California Lightweight Prospects Lopez and Salcido Shine Again

ONTARIO — Lightweight prospects Josesito Lopez and Dominic Salcido found out during the week their opponents had changed but that didn’t stop them from dominating at the Doubletree Hotel on Friday.

Lopez discovered he was fighting veteran Armando Cordova (23-33-2, 17 KOs) of Panama whose fight had been canceled days earlier in another city, but the Riverside fighter needed only a few rounds to figure out the style and proceeded to inch closer and closer.

“He was a good fighter with lots of experience, I could tell from the first round,” said Lopez (19-2, 12 KOs). “I knew I had to work.”

After four rounds of tactics and strategy, a four-punch combination in the fifth round dropped Cordova who beat the count and survived the round. But at the end of the round the Panamanian told his corner he had enough.

“I was surprised I knocked him down,” said Lopez who is rated as a lightweight and is scheduled to fight in Chicago next.

In the other lightweight bout, after a year hiatus due to injury, Salcido returned to the ring against the extremely hardnosed Juan Figueroa (5-6-1, 3 KOs) in a lightweight bout. Though he won every round according to judges, Salcido was not satisfied with his performance.

“I had a lot of ring rust,” said Salcido (9-0, 5 KOs) of Rialto. “It wasn’t until the third round that I realized I was throwing too many punches.”

Early in the fight Salcido hurt the right hand, the same hand that put him on the shelf for almost an entire year. But after a few rounds, the pain disappeared.

“I could tell that he had hurt his hand again,” said Joel Diaz, who trains Salcido and junior welterweight contender Timothy Ray Bradley. “But then he started firing it again. That’s when I knew he was alright.”

Salcido proved too quick for the rough tactics normally dispensed by Figueroa. But occasionally a low blow or two caught the quicksilver Rialto boxer.

A strong body attack opened up the fight for Salcido who proceeded to land at liberty against Figueroa from the third round on.

Colombia’s Yonnhy Perez (9-0, 7 KOs) pummeled Puerto Rico’s clever Luis Agosto at 1:08 of the second round in a junior bantamweight fight. After discovering Agosto’s penchant for hanging on the ropes, Perez unleashed a 20-punch barrage that forced referee Jose Cobian to halt the fight.

Canada’s Joel Mills (2-1) outpointed Inglewood’s Leshon Sims (3-4) in a four-round junior middleweight contest. Mills, who boxes out of the Wild Card Boxing gym, was the busier fighter and captured a majority decision 38-38, 39-37 twice.

Junior bantamweights Jesus “Pollo” Hernandez and Lucian Gonzalez fought a spirited four rounds. But it was Hernandez who proved the far more accurate fighter in winning by unanimous decision 40-36 on all three judges’ scorecards.

A heavyweight bout between Mira Loma’s heavyweight Hildo Silva and Orange County’s Alex Conte ended in a split-decision for Silva. Despite a knockdown in the third round when Conte landed a left hook during an exchange, Silva out-hustled Conte in the last round to pull out a win. The judges scored it 38-37 twice for Silva and 38-37 for Conte.