By Andy Rivera (at ringside, full gallery to follow)
Tomas Villa halted Cuauhtemoc Vargas at 2:48 of the eighth round to unify both the NABA and WBC Continental Americas crowns in Las Vegas, New Mexico on Friday night.
The card was promoted by Golden Boy Productions and Don Chargin and Fresquez Productions. In a fight that was a war from the get-go but had a sudden ending as Villa was able to come to New Mexico for a second straight time and be victorious, first beating then unbeaten David Martinez, and now Vargas.
At the time of the stoppage Vargas was leading on all cards 66-65, 67-64 twice.
Both fighters came out winging early as Villa pressed forward landing left hooks to the head of Vargas, but Vargas would fire back with his left hook to the body, it was give and take for most of the round, making it hard the rounds hard to score.
Once again it was a give and take for both combatants in rounds two and three as Villa would look to take control with his left hook followed by right hands to the head, but Vargas would come back roaring with left hooks to the head and body, the crowd was defiantly getting its monies worth as the stood and gave their approval as the bell sounded.
Vargas may have found a weakness in Villa in round four, as he was able to establish his jab keeping Villa away and a little be wildered as he wasn’t able to land as much of an attack as he had in the previous rounds. The jab alone may have won the round for Vargas in a close fight up to this point.
In the early stage of the fifth a bizarre happening took place as referee Larry Rosales took a point away from Villa for a low blow, there didn’t look to be a punch thrown that warranted the deduction, which brought outrage from Villa’s corner Villa would come back strong to try to make the it a 9-9 round on the score cards as he was able to hurt Vargas on a few occasions with lefts to the head.
Villa would come back to win the sixth in a big way, first by gaining a point edge when once again referee Rosales took a point away, this time from Vargas and holding was the infraction. Villa would go on the attack when the round resumed by pining Vargas in the corner and once again landing with shots to the head and body with the left hook.
Round seven was a close round to score as both fighters had their moments, Villa would draw first blood in the round as he once again pined Vargas in the corner landing hard left, but Vargas would spin Villa around and go on the attack landing his own left hooks. Vargas was able to get the fight in the center of the ring where he jabbed effectively.
Vargas controlled most of the eighth with his jab and right hands to the head of Villa, but out of no where Villa landed a hard right hand to the body that sent Vargas down to his knees where he was unable to beat the count.
Villa who now looks to possibly fight with Daniel Ponce De Leon, if De Leon is victorious Saturday night in his quest for the WBO crown, with the win Villa raises his record to 13-5-3, while Vargas who has nothing to be ashamed of falls for the first time at 14-1-1.
Antonio Escalante made a huge statement and showed people he is one to keep an eye out for in the future, as he halted veteran Trinidad Mendoza. Escalante was to fast and too powerful for Mendoza, as he dominated from start to finish.
The blazing fast Escalante looked impressive in the opening round as he was able to land quick left jabs followed by rights to the head then coming back with powerful left hooks to both the body and head. Mendoza tried to land a few left hooks but was unable to catch Escalante. In the final minute of the round Escalante was able to land a hard left hook that opened a small cut on the right eyebrow, drawing blood. Ring doctor P.Kandiyl visited Mendoza in between rounds, allowing Mendoza to continue.
Round two saw Escalante turn it on as he landed a quick double left uppercut followed by a straight right hand that sent Mendoza to the canvas. Mendoza was up at the count of four but looked stunned. Escalante went to work pinning Mendoza on the ropes to unleash a flurry that had Mendoza in deep trouble. Mendoza was lucky to escape the round as the bell saved him from further punishment.
Mendoza didn’t look like he could take too much more punishment as Escalante went in for the kill, landing a hard left hook to the body followed by a right hand to the head, sending Mendoza to the ropes, where Escalante teed off, prompting Mendoza’s corner to put a halt the lopsided fight. The official time of the stoppage was 1:47 of round three.
Escalante who fights under Golden Boy Productions raises his record to 10-1 7ko’s while Mendoza falls to 21-11-2
In the opening bout of the night Ernie Marquez easily out pointed Beto Perez in a four round bantamweight fight. Marquez didn’t look like a fight that had no pro experience. He was able to land effectively and stay away from Perez, when Perez tried to mount some kind of attack. All three judges’ scores scored in favor of Marquez by the scores of 39-37 twice and a ridiculous 40-39 by judge Larry Chavez. Marquez is now 1-0, while Perez drops to 1-1.
Round one saw Marquez dominate Perez with straight right hands and left hooks to the head, Perez looked frustrated as he threw wildly throughout missing, with Marquez countering to the head, backing Perez to the ropes.
Marquez pummeled Perez most of round two stunning Perez with two vicious right hands to the head, sending Perez once again to the ropes. Perez had nothing to counter Marquez attack and started to look winded.
Much of the same in the third, with Marquez pinning Perez in the corner early landing almost at will, to Perez credit he withstood the onslaught and was able to keep the fight n the center f the ring, the rest of the round, where he took less punishment.
Round four saw Marquez take off most of the round, in which Perez was able to throw more punch, but had no power to halt Marquez, which he would have to do to win the fight after digging a big hole dropping the first three rounds.
In women’s action Jodi Esquibel out-work SuzannahWarner. Esquibel was the quicker of the two and it showed as she was able to land quick flurries then get out of punching distance from the taller Warner. All three judges scored it 39-37 for Esquibel who is now 2-0, while Warner falls for the first time at 1-1.