San Diego’s Chris Martin KOs Hidalgo; Sanchez-Esquivias End In TD

ONTARIO, CALIF.-San Diego’s Christopher Martin fell behind on points to Mexico’s Raul Hidalgo and salvaged the fight with a fifth round knockout on Friday.

Martin (27-2-3, 9 Kos), a former contender, seemingly lost the majority of rounds after four stanzas to Hidalgo’s aggressive attack. But a punishing body shot at the end of the round proved to be a clue to the Mexican fighter’s weakness and Martin took advantage.

Hidalgo (17-9, 13 Kos) had scored heavily in four rounds with precise combination punching as Martin countered occasionally. But after the body blow, Martin began to quickly figure out the antidote to Hidalgo’s style.

Martin took his time and landed blows to the head as Hidalgo moved back while punching. A clean punch to the body followed by several more crumbled the Mexican fighter in his own corner. He grimaced in pain and tried to get up, then slumped back to the floor for the knockout at 2:37 of round five. Referee Jack Reiss stopped the fight.

Other bouts

A featherweight clash between Efrain Esquivias and Houston’s Victor Sanchez ended in a technical draw after an accidental clash of heads resulted in a gash over the Texan’s eye on Friday night.

Sanchez (5-6-2) returned to Southern California after upsetting a previous local fighter to face featherweight contender Esquivias (16-2-1, 9 Kos) in the co-main event at the Doubletree Hotel. But in the very first round, both fighters ran into each other and a cut bled profusely above the Texan’s eye.

In the second round Sanchez attacked aggressively as he tried to end the fight quickly, but Esquivias used his defense and counter punches to offset the attack. The ringside physician was called over twice to examine Sanchez and finally advised the referee Ray Corona to stop the fight at 2:20 of the second round. It was declared a technical draw.

Esquivias’ only losses came against current world champion Jonathan Romero and former champion Rico Ramos. Sanchez defeated Richard Contreras in his last fight.

San Diego’s Giovanni Santillan (9-0, 5 Kos) won the battle of southpaws against Houston’s Adam Ealoms (3-4-3) by unanimous decision. It was a tricky junior welterweight fight as both lefties were defensive minded and left few openings. Santillan was slightly quicker and was able to counter more effectively in winning 60-54 on all three judge’s scorecards.

In a junior featherweight fight it was L.A.’s Danny Roman (6-1-1, 2 Kos) who won by unanimous decision against Laredo’s Manuel Ruvalcaba after four rounds. The decisive moment came in round two when a left hook to the liver sent Ruvalcaba to the floor. He beat the count but was not in the fight after that. The judges scored the fight 40-35 for Roman.

In a real heavyweight fight Justin “Big Daddy Kane” Goslee (1-0) dominated Jose Hermosillo with two knockdowns and a bloody nose. Goslee weighs 345 pounds and is nine inches over six-feet in height. Hermosillo tried holding but couldn’t seem to wrap his hands around Goslee’s huge waist. Referee Ray Corona ended the fight mercifully at 2:14 of round one for a knockout victory for Goslee.

San Bernardino’s Joshua Conley (7-0, 6 Kos) needed little prompting to walk down Texas junior middleweight Roberto Lara (0-4) and connect with a left hook to the body for a first round knockout at 1:07. Conley has looked more and more comfortable but had his tongue wagging out while stalking Lara. Bad idea and bad habit.