By Jake Donovan
Undefeated super featherweight prospect Eloy Perez scored his second straight shutout at the Longshoreman’s Hall in San Francisco, this time pulling a clean sweep over Alejandro Rodriguez in their Telefutura Solo Boxeo-televised main event Friday evening.
All three judges scored the bout 100-90.
Perez has yet to lose a round in two consecutive trips in the venue, although the bout wasn’t always as easy as the scores indicated.
Rodriguez occasionally posed problems whenever he was able to smother Perez’ punches and get on the inside, despite being the taller fighter and boasting the longer reach.
Still, the visiting Mexican prospect enjoyed virtually no success on the offensive front, as Perez was nearly masterful in slipping punches while standing directly in front of his foe.
Most of Perez’ best work came in the early rounds, where he would connect with multiple combinations, avoid the incoming and immediately position himself to return fire.
As the fight progressed, Rodriguez found a way to avoid getting hit quite as often, but could never land that one shot to ever turn things around at any point in their 10-round affair.
Perez picked up on this, and - as suggested in his modest knockout rate – coasted over the last couple of rounds, still finding ways to entertain the crowd in his new home away from home, but relying more on tricks and style points than he did on doling out punishment.
All told, it was enough to preserve his unbeaten record as he improves to 21-0-2 (5KO); Rodriguez falls to 12-2 (6KO), snapping an eight fight win streak.
Perez has become a Solo Boxeo series regular and is talented enough to where he is regarded as a future contender in a junior lightweight division that can use all of the help it can get. But a passion and quest for greatness – and not just the vocal demand for big fights – will have to soon come about as he makes that transition from prospect to eventual title challenger.
In that same vein, 22-year old Gary Russell Jr continues to win big, yet still offer the feeling as if there is so much more to offer.
The latest example came in the evening’s co-feature bout, as the featherweight prospect cruised to a six-round unanimous decision over Alfredo Landeros.
Scores were 60-53 across the board.
Russell Jr scores an opening round knockdown, but relied on his natural ability to carry him through the rest of the bout, which has becoming something of a trend in his young career.
For now, it continues to be enough as he has barely lost a round to date as he begins to slowly upgrade the level of competition.
The win advances Russell Jr’s record to 15-0 (9KO).
The DC native has entered year three as a pro after a successful stint in the amateurs capped by a spot on the 2008 US Olympic squad, only to have to withdraw prior to his first bout after struggles to maintain his weight resulted in his passing out and missing the weigh-in.
He continues to enjoy success as a pro, but not unlike Perez continues to settle for the given when the talent suggests he could be winning in far more explosive fashion. But with his 23rd birthday still two months away, time is clearly on his side as he continues to grow as a prize fighter.
Fans of quick endings had to be pleased with the first of two time-filling televised swing bouts.
Jonathan Chicas needed just 67 seconds to get rid of Maja Khali in a matchup of pro debuting junior welterweights. Chicas scored two knockdowns, the latter going for the full ten count.
Lamont Williams closed out the telecast with a four-round shutout of Juan Hernandez. All three judges scored it 40-35 for Williams (4-1, 1KO), who survived an early score to later drop Hernandez (1-1, 1KO) and dominate the rest of the way in their cruiserweight affair.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at twitter.com/JakeNDaBox or submit questions/comments to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.
