ShoBox: The New Generation had their latest event at Fantasy Springs Casino Resort in Indio, CA, and was presented by Golden Boy Promotions. This event was shown live on SHOWTIME. The main bout of the evening saw unbeaten Hugo Centeno Jr. (18-0, 9 KOs) going up against KeAndrae Leatherwood (12-2-1, 8 KOs) in a junior middleweight fight scheduled for 10 rounds. This was both men’s’ first attempt at 10 rounds, and Hugo was one of six fighters who came into the event undefeated. Unfortunately for the fans, this fight turned out to be an ugly and unappealing one.

Both fighters were no-nonsense from the start of the opening round, throwing and landing punches. Centeno demonstrated early on that he had very good left jab that he could land in various places on Leatherwood. The second round was more of the same, but in the closing seconds of the round KeAndrae landed a solid shot on Hugo.

In the third the men were continuing to make contact. But they were also doing a lot of clinching. Many times referee Pat Russell had to step in and untangle the two. This was to be the nature of the fight from this point forward.

The jeering and whistles got louder each time the men tangled up, and in the fourth they both ended up on the canvas. This style, if you want to call it that, was not pleasing. Both men could hit and were quick, so it was disappointing to see them spend so much time locked up. Right at the bell in the fifth round Leatherwood got caught by a big right hand.

The sixth round showed us nothing new. Leatherwood and Centeno got in some punches and some grabbing, neither of any significance. In the seventh both men found themselves on the canvas once again in what had consistently been a very sloppy fight.

The eighth and ninth were more of the same, and finally we found ourselves in the tenth and final round. The boos were quite loud, and it seemed as if everyone was ready for the fight to end. Centeno spent the entire last round chasing his opponent, who fell down twice but wasn’t knocked down.

Both of the fighters were at fault in all of the holding and grabbing throughout the night, but it was Leatherwood who was the main offender. He would lock up Hugo’s arms and leave Centeno no where to go. Russell certainly had his hands full trying to keep these two in line.

We went to the scorecards. The numbers were overwhelmingly in favor of Hugo; 100-89, 99-91, and 100-90. Centeno is a much better fighter than he was able to show, and hopefully he gets someone who is in fight mode for his next encounter.
 

The co-main event was a junior lightweight fight scheduled for eight rounds between Braulio Santos (10-0, 9 KOs) and Kevin Hoskins (7-2, 5 KOs).

It was a very early night for these two fighters, for at 0:57 seconds of the very first round a combination of left hands put Hoskins down and out.

Santos upped his win streak and remained undefeated. From a spectator point of view, it would have been nice to get to see this talented Puerto Rican a bit more.
 

Jamie Kavanagh (13-0-1, 6 KOs) faced off against Sal Garcia (14-7-2, 7 KOs) in a lightweight bout scheduled for eight rounds. While the first round offered a little action near the end, the opener was more of the fighters’ feeling each other out.

The second round was the exact opposite. They both came out loaded for bear and delivering good shots on each other. Kavanagh has a mean body shot. Third round the same as the second, as we saw non-stop action once again. Jamie was a bit better perhaps, but Garcia was going toe-to-toe with him.

The fourth was a very tough one for Garcia. While he continued to stand in there and try to work, Kavanagh was in complete control. A swooping left hand by Jamie dropped Sal in the fifth round. He had been bleeding profusely during the last two or three rounds, and the fight was stopped by the ring physician after the fifth, so we went to the scorecards. All three judges saw the bout the same, 50-44, all for the crowd-pleasing Kavanagh.
 

In a fight scheduled for four rounds in the featherweight division, Manny Robles (4-0, 2 KOs) went up against Juan Sandoval (7-13-1, 4 KOs). Robles was unexpectedly dropped in the first round by Sandoval. Manny tried to even the score for the rest of the round, but was unable to.

Sandoval was giving Robles fits, not by smooth boxing skills, but by being tenacious in his attitude. There was a lot of action packed into these four rounds, albeit not a lot of finesse. We went to the scorecards. One judge had it 38-37 for Sandoval, while two had it 38-37 for Robles – Manny got the split decision victory.
 

Someone was likely to put up their first win as Jorge Porras (0-2) faced off against Fernando Fuentes (1-1) in a fight scheduled for four rounds in the junior featherweight division. On this night it would be Fernando. Fuentes seemed to have the upper hand in the first half of the fight. Both men were scrappy little fighters, but Fernando was getting in more solid punches.

Porras took a lot of punishment in the third round, but managed to stay on his feet. Jorge tried to come back in the fourth and final, but was never able to get an assault started. We went to the scorecards. All of the judges saw the bout the same, 40-36 all for Fuentes. There was not a lot of refinement during this fight, but Fernando definitely earned his win.
 

Heavyweights took to the ring as Dominic Breazeale (4-0, 4 KOs) matched wits with Ronny Hale (2-6, 2 KOs) in a fight scheduled for four rounds.

It was an easy night for Breazeale, who won by knockout at 1:16 of the first round. Dominic needs bigger fish!

Gerald Washington (7-0, 5 KOs) faced Curtis Harper (7-2, 6 KOs) in a heavyweight fight scheduled for six rounds. Washington was able to extend his win streak and put another knockout on his resume with a KO victory at 0:39 of round five.

It was too bad that we didn’t get to see what Centeno can really do. The same can be said for Santos, but for the opposite reason. But it is always fun to go to Fantasy Springs, and Jamie Kavanagh bears watching.


Be safe and God Bless,
Viva La Raza,
Barb.