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Duno Shocks Gonzalez With 2nd
Round KO
By William Trillo @ Ringside
Photos: Marlene Marquez
In case Lightweight Christian Gonzalez (16-1,14 KO‘s) didn’t
see what hit him his name is Romero Duno (13-1,12 KO’s) and
with a stunning 2nd round knockout he claimed the vacant WBC
Youth Intercontinental lightweight title.
The battle had all the earmarks of a firefight early as both
men threw some very heavy leather. It was towards the last
minute of round one that Gonzalez landed a pretty good combo
on the face of Duno but that was quickly answered by a crisp
right hand to the chin that dropped Gonzalez. Fortunately
for Gonzalez he was literally saved by the bell and was able
to stagger back to his corner.
Duno came out like a hurricane in round two and pounced all
over Gonzalez. To his credit Gonzalez did not give in and
for a moment it looked like maybe he was going to get back
into the fight. But that is when Duno uncorked a right hand
that sent Gonzalez to the seat of his pants. In his best
effort, Gonzalez tried to get to his feet but no sooner than
he did he tumbled to the seat of his pants again. The fight
was over at the 57 second mark of round two.
A jubilant Duno jumped for joy in celebration as he came
into hostile territory and took the fight and the title with
him.
“In terms of the knockout, I was just listening to my coach
and kept boxing,” said Romero. “I fought hard and
disciplined myself to not take any lucky punches. I based my
strategy in seeing what my opponent was doing and adjusted
whenever I needed to.”
Hats off to Gonzalez who was taken out of the building on a
stretcher. Thoughts and prayers out to him for a quick
recovery.
Super Welterweight Alexis Rocha (7-0, 5 KO’s) dropped Marcus
Beckford (3-6-3,1 KO) in the early seconds of round one with
a beautiful right hook. Beckford got up and weathered the
storm but he was just no match for the overpowering Rocha.
Down again from a body shot at round three Beckford looked
the worse for wear. Rocha beat Beckford from pillar to post
in round four and that was all she wrote. Beckford chose not
to answer the bell for round five giving Rocha his 5th KO in
his 7 victories.
“From the early knock down, I started to load my hands
trying to knock him down again, but I learned that I need to
stay composed,” said Alexis Rocha. “In regards to my
performance, I did okay and definitely had learning
moments.”
Super Welterweight Angel Bojado (1-1) came into the ring the
size of a middleweight and the inevitable happened against
Jhon Leon (2-0, 1 KO). Leon took advantage of Bojado
dragging some extra baggage around the ring and outboxed
Bojado over the four round bout. Take nothing away from the
victory for Leon as he came into the ring in shape and
earned his victory but….Bojado appears to have some real
skill that is getting wasted behind 25 pounds of excess
flubber. Scorecards in favor of Leon read 39-37 across the
board.
“I think I fought very intelligently,” said Jhon Leon. “I
roughed him up a bit here and there but stuck to my style of
boxing and I’m happy to come out with the victory.”
Super Middleweights Niko Valdes (4-0,4 KO’s) and Alejandro
Osuna (1-3, 2 KO’s) put on a 4 round battle that was short
on talent and long on wind. Osuna came out early and threw
everything he had and then gassed out. Valdes meanwhile
struggled to find the mark while his foe was sucking for
air. In round four Osuna was done but Valdes could not
muster the strength to put him down. The ref stopped the
battle at the 2:16 mark of round four. Valdes gets the
victory but the KO goes to exhaustion.
“My opponent was a very tough fighter,” said Niko Valdes. “I
was throwing a lot of hard punches, but the coach told me to
start going to the body and that seemed to work moving
forward in the fight.”
Featherweight Francisco Esparza (6-0, 2 KO’s) kept his
unbeaten record alive but it was no small chore against the
rugged Emmanuel Castro (2-4, 2 KO’s). Esparza found himself
in the middle of a very good challenge as Castro pressured
him throughout the six round affair. When the bell rang to
end the battle the look on Esparza’s face was relief as he
had to give it his all to take the unanimous decision
victory. Scorecards that read 59-55 and 60-54 twice gave the
deserved nod to Esparza but were not reflective of a very
close and tough battle.
“My opponent put a lot of pressure, it was a tough fight,
but today I feel I grew as a boxer,” said Francisco Esparza.
“I did a lot of things in the ring I can learn from.”
Middleweight Marvin Cabrera (3-0, 3 KO’s) needed just three
rounds to dispose of Saadallah Aitameemi (2-1-1, 2 KO’s).
Both fighters came into the ring with 2 KO’s in as many
victories but it was Cabrera who left the record with an
unblemished record. From the onset, it was apparent Cabrera
had the heavier hands as he was hurting Aitameemi early and
often. Cabrera could not put the tough fighter down but
after numerous thunderous shots I round three the ref
brought the bout to a halt. Officially the fight was stopped
at the 2:35 mark.
“I think I performed well for tonight’s fight, focused on my
combinations and was happy to come out with the knockout
victory,” said Marvin Cabrera.
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