by Francisco Salazar
Forum, Los Angeles - Middleweight Yamaguchi Falcao (12-0, 5 KOs) stopped German Perez in the opening round of a scheduled 10 round bout. Perez (10-3-3, 3 KOs) looked as though he lost his footing, turing an ankle in the process. Falcao landed a combination to the head, prompting Perez to turn his back to Falcao. Referee Zac Young stopped the bout at 27 seconds.
Hard-hitting and rising middleweight Jason Quigley (12-0, 10 KOs) made short work of Jorge Melendez, stopping him in the opening round. On paper, Melendez figured to give Quigley his toughest fight on paper, but that was not the case after the midway point of the round, when Quigley dropped Melendez with a right hand. Melendez (28-8-1, 26 KOs) was able to beat the count, but was dropped again by a barrage of punches from Quigley. Melendez was dropped a third time and it seemed as though he would remain on the canvas.
But to Melendez's credit, he attempted to fight back, although he was battered against the ropes. Melendez's corner saw enough, throwing in the towel, prompting referee Gerard White to stop the fight at 2:24.
Lightweight Ryan Garcia dropped Antonio Martinez (6-8, 5 KOs) once in route to a second round knockout victory. Garcia (7-0, 6 KOs), who is 18 years old and recently signed a promotional contract with Golden Boy, stunned Martinez with a left hook to the head. Garcia did not let up in round two, dropping Martinez with a right hand midway through the round. Martinez beat the count, but received a barrage of punches against the ropes, prompting referee Rudy Barragan to stop the bout at 2:00.
Junior lightweight Carlos Morales survived a late rally to grind out a 10 round split decision victory over Charles Huerta. Morales (15-1-3, 13 KOs), who was winless in his first bouts as a pro, outboxed Huerta during the first half of the fight, doing so by switching from conventional to southpaw and vice versa.
By the middle rounds, Huerta (18-5, 10 KOs) began to press the action, sitting down on his punches when he was able to get on the inside of Morales' guard. Huerta dropped Morales with less than a minute left in round eight, but was unable to finish him off. Both fighters had their moments in the final two rounds, as Morales boxed while Huerta pressed forward. One judge scored the bout 96-93 in favor of Morales, while the other two judges scored the bout 96-93 and 95-94 for Morales.
Hard-hitting lightweight Christian Gonzalez remained unbeaten, stopping Jonathan Perez (36-16, 28 KOs) in the third round. From the opening bell, Gonzalez (16-0, 14 KOs) utilized his size and strength to impose his will on Perez. Gonzalez dropped Perez with a right hand near the end of round two. Gonzalez did not let up on Perez early in round three, dropping him again to the canvas. Perez was counted out at 24 second by referee Gerard White.
Lightweight Ivan Delgado stopped Roberto Rivera at 1:18 of the sixth round. Delgado (11-0-1, 4 KOs) broke down Rivera in each round, forcing him to fight off his back foot as the bout progressed. A barrage of punches stunned Rivera in round six, prompting referee Zac Young to stop the fight and save Rivera (6-4, 5 KOs) from taking further punishment.
In the opening bout of the Golden Boy Promotions card, featherweight Joet Gonzalez remained unbeaten with a fourth round knockout win over Jairo Hernandez. After dominating the action, Gonzalez (15-0, 7 KOs) hurt Hernandez with a barrage of punches. Hernandez attempted to weather the storm, but was battered against the ropes until referee Gerard White stepped in and stopped the bout at 2:40.
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 (Calif.) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing
ADD COMMENT VIEW COMMENTS (1)