Daniel Roman Continues Run, Beats Ruiz in Ontario

By Francisco Salazar

ONTARIO, Calif. - Daniel Roman showed his world ranking and regional title belt are no fluke.

Roman was able to win a workmanlike 10 round unanimous decision over Erik Ruiz before a partisan crowd at the Doubletree Hotel.

Roman successfully defended his NABA junior featherweight title, which he won in his previous fight with a decision win over Daniel Noriega on July 24. The win over Noriega also propelled Roman to a number 15 ranking by the WBA.

Ruiz's most notable bouts occurred earlier this year, when he lost by decision to Jessie Magdaleno and most recently to Manuel 'Tino' Avila.

Ruiz looked as though he took round one, even though Roman bloodied his nose during an exchange.

Roman seemed to control the action through the first half of the fight, beating Ruiz to the punch, especially with right hands to the head.

Ruiz was able to find some success with counter left hooks to the head in the sixth and seventh rounds. He was able to do this whenever he pressed the action or would initiate exchanges.

With trainer Robert Garcia imploring him from his corner, Ruiz continued to stalk Roman, looking to counter with rights to the head. Roman was able to slip and counter to the head, stealing rounds by throwing an accumulation of punches to win the round.

Ruiz slowed down in the final two rounds, allowing Roman to beat him to the punch.

All three judges scored the bout in favor of Roman, 99-91, 99-91, and 98-92.

Roman improves to 16-2-1, 5 KOs, while Ruiz drops to 14-4, 6 KOs.

Welterweight Giovani Santillan won a hard-fought eight round majority decision over Ernesto Ortiz. The southpaw Santillan (17-0, 9 KOs) was the busier and more effective fighter early on, beating Ortiz to the punch. Undaunted, Ortiz (10-3, 7 KOs) came on in the middle rounds, scoring repeatedly with straight right hands to the head of Santillan. Both traded vicious shots in the sixth round, but Ortiz seemed to run out of steam in the final two rounds, allowing Santillan to throw and land repeatedly to Ortiz's head. One judge scored the bout 76-76, while the other two judges scored the bout 78-74 and a hard-scratching 80-72 for Santillan.

Jose Haro (11-1-1, 6 KOs) won a workmanlike eight round unanimous decision over Juan Reyes. Haro got off to a fast start in the opening two rounds, beating Reyes (12-3-3, 2 KOs) to the punch. Reyes began to increase his punch output by the third round and was walking Haro down by the middle rounds. Haro spent the second half of the bout timing Reyes with hooks to the head and landing a few right uppercuts to the head. Haro looked as though he was least tired of the two fighters during the final two rounds of the fight. All three judge scored the bout 79-73 in favor of Haro.

Erick Ituarte won a six round unanimous decision over Angel Martinez. Ituarte (12-1-1, 2 KOs) landed the more telling blows during the first two rounds of the junior lightweight bout. Martinez (6-2-1, 2 KOs) began finding a home for counter left hooks to the head of Ituarte midway through the bout. Just when it looked as though Martinez was gaining momentum, Ituarte dropped Martinez with a left hook to the head near the end of the fifth round. Both fighters landed their share of punches in round six, but it was Ituarte who won by decision with scores of 60-53, 60-53, and 59-54. While Ituarte won the bout, the scorecards did not reflect how close the fight was.

Lightweight Manuel Mendez stopped Cesar Villarraga (8-1, 4 KOs) in the third round. Both fighters landed brutal hooks and crosses on the inside, although it looked as though Villarraga, who represented Colombia in the 2012 Olympic Games, got the better of the exchanges. With about 45 seconds left in the third round, Mendez (6-1-1, 3 KOs) dropped Villarraga with a right to the head. Villarraga struggled to get up, favoring his leg that was likely injured when he dropped to the canvas. Referee Raul Caiz, Sr. waved the fight over at 2:25.

In the opening bout of the Thompson Boxing card, heavyweight Dakota Walker won a one-sided four round decision over Edgar Najera. Walker, who was making his pro debut, had a distinct height and reach advantage over Najera (0-5). Walker continuously rained down punches onto Najera, who tried to fight back, but would repeatedly get countered with rights to the head. All three judges scored the bout 40-36 in favor of Walker.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing