| |
|
|
Herrera Beats An Overmatched
Favela In Ontario
By Barbara Pinnella
The Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, California held its monthly
fight card for Thompson Boxing Promotions this past Friday
night called “New Blood”.
It was Mauricio Herrera (16-1, 7 KO’s) who was pitted
against Cristian Favela (28-33-7, 18 KO’s) in a scheduled
eight round fight in the Welterweight division. This fight
was the main event of the evening, and it had a lot to live
up to. We had seen some really good fights leading up to
this one.
In the opening round it seemed as if the fighters were
thinking and planning their attack. But about halfway into
it they began to just swing at each other. Herrera got the
best of that deal, as Favela took big swings, but didn’t
connect with many.
It was much the same in the second as the first, but Favela
hands were finding their target at times now. No damage
being done mind you, but he would at least hit something. In
the third he was connecting more often, but Herrera was
still on the winning end of any effective punching.
Round four, and Mauricio was still the much more accurate
player. He would throw quick combinations while working in
close. In contrast, Favela would lean back and throw from a
distance. As the rounds went on, it became a stroke of luck
when one of Cristian’s wild punches would find any part of
their opponent.
The eighth and final once again saw all of the work in
Herrera’s favor. Favela, as he had in some other rounds, did
hit him occasionally, but it was not really due to skill.
Decision time, and it was a unanimous one – 79-73, and 80-72
twice, not surprisingly for Mauricio Herrera.
Featherweights battled as Abraham Lopez (14-0, 10 KO’s) went
a scheduled eight rounds against Aaron Garcia (10-2-2, 2
KO’s). Other than the knockout ratio here, this fight
appeared to be a well-matched one and had all the makings of
a good fight. And that’s just what it was.
Lopez was the more active fighter in round one. The second
round saw Garcia coming back, but it was still Abraham who
was firing on an almost two-to-one ratio.
Round three saw Aaron really trying to take it to Lopez, but
Abraham was still too quick for him. That was also the case
in most of the fourth, but Garcia did get in some good
punches that Lopez had to feel. The men continued to take it
to each other in the fifth, with Garcia able to get some
leather between the gloves of Lopez. But Abraham would
counter with combinations.
Garcia was really trying to score the points in the sixth,
as he was also able to hit with combinations of his own,
most of them to the body. Round seven saw both of the
fighters connecting with combinations and body punches. The
eighth and final found Lopez going for the knockout right
from the opening bell. But Garcia would not let that happen.
When it looked as if he might knuckle under the pressure, he
would come back at Lopez. So we had to go to the scorecards
and saw a majority decision; 76-76, 78-74 and 77-75 for
Abraham Lopez.
Garcia was not short of fans during this fight, however.
Whenever his glove even touched Lopez a loud group would
holler and cheer. And there were quite a few in attendance
who felt he should have been on the other end of the
decision, and not just the backers of Garcia. A few made
mention that it was because he had to fight out of the red
corner, and I’ve heard that before. A friend of mine new to
boxing, after attending just a handful of events there, said
that the ones in the blue corner always win. I’ll just leave
that there for the moment.
Alberto Herrera (7-3-1, 5 KO’s) faced off against Aaron
Martinez (14-1-1, 3 KO’s) in a Welterweight bout that was
also scheduled for eight. The first round saw the fighters
feeling each other out a bit. Neither was willing to commit
yet, as they tested the waters. A completely different round
two, as they both came out like bulls and just built from
there. The last few seconds of the fight saw them each
trying to take the others’ head off..
The third saw the same as the second. They continued to
blast away at each other, and I don’t envy the punch
counter. They were just wailing on each other. From the
second round, Herrera was bleeding on the left side of his
face. I was never sure if it was a head butt or punches.
One could say that the pace slowed down a bit during round
four, but it was slight. The tide did turn a little though,
as it had been Martinez showing the way, but Herrera made
his presence known. The rhythm picked back up in the fifth.
These two were involved in an absolute brawl.
I wish I could say something different, but I really can’t.
With two rounds left to go, this was war. I’m not sure how
these athletes were able to keep up the pace, but round
eight was just like round two, aggressive and tough. These
men would need to fight in a lower weight class after the
energy they expended. A very courageous showing by both
fighters, and it went to the scorecards. We had a split
decision; 77-75 for Herrera, 77-75, and 77-74 both for
Martinez. A great win for Aaron, and such a hard loss for
Alberto. In hindsight and after seeing all of the matches,
this was your main event.
The name of the event, “New Blood”, proved to be just that
in one fight, as the scheduled opponent for Jonathon “Lil’
Thund’r” Arellano (8-0-1, 1 KO), Ernie Marquez, was injured
at work. His new partner was Shawn “Bones” Nichol, (5-4, 5
KO’s). This Bantamweight fight was scheduled for six rounds.
Good first round here, with most of the advantage going to
Arellano. More action in the second, with Nichol also
contributing to the punches. The fighters were getting
stronger, as round three was a very active one. It was also
the best for Shawn, as he was putting the pressure on
Arellano.
Round four saw no slowing down from the fighters, as they
continued to keep coming. Again, both men were getting in
some shots and doing some damage. Nichol started off strong
in round five, but Arellano would have none of that, and
came back with a vengeance.
The final round was much of the same, as neither man was
willing to give to the other. They stood and battled in the
center of the ring the whole time. This was a really good,
lively fight. It went to the scorecards and it was a
unanimous decision, with the same score from all three
judges; 58-56, all for the winner, Jonathon Arellano. But a
good showing from Nichol, filling in for the injured
Marquez.
The fight that started it all off was the one between Jhon
Ortega (4-0-1, 4 KO’s) tried to keep that win streak going
when he found himself in the ring with Hector Garza (3-2, 3
KO’s). This fight was in the Welterweight division and was
to go a scheduled four rounds.
A hard right to the body put Garza down in the first round,
and the fight was waved off after the count of ten at 2:35
of that very first round. Ortega kept both of his streaks
alive, remaining undefeated and winning all of his fights by
knockout.
It was brought to our attention that just the previous day
Ortega was sitting poolside in his street clothes when a
nine-year old boy fell into the pool. With no one else
around to help, Jhon jumped into the pool and saved the
child’s’ life. Kind words of course to Jhon, for his
life-saving actions.
So out of these five fights there were three fighters trying
to keep that “0” under that loss column, and at the end of
the night all of them, Lopez, Arellano, and Ortega, did so.
As always, an enthusiastic crowd was in attendance, and once
again there was standing room only. Quite a few did leave
either before or during the main event, but overall the fans
remained animated for most of the event. If you haven’t gone
to one of these fights you should – they provide a fun time
for those who enjoy exciting fights.
Be safe and God Bless,
Viva La Raza,
Barb.
|
|
|
