By Jake Donovan
Lightweight contender Vicente Escobedo found his way back to the win column with a decisive points win against Walter Estrada in their 10-round bout Friday evening at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California.
The bout served as the live main event on Telefutura’s Solo Boxeo Tecate boxing series.
Escobedo was in control throughout in a bout that was steady but a bit monotonous. Round after round, Escobedo boxed and took very few chances, while Estrada tried his hardest to frustrate the 2004 U.S. Olympic boxer but mostly came up short.
The bout momentarily deviated from the script in the seventh round, when Escobedo dropped a straight right on Estrada’s jaw to produce the lone knockdown of the evening.
Estrada arose within referee Tony Krebs’ mandatory eight count, but was once again stunned and had to hold in order to steady himself and clear his head. The sequence was a rare moment in an otherwise clean fight free of clinching.
With the fight well in the bag, Escobedo began to coast in the later rounds, allowing Estrada moments of success. The Colombian southpaw boxed with confidence, shooting his left from his waist while dancing around as if he was on his way to shocking the world.
Success didn’t exactly come at a premium, although he managed to draw blood. Escobedo was forced to contend with a cut just outside of his right eye the latter portion of the fight. Blood streamed down his face, but never to the point of altering the tempo – or the outcome – of the fight.
Scores were for 97-92 (twice) and 96-93 for Escobedo, who improves to 23-3 (14KO).
The bout was his first since falling considerably short against Robert Guerrero last November. The loss came with a silver lining, however, as he proposed to his girlfriend in the ring immediately after the fight.
Estrada snaps a four-fight unbeaten streak with the loss. His recent run was hardly filled with layups, scoring wins over Verquan Kimbrough, Jose Reyes and most notably a huge upset over former lightweight king Nate Campbell late last year.
The fantasy run comes to an end for the 34-year old, as he heads back to Miami with his record falling to 38-14-1 (25KO).
In the televised co-feature, undefeated local bantamweight prospect Randy Caballero cruised to his eighth win in as many pro fights with a shutout decision over Hugo Ramos in their six-round bout.
Caballero (8-0, 4KO) has yet to lose a round as he approaches his first anniversary as a pro, but has already shown two sides. His first four bouts each ended inside a round, while his last four contests have all went to the cards.
Which version shows up next remains to be seen, although not in question is how soon he returns to the ring. The Coachella native is slated to appear in the co-feature slot of an April 1 telecast of Solo Boxeo, headlined by a rematch between faded former titlists Martin Castillo and Eric Morel.
The show was presented by Golden Boy Promotions.
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.