Orlando Gonzalez did his part to make an aggressive bettor $14,000 richer.
The highly touted featherweight prospect looked sharp in outpointing Luis Porozo over eight rounds in their ESPN-televised preliminary contest Thursday evening at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.
Scores were 76-74, 77-73 and 77-73 in favor of Gonzalez, who scored two knockdowns en route to his 15th pro victory in as many fights.
Gonzalez is touted as a future star in the Top Rank stable, along with his cousin and fellow rising prospect Henry LeBron. At least one gambler believed in that scouting report, placing a $192,000 bet on the Puerto Rican southpaw who was a 13-1 favorite to maintain his unblemished record.
The risk proved to be a wise investment. Gonzalez was calculated and patient in the early going, touching Porozo with his jab and scoring with left hands whenever he was able to inch his way inside. The 24-year old southpaw from the coastal town of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico didn’t expend much energy, saving that part for Porozo who attempted to take an aggressive approach with but little success.
Action picked up towards the end of round two, when Gonzalez went on the attack. A left hand froze Porozo in place along the ropes, leaving him open for a right hand and follow-up straight left which floored the 29-year old Ecuadorian late in the frame.
Porozo tried to make up for the two-pound round by going on the attack on round three. The majority of his punches were picked off by Gonzalez, who maintained a tight guard while offering a variety of weapons. Gonzalez mixed in right hooks in round four, followed with uppercuts which kept Porozo off balance and unable to return fire.
A rare mistake by Gonzalez came in round five, when a left hand strayed low and thus buying Porozo time to recover from a low blow. Porozo did his best to seize the moment, scoring with a right hand upstairs later in the frame.
Gonzalez was warned a second time for low blows in round six, although the punch was confirmed via replay as a borderline shot. Nevertheless, it allowed Porozo additional time to regroup. The brief rest actually benefited Gonzalez, who was beginning to fall out of sync before managing to once again dictate the pace. Porozo had all but given up by that point, literally running out of the way at times in lieu of offering return fire.
Another low blow was called in round seven, this time Gonzalez left hand straying well south of the border. Once again, Porozo did little out of the break other than appear to be ready to wilt. Gonzalez scored his second knockdown of the night late in the frame, this time with a legal body shot—a clean left uppercut following a right hook upstairs to send Porozo to the canvas.
As Porozo shut down his offense for the night, Gonzalez sought to close the show. The undefeated Boricua pushed forward with left hands upstairs while Porozo fought in reverse and clinched once he ran out of real estate. The bout was nearly stopped in the final 0:40 of the fight as Porozo strangely turned away once ordered to resume action, instead clutching his right arm before proceeding to finish the fight.
Gonzalez cruises to 15-0 (10KOs) with the win, his second of 2020. Porozo falls to 15-3 (8KOs), suffering his third loss in his last four starts.
The bout served in supporting capacity to a bantamweight clash between Australia’s Jason Moloney (21-1, 17KOs) and Mexicali’s Leonardo Baez (19-2-2, 7KOs) in the evening’s main event.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox