-7-3) countered Ramos with a stiff right that left Ramos with a welt under his eye. Ramos shrugged off the right and pressed Figueroa into the exchanges he favored. Ramos’ sustained body attack early in the fifth drove Figueroa to the ropes where he doled out punishment to the body and head. Ramos kept him pinned throughout and fought the round on his terms. Ramos came out for the seventh looking to end the fight. An early barrage weakened Figueroa but didn’t do him in.

A head butt with 35 seconds remaining nearly did by opening a gash in Ramos’ right brow. With 45 seconds remaining in the contest Ramos unleashed a combination that sent Figueroa crashing to the canvas. Figueroa got to his feet and fought gamely to the bell. All three judges scored the bout 80-71.
 

In the first bout of the night, Jr. middleweights Lanardo Tyner and Cristian Favela fought to a majority decision draw. Tyner (25-3) used his size and jab early in the contest to back up Favela, forcing the Mexican veteran to fight off his back foot. By the third round Tyner’s body shots were taking a toll. Favela (19-31-6) hung in by landing enough overhand rights to keep Tyner honest. After digging consecutive left hooks to the body in the fifth, Tyner went to the well once too often.

Favela caught Tyner half-cocked with a hook upstairs. In a show of bravado Tyner started to reload but got caught clean with a second hook. Either the roar of the crowd or the triumph of the moment spurred Favela on. Over the remaining three rounds Favela lowered his head and took the fight to the suddenly tiring Tyner. Favela banged away with hooks and overhand rights capturing enough rounds to earn a draw. The scorecards tallied 78-74 for Tyner and 76-76 twice.
 

Alfonso Blanco shut out Alfredo Rivera (0-6) over four middleweight rounds to win his professional debut. Blanco used his height and reach advantage to pile up points and punish Rivera from the outside. Blanco won 40-36 on all three scorecards.