Vicente Escobedo Jabs Way To Victory

CARSON-Seeking to improve on his last outing Vicente Escobedo wasn’t holding anything back including that lightning left jab against Argentina’s Roberto Arrieta (27-13-4, 10 KOs) on Friday.

It was a good thing.

Arrieta proved to be extremely strong and able to withstand Escobedo’s left hook and combinations, he just couldn’t find an answer for that jolting jab.

Escobedo moved laterally at times but attempted to drive Arrieta’s head off his neck with left-right combinations. At times it looked like the Argentine was about to fold, but it never happened.

“This guy was durable,” said Escobedo (17-1, 11 KOs).

In the fifth round Arrieta found a weak spot with several body shots that seemed to affect the Californian, but he managed to escape the heat.

“He connected well to the body,” Escobedo said. “But I was in better shape.”

After losing the fifth, the former U.S. Olympian rallied behind a stiff jab and fired a left-right combination that floored Arrieta. But the Argentine managed to find a way to escape once again.

“He has a lot of experience,” said Escobedo. “I tried but he was too experienced and durable.”

From the seventh round on the Sacramento native jabbed his way to victory and occasionally found left hooks effective in forcing Arrieta backward.

“He has a good future,” Arrieta said of Escobedo. “He just needs to work on the small details like defense.”

Escobedo was pleased with this performance.

“I looked better than my last fight,” said Escobedo.

Other bouts

The judges scored it 99-90 twice and 97-92 for Escobedo.

New York’s Jeffrey Resto (22-2, 13 KOs) pulled out a majority decision in a junior welterweight fight with Tulare, California’s Hector Alatorre (15-4).

Colombia’s Yonnhy Perez out-boxed veteran Mexican fighter Manuel Sarabia in a six-round, but it wasn’t easy. Sarabia who has fought several world champions in his career also fought in his 50th pro fight. He doesn’t quit for anybody.

Though the judges scored it unanimously for Perez 60-54 twice and 59-55, the experienced Sarabia battled every round like it was his last. It was a tremendous action fight between two very skilled boxers.

In an exciting junior welterweight bout Hector Ramos (2-0) was dropped three times in a four round fight and his opponent Shawn Waite (0-1) was knocked down twice, so Waite should be the winner, right? Wrong. All three judges scored the fight for Texas fighter Ramos and gave pro debuting Waite the loss in a screw decision.