This weekend will see some of the best young prospects in boxing display their promising talents in bouts that will take center stage in the bright lights of Las Vegas, NV and will run down Interstate 15 to the shores of San Diego, CA. Marquee prospects such as Brandon Rios will be preparing to capture the WBA World lightweight title this coming Saturday at the Palms Casino and Resort in Las Vegas, while Danny “the swift” Garcia will precede him and attempt to preserve his unblemished record on Friday night at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in San Diego. As these young prospects make the final preparations for their respective bouts, an aging veteran stepped in the ring to defend his IBA heavyweight title in his 84th professional boxing bout.

James “lights out” Toney (73-6 -3, 44KOs) shutout Damon Reed (45-15, 32KOs) and scored a unanimous decision victory in the scheduled ten round heavyweight bout at the San Manuel Indian Casino in San Bernardino, CA. Toney was able to retained his International Boxing Association heavyweight title in his return to professional boxing.

In a miserable attempt to establish himself in the world of mixed martial arts, James Toney enticed UFC boss Dana White into a lucrative fight with MMA legend Randy Couture. The fight was held on August 28, 2010. Randy Couture dominated the UFC scrap and eventually derailed Toney’s MMA dreams. Or should we say paychecks. Hence, tonight’s main event.

The fight began as James Toney attempted to walk his opponent down and against the ropes. Damon Reed was having not of that as he casually stepped to the left to avoid Toney’s powerful left hooks. James Toney was able to do more work in the second as he repeatedly caught the retreating Reed with some nasty right hooks to the body. The undeterred Reed stepped to the left and caught IBA champ with a nice left hook that drew cheers from the crowd in the third. James Toney then began to take control of the bout in the fourth, landing right hooks followed by left hooks to the body. He was then warned for a low blow by referee Tony Crebs in the following round.

James continued his calculated attack by landing a right hook to the body of his adversary followed by an esthetically pleasing right uppercut in the sixth. He went on to land a stiff straight right and his signature left hook in the same round. The left hook hurt Reed and damaged his eye. Lights Out was in full control of the bout by the seventh round. His counterpart had lost some of his wind allowing James Toney to land an effective left hook that sent him reeling against the ropes. The eight round was more of the same. The crowd began to show it’s displeasure towards Damon Reed in the ninth as he continued to step to his left and persistently avoided engaging with the more physical pugilist. Toney continued to work the crowd in the tenth and final round while landing some efficient shots. After it was said and done, all three judges scored the bout in favor of Toney 100 – 90.

As you may know James Toney is a boxer that does not have to be effective to please the crowd. He valiantly acknowledged people outside the ring while he was defending his IBA title. Let’s not forget the countless times that he displayed his fancy footwork that had no functional purpose – just crowd pleasing. All in all that stuff is funny to a certain extent, but it won’t help him against some of the hungry up and coming prospects and vets that liter the heavyweight division. Toney called out several heavyweight contenders in his post fight interview. One of those mentioned was Riversides own heavyweight contender Christobal Arreola. I hope that he understands that it will take much more than showmanship to beat Arreola. After all, like lightweight Brandon Rios and light welterweight Danny Garcia, Christobal Arreola has father time on his side.


The Truth is Victorious

Jorge “The truth” Teron (25-2, 17 KOs) defeats Jose Soto Karass (19-16, 17 KOs) by TKO in a scheduled 6 round lightweight bout. The first round was uneventful as the taller Teron studied his opponent.

The New Yorker began to use his height to his advantage in the second round and was able to land a jab that staggered Karass. The bout ended with Karass on his seat, unable to come out to fight the third round.

Jose Soto Karass complained about a cut to his eye that obstructed his vision and Jorge “The Truth” Teron was declared the victor by way of TKO.


Shawn Wate wins first professional bout, but still lands in the hospital

Riverside’s Edther Arvizu (1-1, 1 KOs) was disqualified in the final round of his light welterweight bout against Shawn Wate (1-5) after falling on top of Wate for the third time. Arvizu was having an easy night against an opponent who came into the bout with not one win to his credit.

Edther Arvizu did as he pleased landing combo after combo. Wate could only stop his opponents’ onslaughts by holding. Arvizu eventually was able to land two nasty left hooks that rocked his opponent in the third round. The out of shape and unbalanced Wate continued to hold into the fourth round, poor guy was just trying to survive.

Shawn’s last hold pulled Edther Arvizu to the ground, causing the fight to be stopped by the referee. To the crowds displeasure Shawn Wate won his professional bout by way of DQ in the final round.


Michael Ruiz Jr. continues to impress!

The second bout of the night saw one of the hottest prospects on the West Coast in action. Fresno’s Michael Ruiz Jr. (7-0-1, 3 KOs) scores a unanimous decision victory against Tiajuana native Daniel Modad (2-4, 1KO).

Ruiz did what he always does; he came in landing his overhead left hook by setting it up with some picture perfect body blows in the first round. While his opponent attempted to slow Ruiz with his weak right double jabs, Ruiz worked his straight right into his game plan – landing it repeatedly in the second round.

Modad attempted to come alive in round three but his efforts where futile in front of Michael’s continued pressure. The Fresno native ultimately had his counterpart in survival mode in the fourth and final round. Ruiz Jr. won the bout by unanimous decision as one judge scored the bout 39-37 and the other two scored the bout a 40-36.

It’s refreshing to see Michael Ruiz fight; he is a young, technically sound fighter that is always willing to engage!


Alfredo Rivera earns first professional victory

San Diegos’ Angel Estrada (5-1, 2KOs) came into tonight’s welterweight bout the clear favorite. After all he faced Alfredo Rivera (1-7) who had not won one professional fight prior to tonight’s clash. We know we know how the story goes from here, wait…no we don’t.

Angel Estrada was cut above his right eye in the first round by an accidental head bunt. Alfredo Rivera took advantage of the cut and landed some nice left hooks to further damage the undefeated Estrada’s eye. Rivera managed to give his counterpart fits in the third round, landing his signature wild right overhand hook.

The fourth and final assault was as animated as I have ever seen, by far the best round of the night. Both fighters displayed tremendous courage as they fed off the crowd’s energy. One judge scored the bout 38 -38, and the other judges scored the bout 39-37, 39-37 in favor of Alfredo Rivera.


Enrique Lobatos rings Clark’s bell!

Fresno’s Granson Clark (0-1) fails to win first professional scrap against Bell’s Enrique Labatos (2-2-1) in a scheduled 4 round heavyweight bout. Granson began the session by immediately asserting his straight right but quickly tired allowing Lobatos to land consecutive left hooks before the end of the first round.

The second round saw more of the same as Clark tired after throwing some serious straight rights that missed and allowed the better boxer in Enrique Lobatos to gain traction. The Bell native continued his assault with some hard hitting combos that dropped Clark to his knees 55 seconds into round number three.

The fight was called after Clark was unable to rise from the canvas.
 

The staff here at Pound4pound.com will like to congratulate Stefani Arely on her performance and heartfelt rendition of the National Anthem.