By Jake Donovan
SAN ANTONIO - Hugo Centeno Jr. preserved his unbeaten record with a workmanlike 10-round decision win over Josue Obando in their off-TV middleweight bout Saturday evening at AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.
Scores were 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94 in favor of Centeno Jr. (24-0, 12KOs), who dedicated the fight to past opponent Angel Ocuna. Saturday's ring appearance came one day shy of the two-year anniversary of Centeno Jr. rallying from behind to score a 10th round knockout of Ocuna, who slipped into a coma soon thereafter and left with severe medical debt.
Obando (14-8-1, 11KOs) is normally trained by former featherweight champ Alejandro Gonzalez Sr., who was in Japoan on business. Standing in his place was his son and current super bantamweight contender Alejandro Gonzalez Jr.
Terrell Gausha was hoping to once again appear on the same card as 2012 U.S. Olympic teammate Dominic Breazeale.
That dream fell through when Breazeale was left without an opponent after Charles Martin bailed in favor of a forthcoming vacant title fight with Vyacheslav Glazkov. Gausha remained, though not even a second round knockdown could light a fire in his otherwise slow-paced 10-round decision win over Said El Harrak. Scores were 100-89 across the board for Gausha (17-0, 8KOs), who appeared on NBC Sports Network in a telecast trailing the primetime portion on NBC.
Justin DeLoach (12-1, 7KOs) picked up his third straight win, outpointing Santos Benavidez over four rounds. Scores were 40-36 (twice) and 39-37 for DeLoach, who turns 22 in February.
Rickey Edwards endured his toughest test to date, overcoming what could have been a crucial point deduction to edge Azriel Paez over four rounds. Edwards was granted winning tallies of 38-37 and 39-36, while Paez won 38-37 on the dissenting scorecard.
The contrasting styles between the two made for an awkward affair. Edwards - a Paterson, NJ native who has close ties to New York Giants' all-star (though injured) wide receiver Victor Cruz - chose to box after realizing his punches would have minimal effect on the sturdy-chinned Paez, the son of the former featherweight champ Jorge Paez Sr. and younger brother of welterweight journeyman Jorge Paez Jr.
Paez' corner was looking for Edwards - who is trained by noted cornerman Ronnie Shields - to be penalized throughout the fight for what they believed was excessive clinching. Their wish was granted in round three, when Edwards was docked a point for the infraction.
It made the difference on one card, but Edwards did enough over the course of the night to move to 10-0 (3KOs). Paez suffers his first career defeat, falling 4-1 (1KO) in a five-fight career spread out over five years.
In the final bout of a 15-fight marathon card, Chicago's Semajay Thomas pounded out a unanimous decision in a four-round welterweight bout over . Scores were 40-36 across the board for Thomas, who is also trained by Shields.
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
