By Jake Donovan
LOS ANGELES
—
Streaking junior welterweight Gilbero Gonzalez overcame a knee injury to knock out Hevinson Herrera in the 3rd round of their wild brawl Thursday evening at Belasco Theater in Los Angeles.
No knockdowns were scored, but Gonzalez had Herrera badly hurt in round two, and once again in round three before referee Wayne Hedgepeth stopped the contest. The official time was 1:49 of round three.
Herrera—an 11-year veteran from Colombia who now lives and trains in Florida—was in remarkable fighting shape for a fighter who stepped in on barely three days notice. The 30-year old journeyman replaced unbeaten Puerto Rican prospect John Karl Sosa, who was scratched from the show due to an undisclosed illness.
As he came in more motivated than most "opponent" types brought in at the last minute. Gonzalez was immediately met with a fight on his hands. Herrera had his biggest moment in round two, landing a shot upstairs to brielfly stun Gonzalez, only for the tide to turn late in the round.
Gonzalez sought to carry over the round-ending momentum into the third, but his wild aggression nearly cost him the fight. A swing and a miss with a right hook resulted in the Mexico City native slipping and falling to the canvas. A punch appeared to land, but unclear if Herrera's last notable positive sequence came before or after Gonzalez was already on the way down, clutching his knee in pain.
With only a split second to react, the referee chose to call time rather than rule the sequence a knockdown. Gonzalez was granted up to five minutes to walk off the injury, but with action resuming less than two minutes later.
It was all the house favorite needed to clear his mind and his knee, bringing the fight back to a slugfest. Herrera was unable to keep up and was pinned along the ropes as Gonzalez connected with three head-jarring power shots to force the stoppage with his opponent on his feet but defenseless.
The official time was 1:49 of round three.
Gonzalez (25-3, 21KOs) picks up his seventh straight win, all coming by way of knockout. Herrera has now lost two of his last three, falling to 18-11-1 (12KOs).
TELEVISED UNDERCARD
Rising prospect Diego de la Hoya was impressive in stopping Jose Estrella in the fourth round of their chief support
.
de la Hoya—whose is cousin is Hall-of-Fame fighter-turned-promoter Oscar de la Hoya—boxed well in the early going before producing the sudden ending. A right hand put Estrella (14-7-1, 10KOs) down and nearly out of the ring, hanging on to the middle rope to prevent from crashing to the floor.
The bout was halted soon thereafter, with the official time 2:36 of round four.
With the win, the 20-year old de la Hoya moves to 11-0 (6KOs).
Oscar Negrete preserved his unbeaten record following an eight-round unanimous decision win over Ramiro Robles. Scores were 79-73 (twice) and 80-72 in the televised opener.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox