By Francisco Salazar

OCEANSIDE, Calif. - You can never tell with hard-hitting Colombian fighters who fight in obscurity. They build an impressive record, but more fizzle than sizzle when they make their United States debut.

Angulo made it look easy, defeating former amateur standout and hard-hitting Izaak Cardona by decision over eight rounds inside the Show Palace Events Center in this San Diego suburb.

Angulo is born in Colombia, but has fought abroad, including recent fights in Germany and Turkey. Cardona had won five bouts in a row prior to the Angulo fight.

From the opening bell, Angulo got the better of the exchanges. Angulo worked in and out of Cardona's range, while Cardona looked to counter with left hooks to the head.

Cardona, who was a former amateur standout, finally let his hands go in the fourth round, taking the initiative and scoring with right hands. The rally was short-lived as Angulo came on in round five, countering Cardona to the head. The amount of punches Angulo landed resulted in Cardona bleeding profusely from the nose.

As the bout progressed, Cardona's punch output dropped. Cardona spent the last two rounds circling the ring while Angulo was in pursuit. Angulo looked like he was looking for the knockout, but eased up in the last 20 seconds of the eighth round.

All three judges scored the bout in favor of Angulo, 80-72, 80-72, and 79-73.

Angulo improves to 16-0, 14 KOs, while Cardona drops to 14-3, 14 KOs.

In the main event, Dashon Johnson (17-18-3, 5 KOs) won a hard-fought eight round unanimous decision over Elias Espadas. Johnson won the California State super welterweight title.

Johnson thought he scored a knockdown late in the first round, but referee Jose Cobian ruled Johnson shoved Espadas down, even though Johnson did land a punch. Espadas (9-2, 5 KOs) controlled the action up until the end of the fourth round when Johnson scored a legitimate knockdown, courtesy of a counter right hand. Both had their moments during the fifth and sixth rounds, but Johnson seemed to be the more effective fighter in the last two rounds. Espadas did not give himself a chance as he looked gassed in the final round.

All three judges scored the bout in favor of Johnson, 77-74, 77-74, and 78-73.

Super middleweight Ulises Sierra won a workmanlike six round unanimous decision over Alfredo Contreras. Sierra (9-0-2, 5 KOs) was the more technical fighters of the two, but Contreras was game, countering at times to Sierra's head. Sierra was just busier, landing more at will and keeping Contreras (12-19-3, 4 KOs) more on the defensive. All three judges scored the bout in favor of Sierra, 60-54, 59-55, and 58-56.

Heavyweight Mike Robinson (1-1, 1 KO) knocked out Jose Hermosillo in the second round. Robinson, who tipped the scale at 333 pounds at Wednesday's weigh-in, landed a left hook to the body. Hermosillo (0-3) took three steps back, eventually taking a knee. Referee Thomas Taylor counted him out at 58 seconds. Robinson, who had Chris Byrd in his corner, graduated from nearby Oceanside High School.

Junior welterweight Julian Bautista scored an emphatic fourth round knockout over Jonathan Espino, who was making his pro debut. Espino started strong, working the body and head of Bautista (2-0, 1 KO). As the bout progressed, Espino began to tire, allowing Bautista to effectively counter him with right hands to the head. By the fourth round, Espino was cut above and below his left eye, courtesy of rights from Bautista. Midway through the fourth round, Bautista landed a right cross, knocking Espino flat on his back. Referee Jose Cobian counted Espino out at 1:49.

In the opening bout, junior lightweight Alejandro Vargas survived a first round knockdown to win a four round majority decision. Ruiz, who was making his pro debut, dropped Vargas near the end of the first round. Vargas (2-0, 1 KO) was able to make it out of the round, eventually controlling the next two rounds. He dropped Ruiz with a barrage of punches with about 30 seconds left in the third round. Ruiz could not follow up in the fourth round, as he looked exhausted, as did the southpaw Ruiz. One judge scored the bout 37-37, while the other two judges scored the bout 38-37 in favor of Vargas.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing