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Golden Boy
Closes Out 2015 With Knockout Show: "Chimpa" Ends His Year
With A Bang Of His Own
By William Trillo & Albert Castillo
Photos: Marlene Marquez
It was knockouts galore at The Belsaco Theatre in Los
Angeles as Golden Boy Promotions year ender was an early
Christmas gift for the fans. The action was furious as most
of the fights didn't go the distance, in fact they didn't
come close. The sold out crowd got more than their moneys
worth from this wild swinging night.
Lightweight Christian Gonzalez (12-0, 10 KO’s) put on a fine
display of power as he stopped Alejandro Ochoa (7-11-2, 1
KO) in round two of a very entertaining slugfest. Ochoa, who
had never been KO’d in his career, gave a game performance
but an uppercut in round two was the beginning of the end
for the rugged brawler. Smelling the kill “Chimpa” jumped
all over his hurt foe and it was a just a matter of time
before referee Raul Caiz stopped the onslaught. By stopping
a fighter who had never been KO’d Gonzalez proves he is a
fighter with some serious pop.
On the early stoppage Ochoa remarked, “I prepared for this
fight as I would any other fight despite his reputation for
having a lot of power. I don’t think his punches bothered me
as much as the referee thought and I would have liked to
continue, but I will learn from my mistakes and keep
improving.”
Recapping his KO performance “Chimpa” said, “I had been
training hard and focusing on landing shots like that
uppercut that put him down. I knew the body shots I landed
early in the fight had a lot of effect and I saw him
breathing out of his mouth. The body shots set up my
uppercut.”
Bantamweight Oscar Negrete (12-0, 5 KO’s) kept his
undefeated record intact as he KO’d Ernesto Guerrero (20-17,
13 KO’s) with a well placed body shoot at the 2:51 mark of
the third round. Negrete came out throwing accurate punches
in bunches and stayed the course during the fight. Guerrero
was not able to get into any rhythm at all during the short
bout due to the flying fists of Negrete.
On his KO victory Negrete said, “I had been studying for
another opponent but due to a last minute change, I had to
come in and figure out a whole new opponent. My trainer
deserves a lot of credit because we prepared for another
fighter but we were still able to come up with a plan and
execute it. It’s great to end 2015 on such a high note and I
can’t wait to start 2016 with the same momentum.”
Lightweight Ivan Delgado (8-0-1, 2 KO’s) took a unanimous
decision over a tough whiskered Luis Ruiz Lizarraga Jr.
(5-7-1, 2 KO’s). Delgado hit Lizarraga with everything but
he refused to go down. The judges’ scorecards of 60-54 on
all three cards tell the story. Delgado took charge from the
opening bell and was in complete command of the fight . On
his side Lizarraga fought valiantly in defeat.
In his post fight comments Delgado said, “I wanted to show
fans that I can box and I can counter-punch as well. I have
been training hard and am looking forward to starting 2016
off strong after this victory.”
To say featherweight Emilio Sanchez (10-0, 6 KO’s) went
through Juan Hernandez (4-2,1 KO) in quick fashion would be
a mild understatement. Sanchez wasted little time jumping on
Hernandez who hung tough but was no match for the fighter
from Pacoima. A left hook on the ropes spelled doom for
Hernandez as the fight was stopped at the 2:05 mark of the
first round.
On his victory Sanchez said, “I had been working on strength
training and really liked how it impacted me this fight. I
was able to break him down bit by bit with my body shots and
then eventually catch him with my hook.”
Featherweight Nicolas Arce (6-0, 6 KO’s) took a somewhat
lack luster victory over Ali Gonzalez (6-7-1, 1 KO) who
succumbed to phantom kidney cramps in the second round. For
the record, Arce dropped Gonzalez with a flash knockdown in
round one. After that Arce looked tentative with his jab and
didn’t connect much at all. In round two Gonzalez, for
seemingly no reason at all took a knee and told the ref he
was cramping up. At that point the fight was waved off.
After the fight Arce said, “I wasn’t expecting to win this
way. I knew that my opponent was a tough fighter, and I
would have to close the distance with my reach. I’m looking
forward to taking some time off and enjoying it with my
family after this win.”
Super Flyweight Joshua Franco (3-0, 1 KO) needed less than
one round to dispose of an over-matched Leonardo Reyes (3-8,
1 KO). A hook to the body by Franco dropped Reyes right
away. Franco was able to beat the ten count but was met with
a barrage of punches moments later that sent him to the
canvas for good as the ref stopped the bout at the 2:19 mark
of round 1.
After the bout Franco said of his performance, “I was
conditioned and ready to fight a longer fight. Our strategy
was to break him down, but it came sooner than expected and
I’m thrilled to have gotten the win. He came out swinging
but I have always been able to keep my composure and stick
to the game plan and it worked out great.”
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