Litzau lights up Bentz but let’s not get too excited

VALLEY CENTER, Calif. (July 14. 2006) – It only took featherweight prospect Jason “American Boy” Litzau of St. Paul, Minnesota one round to annihilate the more experienced Nicky Bentz of Reynosa Tamaulipas, Mexico. But let’s not start jumping on Litzau’s bandwagon just yet.

Litzau, who is now 19-0 with 17 KO’s, jumped on Bentz from the start and dropped his naturally smaller opponent with a hard right to the temple. Bentz, with a record of 36-5-2, with 29 knockouts was coming off three straight losses and a draw. Two of those losses came by knockout.  Tonight, Bentz played the role of the sacrificial lamb for the younger and faster Litzau. Litzau ended matters with a hard right to the head that dropped Bentz dramatically for the count. “I’m going to get them all like that,” said the confident Litzau after the fact. It’s now safe to say that Litzau is ready for a “live” opponent that will indicate just exactly on what part of the boxing stratosphere he belongs. Joe Martinez announced the time of the stoppage as 2:59 of the first round.

Litzau vs. Bentz was the main event on a card that was televised on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights and promoted by Main Events and Patrick Ortiz. The event took place outdoors on a hot summer evening that reached 110 degrees ringside at the Harrah’s Casino located in Valley Center, California.

Freddy “Riel” Hernandez of Mexico City took on David Toribio, a Dominican based out of Miami, in a scheduled eight round Junior Middleweight bout. Hernandez controlled the fight from the onset as he softened up his opponent with hard body shots and left and right combinations to the head. Toribio had his moments as he was able to exchange effectively with Hernandez in the second. It was those body shots that paid their dividends as Hernandez unloaded with a vicious left hook to the body that put Toribio down and out. The end came at 2:43 of the fifth round. Hernandez improves to 19-1, 16 KO’s. Toribio drops down to 12-5, 7 KO’s. Hernandez has a strong mauling style but seems a bit slow on the draw.

Nelson Zepeda (9-1-1, 2 KO’s) of Portland, Oregon took a six-round unanimous decision from Richard Paige (6-5-1, 2 KO’s) of Sacramento, California. It seemed that Zepeda had control of the fight with his forceful jabs and uppercuts that were landing at will. It was all Zepeda until the fifth round when Paige started making a comeback and landed some nice rights and lefts on Zepeda who was now visibly tiring. The sixth and final round saw Zepeda controlling the fight once again and taking the decision on all three judge’s scorecards by the same marks of 59-55.

Carly Batey out of San Diego out-slicked and out-sped her opponent Danielle Lanford of Denver, Colorado. Batey used her superior speed to effectively counter her bigger opponent who was determined but could not deal with Batey’s footwork and slick style. Batey wins her pro debut in impressive fashion. Lanford is now 1-1, 1 KO.

Sammy Gonzalez of Chino, California knocked out Jesus Hernandez at 59 seconds of the second round. Gonzalez is now 3-0, 2 KO’s. Hernandez is now 2-8.

In a Welterweight action swing bout, Nelson Romine Jr. defeated John Lipcomb with a third round stoppage at 1:59. Romine improves to 7-1-1, 2 KO’s. Lipcomb drops to 2-5.