Arizona’s Juanito Garcia Stopped

CITY OF INDUSTRY, CALIF.-It was a night of ugly knockout losses for several youthful boxing hopefuls including Arizona’s Juanito Garcia who bent over in pain in his first televised main event on Friday.

You live by the sword, you die by the sword.

Detroit’s Cornelius Lock (17-2-1, 9 KOs) walked in with Roger Mayweather in the outside boxing venue in Industry Hills, California and walked out with the WBC Youth title after disposing of Garcia in the fourth round. A body shot did terrible damage to Garcia who was undefeated before entering the ring.

Not any more.

Garcia (14-1, 5 KOs) was scheduled to fight another foe  but an injury forced a change of opponents. In came speedy left-handed power hitter Lock. Bad news for Garcia.

From the first round it was obvious that Lock was quick and had knockout power, and Garcia ate a couple of left hands.

The second round began better for Garcia who found a way to evade Lock’s quick snappy left hand. But just when it looked like he had found the antidote, a right hook caught Garcia coming in. After that punch, it was just a matter of time before Lock locked into Garcia’s combinations. The end came at 2:32 of the fourth round when Lock fired a shot to the body followed by a right hook to the head.

Garcia didn’t get up for five minutes.

In the semi-main event, Salina’s featherweight Alejandro Perez (12-0-1, 7 KOs) was matched tough against Puerto Rico’s Omar Adorno (16-10-1). Within one minute it was obvious that Perez was much better than theorized as he battered his opponent with thudding body punches. The end came at 2:01 of the first round.

One tough match up that did end with a decision came with West Covina’s John Molina, the next generation  Diego Corrales. His opponent Carlos Madrid (8-5-2) had never been stopped, even against Oxnard’s Brandon Rios. He proved his chin was durable in taking big time power shots from Molina.

After six rounds the judges ruled Molina the winner 59-55, 58-56 twice.

“We were working on our jabs,” said Molina (11-0, 8 KOs), who has proven he has quick striking power but needs work on other aspects of his game. “He’s a proven fighter and gave me all I could handle. A win is a win.”

Molina, who is trained by veteran trainer Ben Lira, has proven to boxing observers that he packs big power in both hands. Seeking to test the lithe boxer, the Top Rank matchmakers set him up with sturdy Madrid to give him a true test. In the end Molina’s laser jab proved the difference in tallying points for a clear cut win.

“Carlos Madrid was a good test,” Molina said.

Other bouts

Demetrio Soto (2-0) blitzed through San Antonio’s Mike Ramos (1-1) in a contest between pro fighters with one win and no losses. After less than three rounds, Soto dropped Ramos three times before the bout was stopped at 1:38 of the second round.

It was a great showing by Soto who beat Ramos, a fighter with more than 200 amateur fights.

Leo Santa Cruz (5-0-1), the younger brother of Jose Armando Santa Cruz who lost a horrible decision to Joel Casamayor last November, knocked down Daniel Quevedo (7-9-2) and cruised to victory in a bantamweight bout. The judges scored it 40-35 for Santa Cruz.

Max Skayzer (1-0) was the superior boxer in a four-round junior middleweight fight against Bellflower’s Ernesto Morales (0-1). Skayzer showed slick defensive moves. The judges scored it 40-36 for Skayzer.

In a middleweight collision San Diego’s Raymundo Ortega (1-1) caught El Monte’s Oscar “Snoop” Banuelos (2-1) with a right hand during an exchange and Banuelos dropped like a rock. Referee Jack Reiss stopped the fight immediately at 52 seconds of the third round.