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Carlos Morales Earns Technical Unanimous Decision Victory
Against Dardan Zenunaj
Photos: Tom Hogan - Hoganphotos/Golden Boy
Carlos "The Solution" Morales (17-2-3, 6 KOs) scored a
sixth-round technical unanimous decision victory against
Dardan Zenunaj (14-4, 11 KOs) of Los Angeles, Calif. to
win the vacant NABA Super Featherweight Title in the
scheduled 10-round main event of Golden Boy Boxing on
ESPN at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, Calif.
Morales, who also fights out of Los Angeles, suffered a
bad cut above his right eye due to an accidental
headbutt that forced the fight to be stopped at the
third second of the sixth-round. Morales outboxed the
rugged Zenunaj enough for all judges to score the fight
59-56 in his favor.
"This was not my decision," said Morales. "I could not
see, and the doctor decided to end the fight. I felt I
won the rounds, though [Zenunaj] was fighting dirty and
headbutting me. It's my job to get in there in fight,
but the doctor stopped it."
"Morales wanted this fight to stop," said Zenunaj. "He
was getting really tired, and I was starting to tag him.
I often look better at the end of the fight, so it was
obvious that he wanted it to stop. When he was getting
looked at by the doctor, it seemed as if he wanted out.
He was happy after."
In the co-main event, Raul "El Cugar" Curiel (2-0, 1 KO)
of Tamaulipas, Mexico blasted Israel Villela (6-8, 2
KOs) via fourth-round knockout in a scheduled four-round
welterweight fight. Curiel was too much for the much
smaller native of Mexico City, Mexico. In the third
round, Curiel scored a vicious knockdown that nearly
stopped Villela then and there. Curiel, not wanting to
miss out on scoring his first knockout, stopped Villela
at 2:23 seconds of the following round.
"After a few months away, I'm just grateful I can come
back and fight before all of my fans and supporters,"
said Curiel. "We had a minor setback this year, but
hopefully I'll be back in January. The plan is to start
adding more rounds and moving up the division."
Marlen Esparza (4-0), the 2012 Olympic Bronze medalist
of Houston, Texas, defeated Karla Valenzuela (3-17-3, 1
KO) via unanimous decision through six rounds of super
flyweight action. Esparza was aggressive in every round,
walking the native of Gomez Palacio, Mexico with a high
guard before unleashing punishing shots to the body.
Esparza looked for the knockout in the final round, but
was unable to and won with three scores of 60-54.
"I felt a bit nervous in awkward in there," said
Esparza. "That's because she would often dip her head,
which caused the headbutts when I was trying to land
hooks. But I saw it as a perfect opportunity to work on
my straight punches. It was also a chance to work on my
body shots, which I really liked in there."
North Hollywood's Ferdinand Kerobyan (7-0, 4 KOs)
stopped Tavorus Teague (4-19-2, 3 KOs) of Paramount,
Calif. in the fourth round of a scheduled four-round
super welterweight fight. Kerobyan, a strong puncher
with a stellar amateur background, used hard and quick
combinations to stop Teague at 1:37 of the fourth round.
"I took my time. I didn't want to rush into anything,"
said Kerobyan. "But eventually I wore him down. I feel
great. I got fans coming from all over to watch me
fight. Next year, I'm going to make some news and
hopefully fight for a world title."
Joet Gonzalez (18-0, 10 KOs), the 126-pound contender of
Glendora, Calif. who is quickly rising to the top of the
featherweight division, scored a dominant third-round
knockout win against Isao Carranza (15-11-1, 8 KOs) of
Mexico City, Mexico in a clash that was initially
scheduled for eight rounds. After a feel-out first
round, Gonzalez used a high-guard stance and power
punches to the body and head to stop Carranza via hook
to the body at 2:59 of the third round.
"I knew he [Carranza] had fought tough opponents before,
especially at bantamweight," said Gonzalez. "He
surprised me in the first round. His hands seemed heavy
for a guy who was moving up a few divisions. But I got
used to it, started landing my punches, and got him out
in three rounds."
Jonathan Navarro (12-0, 6 KOs), the rising super
lightweight prospect of East Los Angeles, California,
scored a unanimous decision victory against Nicaragua's
Nelson Lara (17-9-5, 9 KOs) over eight rounds of
welterweight action. Navarro and Lara fought toe-to-toe
in each round, but Navarro got the best of nearly all
exchanges.
"Lara was a good, hard opponent," said Navarro. "He can
take a punch. I went toe-to-toe in each round with him
because I wanted to show that I could take a punch."
In the opening bout of the night, San Antonio's Joshua
"The Professor" Franco (13-0, 6 KOs) defeated Carlos
Maldonado (9-2, 7 KOs) of Los Angeles, California via
eight-round unanimous decision. Franco intelligently
outboxed Maldonado to win with three scores of 80-72.
"I feel great about this win," said Franco. "He
[Maldonado] is a tough guy with a good record, so I had
to be cautious in there. It also feels good to end the
year on a great note, and I can now spend time with my
family. Next year, I'll be moving up to ten rounds and
maybe even a world title."
Coachella, Calif.'s Ryan Caballero (4-0, 2 KOs), the
younger brother of former IBF Bantamweight World
Champion Randy Caballero, scored a first-round knockout
victory against Franco Gutierrez (1-1) of Agua Prieta,
Mexico in a scheduled four-round featherweight fight.
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