Carlos Ocampo Wins Tough, Jose Uzcategui Crushes Pena in Two

By Cliff Rold

In a fight where both men gave a good account of themselves, undefeated welterweight Carlos Ocampo (20-0, 12 KO), 146 ½, of Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, earned a clear unanimous decision over a gutsy Alvaro Robles (19-6, 17 KO), 148, of Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, on Saturday night at the La Cetto Vineyard, Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California.

After a first round where Ocampo had the edge, using his reach and legs to control the action, Robles started to find success in the second. Digging to the body and forcing Ocampo backwards, the younger man looked concerned by the amount of leather getting to him.

As the fight progressed, Robles continued to have luck, particularly with right hands over the left of Ocampo. Unfortunately, more luck went the way of Ocampo who landed more and threw more often in combination. While less than artistic in its development, the fight became a fun battle with enough close rounds to give Robles hope if a big shot could get the right haymaker in.

In the tenth round, the accumulation of shots appeared to have Robles in trouble as Ocampo opened up with both barrels. The gutsy underdog endured. Finding a burst of energy halfway through the round, Robles roared back and forced Ocampo onto his bicycle. Robles was the one coming forward as ten rounds came to a close.

The final scores went to the right man but didn’t give Robles the credit they could have at 98-92 and twin shutout cards of 100-90. 

25-year old super middleweight Jose Uzcategui (26-1, 22 KO), 170, of Tijuana, Mexico, made it four knockout wins in a row since his first loss with a two knockdown finish in the second round against 28-year old Fabiano Pena (18-6-1, 14 KO), 168 ½, of Sao Paolo, Brazil. It was Pena’s fifth stoppage loss.

Uzcategui established his jab quickly into the first and then went to work landing hard shots to the body and head. In the second, the range he’d established made Pena a victim in waiting. Digging a hard left to the body, Uzcategui timed a right hand as Pena fired back to send Pena flat into the floor. Pena beat the count but was quickly disposed of, dropped in the corner and deemed unfit to continue despite beating the count again. The referee called the action at 1:16 of round two.

Uzcategui’s lone professional defeat came at the hands of Matt Korobov by decision in June 2014. 

Also televised - Jr. middleweight: Luis Uribe (29-1-2, 21 KO) UD6 Saul Mendoza (10-12-1, 2 KO)

The card was televised in the US on BeIn Espanol, promoted by Zanfer.

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene and a member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com