Aragon Ballroom Results From 8-25
By Joe Harrison
This past Friday night at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, boxing fans were able to witness six great match-ups provided by Dominic Pesoli’s 8 Count Productions. In attendance were professional boxers such as Rudy Cisneros from “The Contender,” former NBA basketball player who turned pro boxer Kendall Gill, and the new WBC interim lightweight champion David Diaz who was being honored in a welcome home party.
In the main event, Chicago’s Jose Hernandez (21-3, 13 KOs) won by a unanimous decision over Lenny DaVictoria (8-5, 2 KOs) from Philadelphia in an eight-round featherweight bout.
During the first round, a cut appeared above DeVictoria’s left eye, but the ring doctor allowed the fight to carry on. Throughout the battle, Hernandez stalked DeVictoria throwing many punches, yet DeVictoria was able to block most of them with his gloves.
It appeared that DeVictoria punches were more effective, landing many jabs and combinations to the face of Hernandez, even staggering him in the third round. Hernandez was able to survive, and showed an iron jaw as a continued to take DeVictoria’s accurate punches. In the last two rounds, Hernandez finally began to show his true boxing skills, landing many combinations to the body and face of DeVictoria. In the end, two of the judges scorecards were 78-74, while the third was 77-75, all in favor of the busier fighter, Jose Hernandez.
In the co-main event, welterweight Luciano Perez (14-4-1, 12 KOs) defeated Francisco Rincon (11-4, 6 KOs) by an eight-round split decision. It was a real battle as these two warriors constantly threw punches at each other, repeatedly causing the fans to rise from their seats in excitement. Rincon was able to use his reach and keep Perez at bay going into the middle rounds, but Perez was determined to get inside and punish Rincon. In the third round, the ref deducted a point from Perez for low blows. The second half of the fight belonged to Perez as he relentlessly backed Rincon into the ropes and pummeled him. However, Rincon still landed some good shots, keeping himself in the fight.
One judge’s score was 76-75 for Rincon while the other two judges both scored it 76-75 for Perez.
Earlier in the evening, heavyweight Mike Mollo (16-1, 10 KOs) only needed 25 seconds to knock out his 305-pound opponent, Willie Walker (6-4, 5 KOs). Walker came out swinging wildly, but Mollo tagged him in the mouth, sending him to the canvas. Walker was down for the count.
Then, in a woman’s lightweight bout, Rita Figuora (9-0, 3 KOs) defeated Leaora Jackson by a 6-round unanimous decision. Figuora had difficulty at first when Jackson came toward her swinging away. After a couple rounds, Figuora pulled herself together, totally out-boxing Jackson the rest of the way. All three judges scored 59-55 for Figuora.
The first match of the evening was a four-round jr. welterweight bout between Achour Esho (2-0, 1 KO) and Will Diamond (2-5, 1 KO). Although Diamond was aggressive and landed punches on occasion, Esho was always in control, landing the more damaging combinations. Two judges scored it 39-37, while the third scored it 40-36, all for Esho.
Afterward, featherweight Barbaro Zepeda (6-8-1, 1 KO) lost an eight-round unanimous decision to Yamin Mohammed (5-14-1, 3 KOs). Mohammed boxed very well as he confidently circled the ring and dodged Zepeda’s punches. As the bout continued, Zepeda became more aggressive, but he still could not catch Muhammed. All three judges scored it 79-73 for Muhammed.
Dominic Pesoli’s 8 Count Productions will hold another card at the Aragon Ballroom, called “Independence Brawl,” on September 15th. The card will feature Librado Andrade (23-0, 17 KOs), Abner Mares (8-0, 5 KOs), Nora Reyes (1-1), and Tavoris Cloud (11-0, 10 KOs) among many others.