By Luis Sandoval
Untelevised results from the undercard of Manny Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Matthew Hatton woke up the dormant British fans in the arena as he stepped in the ring against Ernesto Zepeda (39-12-4, 34KOs) in an 8 round welterweight affair. Hatton started off slow and Zepeda appeared to be having some success early on.. In the 3rd round however, Hatton received cheers from the British crowd as he landed some hard left hooks and started increase the tempo of the fight. Zepeda had his moments and gave Hatton a tough fight but the Manchester native had better control of the fight with his intensity and harder punches. After 8 rounds, Hatton won a unanimous decision with scores of 79-73 and 78-74 as he improved to 36-4-1, 13KOs.
Up and coming contender Mike Alvarado continued his undefeated winning streak by beating Oakland’s Juaquin Gallardo (18-8, 5KOs) with a lopsided unanimous decision. After a slow first round, Alvarado pressed the action and dropped Gallardo with a hard right hand in the 2nd. Gallardo would go on to fight a very defensive fight resulting in him playing keep away as Alvarado tried to walk him down. Alvarado’s right hand was the key as he had success landing it throughout the fight even while Gallardo tried to remain elusive. After 8 uneventful rounds, the scores were 79-72 and 80-71 twice in favor of Mike Alvarado who improved to 26-0 with 18KOs.
After almost a year layoff due to a detached retina, 2004 Mexican Olympian Abner Mares (18-0, 11KOs) made his return to the ring against Barranquia,Colombia native Jonathan Perez (14-6, 11KOs). Mares unleashed a consistent body attack and managed to buckle Perez in the very first round with a left hook downstairs. He would continue to batter Perez’s midsection while landing some big shots upstairs that had Perez badly hurt more than once. Perez proved to be game but Mares’ combinations were too much as Perez quit on his stool before the 7th round. Mares improved his undefeated record to 18-0 with 11KOs.
Philippines’ Bernabe Concepcion pitched a shutout against Yogli Herrera winning a 6 round unanimous decision with scores of 60-54 across the board.
Omar Chavez, son of legendary Mexican champion Julio Cesar Chavez, started off the night at the MGM Grand Arena with a quick victory over journeyman Tyler Ziolowski with a 2nd round body shot knockout to improve to (15-0-1, 11KOs).