By Francisco Salazar
MORE LIVE RESULTS TO COME...........
INGLEWOOD, California - Junior bantamweight Alexandru Marin won a 10 round split decision over Bruno Escalante.
With the win, Marin won a regional title belt.
The taller Marin, who is originally from Romania and now resides in Bethesda, Maryland, was the more-effective fighter early on, winning the first two rounds.
The southpaw Escalante swung momentum his way in round three, outboxing Marin. Anytime Marin mounted an offense, Escalante would counter with right-left combinations to the head.
By the midway point of the fight, Marin had a cut over his right eye, likely from a punch Escalante threw during an exchange.
Escalante (17-4-1, 7 KOs), who is originally from the Philippines and now resides in Redwood City, California, continued to outbox Marin, utilizing his quickness to beat Marin to the punch. Both fighters had their moments during the final two rounds, mostly trading punches in the middle of the ring.
One judge scored the bout 97-93 for Escalante, while the other two judges scored the bout 96-94 and 98-92 for Marin, who improves to 17-0, 11 KOs.
Strawweight Brenda Flores won a hard-fought 10 round split decision over Louisa Hawton of Australia.
The fight was competitive early on, with both giving their all throughout the 10 round bout, especially solid exchanges in the middle of the ring.
Flores scored repeatedly with right hands to the head of Hawton early on in the fight. The amount of punches Hawton received caused her to bleed profusely from her nose early in round one and throughout the rest of the fight.
Sensing she was down on the scorecards, Hawton became the aggressor during the sixth round, throwing a four or five-punch combinations. Hawton also pressed the action, walking Flores back against the ropes at times.
It was not enough as the early lead Flores built was too much for Hawton to overcome late in the fight.
One judge scored the bout 97-93 for Hawton, while the other two judges scored the bout 97-93 and 96-94 for Flores, who won a regional title belt and improves to 13-4-1, 2 KOs.
In junior lightweight action, Mario Ramos battered Alex Solorio to win by knockout in round three. The taller and southpaw Ramos (6-0, 6 KOs) was the aggressor, throwing and landing the more-telling blows.
The amount of punishment Solorio (4-4, 1 KO) received was evident at the end of round two as his left eye was almost shut by the punches Ramos connected. Referee Sharon Sands stopped the fight during the following round, ending matters at 2:17 to save Solorio from further punishment.
Middleweight Jonathan Esquivel remained unbeaten, stopping overmatched Joan Jose Valenzuela in the opening round.
The physically-bigger and stronger Esquivel (7-0, 7 KOs) dropped Valenzuela with an overhand right to the top of the head, midway through the round. Valenzuela (5-10-1, 5 KOs) beat the count, but was dropped again by a barrage of punches against the ropes. Referee Marcos Rosales waved the fight over at 1:51.
In the opening bout of the 'SuperFly 3' undercard, flyweight prospect Joselito Velasquez won a one-sided six round decision over veteran Jose Alfredo Flores Chanez. Velasquez, who is now being trained by Freddie Roach, was the aggressor and quicker fighter for much of the fight, battering Chanez (6-7, 3 knockouts) during the final two rounds.
All three judges scored the bout 60-54 in favor of Velasquez, who improves to 6-0, 5 KOs. Velasquez represented Mexico in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and is managed by Frank Espinoza.
