No Trouble for Carlos Bojorquez in Win Over Marlon Thomas

SAN MANUEL RESERVATION, CALIF. – Faced with retirement if he lost, Carlos “El Elegante” Bojorquez stopped Detroit’s Marlon “Trouble Man” Thomas by knockout at San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino on Thursday night.

Retirement is on hold.

“I knew it was going to be quick,” said Bojorquez (26-8-6, 22 KOs).

After suffering a big loss on national television in December, Bojorquez returned to familiar territory and wasted little time in showing Thomas (35-7-1, 21 KOs) that it was not going to go the distance.

“I trained very hard for this fight,” Bojorquez said. “It was going to be a knockout.”

Bojorquez cornered Thomas in the second round and both exchanged freely. Thomas landed, but Bojorquez landed too. The Michigan fighter than went into a defensive mode and Bojorquez fired more rights. Down went Thomas, who had never been knocked out before, at 1:32 of the second round.

A right hand to the side of the head forced Thomas to put his head down where Bojorquez popped him with another right on the back of the head. Though that last blow seemed to have little force, Thomas slumped to the floor and was counted out by referee James Jen Kin.

Once again Bojorquez proved he can exchange with anyone and end a fight quickly. Thomas recovered but limped out of the ring pointing to his hip. No word on why his leg or hip was in pain.

Meanwhile, Bojorquez was confident the win puts him back in the contender level.

“I’m going to keep fighting,” Bojorquez said.

Before the fight, the former junior middleweight contender promised he would retire if he lost.

“I’m fighting for my son,” he said.

In other bouts, Alan Velasco (5-0-1) of East Los Angeles proved too experienced for the young, talented Arron Robinson (4-2-1) of Hawthorne in a six-round welterweight contest. Velasco, 30, used a blistering body attack to keep Robinson, 20, in a blocking mode. The judges ruled it 60-54, twice and 59-55 for Velasco.

Riverside’s Jose “Pepe” Reynoso (7-1) used his southpaw stance and quicker hands to outbox Canada’s Tariq Jooya (6-4-1) in a six-round junior welterweight contest. All three judges scored it 60-54 for Reynoso.

William Chapman (7-0) of Portland, Oregon outboxed Riverside’s Juan Carlos Garcia (7-8) for six rounds in a junior welterweight bout. Garcia couldn’t find an answer to Chapman’s tighter boxing ability. Chapman seemed to beat him to the punch in every round and was able to convince the judges too who scored it 60-54 for Chapman.

In a super middleweight contest Mexico’s Paulino Avitia (13-6, 9 KOs) scored a split decision over Luis Lopez (11-7-1, 6 KOs) of Pasco, Washington in a tight and entertaining contest. The fans loved the action but booed the decision. Lopez proved to be a good sport and raised Avitia’s hand when he was announced the winner.