By Chris LaBate
Roseland Ballroom, New York - Junior middleweight prospect Jonathan Gonzalez (14-0, 13KOs) went the distance for the first time in his career by winning a ten round unanimous decision over tough veteran Richard Gutierrez (26-7-1, 16KOs). The scores were 99-91, 98-92 and 98-92 for Gonzalez.
Some bad blood coming into this fight and they started trading punches from the opening bell. Gonzalez was landing the better punches, especially to the body.
Before the start of the second round, Gonzalez was complaining to his corner about a possible knee injury. Gutierrez was landing very hard punhces at the start of the second round. Gonzalez backed him into the ropes and started punishing Gutierrez against the ropes with punches to the head and body. In the final ten seconds, it was Gutierrez who started to fire back.
Gonzalez took off the third round, mostly moving and throwing shots when the opening were there. He was slowing down and starting picking his shots. Gutierrez noticed that Gonzalez was slowing down and began to trade shots with him. In the fifth, Gonzalez once again started battering Gutierrez against the ropes, but also landed a bad low blow to send Gutierrez down. The ref gave Gutierrez a moment to recover.
The next few rounds saw Gonzalez keep his opponent on the inside or against the ropes, outworking him and landing hard combinations to score points and win rounds.
