The final event of 2013 at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino was promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, and they gave us quite a fight card on a Friday night. This fight was televised on Fox Sports.

The main event was Josesito Lopez (31-6, 18 KOs), who faced off against Mike Arnaoutis (24-10-1, 11 KOs). This was a fight that was in the welterweight division and was scheduled for 10 rounds. The nickname for Lopez, “The Riverside Rocky”, seemed to have stuck, and along with “Lopez” chants there were “Rocky” chants as well.

Lopez came out looking determined and maybe just a little excited. He landed some really good shots right at the end of the round. Josesito settled down a little in the second round and by doing so controlled the fight a bit more. Lopez was doing his job in the third when, with just seconds remaining in the round, he was caught leaning in and dropped by a short little punch.

The fourth was good for Jose, who definitely had ground to make up after the knockdown. Lopez had another good round in the fifth, connecting with his punches more and more.

The sixth round was a pretty even one, with the fighters taking turns backing each other up while connecting at the same time. Lopez found a home for his right hand several times in the seventh, and threw in some body work for good measure as well.

In the eighth Mike suffered a pretty big cut over his left eye due to an accidental head butt and was bleeding badly, something Josesito took advantage of. After a long delay, the fight was waved off in the corner following the eighth round. This came at the advice of the ringside physician after Arnaoutis said he couldn’t see, and we went to the scorecards. Two of the judges saw the fight 77-74, while the third had it 76-75, all for Lopez. This was a very important fight for Josesito tonight, and he really needed this victory.
 

In the co-main event Francisco “El Bandito” Vargas (18-0-1, 14 KOs) and Jerry Belmontes (18-3, 5 KOs) faced off in a fight scheduled for 10 rounds in the junior lightweight division. This fight was for the NABF and WBO Intercontinental junior lightweight titles.

Vargas went to work right out of the box and was easily the better fighter in the first round. He came out strong in the second and was really overpowering Belmontes, but right at the end of the round Jerry landed some pretty good punches.

As Vargas was badly punishing Belmontes in the third, Jerry caught Francisco with a low blow that momentarily stopped the action. A point was deducted for that low blow. Vargas went right back to work as the round came to an end. Jerry was hanging in there in the fourth, even though it was still obvious that he was slowly being dismantled by Vargas.

Nothing different to say about the fifth round, or the sixth, or seventh. Even though Belmontes was taking a beating he was still there. But Vargas was throwing at five and six punches – if not more – to Jerry’s one.

We finally came to the tenth and final. This was a very one-sided affair and a hard fight for Vargas, only because he had to spend most of his time trying to make Belmontes do something. We went to the scorecards. All of the judges saw the fight the same, 100-89, with the decision, certainly not surprisingly, for Vargas. He won two belts for his efforts and remained undefeated.
 

In a middleweight fight scheduled for eight rounds, Jermall Charlo (17-0, 13 KOs) faced off against Joseph De Los Santos (16-13-3, 9 KOs). The first two rounds were fairly even, but did show that Charlo was definitely the fighter to beat.

A quick little combination dropped De Los Santos early in the third. Charlo was starting to turn it on now. A right hand dropped Joseph again in the fourth and De Los Santos was forced to hold on for most of the round to prevent yet another trip to the canvas.

Jermall closed the show in the fifth as he put Joseph down and out at .29 seconds. Charlo got the easy win.
 

The charismatic Olympian Joseph “JoJo” Diaz (9-1, 6 KOs) stepped into the ring with Carlos Rodriguez (21-12-3, 9 KOs) in a fight scheduled for eight rounds in the junior featherweight division. The first round was an active one for both fighters, with the upper hand going to Diaz. He was able to work both the head and the body of Rodriguez.

Diaz fought a sharp and aggressive second round, hurting Carlos the entire time. Rodriguez was lucky to get out of the round without being knocked down. The third round was more of the same. Rodriguez showed toughness to be sure, but Joseph was displaying all his skill in a good showing.

Carlos had his best round in the fourth as he was able to land quite a few punches to the body of Diaz. But JoJo was still the more accurate and active puncher. Rodriguez was able to score a few more shots on Diaz in the fifth, but his punches seemed to have absolutely no effect. Joseph on the other hand, continued to punish his opponent.

All of the sharpness and poise of Diaz paid off in the seventh, as referee Raul Caiz Jr. had to step in and stop the action at 1:13. This was an excellent showing for Diaz.
 

The undefeated professional and another Olympian Errol Spence, Jr. (10-0, 8 KOs) went up against Gerardo Cuevas (16-11-14KOs) in a fight in the junior middleweight division that was scheduled for eight rounds. Spence put Cuevas down right at the end of the bell with a hard and well-placed body shot. He was able to get up, but the ringside doctor stopped the fight as soon as Gerardo got back to the corner. Errol upped his win streak to 10.
 

In a junior featherweight bout that was scheduled for four rounds, Oscar De La Hoya’s cousin Diego, (2-0, 2 KOs) faced off against Abraham Rubio (3-3-1, 1 KO). It didn’t take long for the finish of this one, as De La Hoya punished Rubio enough to make referee Pat Russell step in and stop the fight at 2:33 of that very first round. This was a very impressive showing for the young Diego.
 

Angel Osuna (11-4-1, 7 KOs) took on Hugo Centeno Jr. (20-0. 11 KOs) in a fight scheduled for 10 rounds in the middleweight division. The first round was back and forth, but in the second Osuna just pounded away on Centeno, and it looked as if referee Raul Caiz, Jr. was going to stop it any second. In the third, Osuna had the upper hand again, although Hugo was fighting back and his hands were finding their target as well. Centeno made a charge back during the last minute or so of round four as Angel seemed to tire.

Both men had strong moments in the fifth, but Osuna landed some really hard right hands during the three minutes. The sixth was another tough round for both fighters. In the seventh Angel came out like a bull, looking to finish off Hugo. He almost pulled it off, as he put Centeno on the canvas. Alright, so it was only the glove that touched, but that was enough. Hugo got up and continued on.

Round nine, and both men looked tired at this point. It was no wonder, as they had been throwing and receiving punches at a rapid rate for eight rounds. We went into the tenth and final. Osuna appeared to be completely finished in this last round, and Centeno went in for the kill. He put Angel down and out at .52 seconds and remained undefeated in a fight that he was losing.

Unfortunately, Osuna landed halfway outside of the ring and on the table that had the ring bell and many other items on it. It was unclear just what he might have hit, but after staggering back to his corner he appeared to lose consciousness and had to be taken out of the arena on a stretcher. As of this writing his condition remains unknown.

Kevin Watts (3-0, 2 KOs) and Alejandro Arteaga (3-8, 1 KO) were to go a scheduled four rounds in the welterweight division. It took roughly a round a third for Watts to knock Arteaga down and out at 1:10 of the second round.

To open the show, Stephan Shaw made his professional debut a winning one, and did so in very quick fashion. It took him a mere .47 seconds of the opening round to defeat Jose Hermosillo (0-2) in their heavyweight fight.

So a good show for what appeared to be a full house at Fantasy Springs. Lopez got his much-needed win, and most of the fights were full of action. Only two of them were decided by the judges. The sad note is the injury suffered by Osuna. Thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family.