Herrera won a controversial decision over Dallas in a fight which ran on “Friday Night Fights.”

TEMECULA-Riverside’s Mauricio “El Maestro” Herrera won a majority decision against Mike Dallas Jr. and Covina’s John Molina started slowly before turning on the lawnmower against Colorado’s game Robert Frankel to win by technical knockout due to cuts on Friday.

Herrera (18-1, 7 KOs) kept his IBF North America junior welterweight title and Molina kept the WBC and WBO regional junior lightweight titles though they weren’t up for grabs at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in front of a late arriving sold out crowd.

First was the co-main between Herrera and Dallas that saw both speedy fighters battle for a higher contention spot.

The long quick punches of Dallas were finding the range especially on counters against Herrera. Though the Riverside fighter found success going to the body, early, it was Dallas who seemed to score big at the end of rounds with right hand counters. Except in round two when Dallas grabbed one of Herrera’s arms for most of the three minutes and allowed the Riverside boxer to pummel him with punches.

“I won the first five rounds,” said Dallas (17-2-1, 7 KOs). “He was throwing four and I was throwing six punches.”

Round five saw Herrera attack more aggressively instead of boxing from a distance. Using more muscle Herrera fired more punches that did not allow Dallas to set up counters.

“I know he wanted to fight on the outside and I wasn’t going to let him,” said Herrera.

Repeated low blows by Dallas finally forced referee Jack Reiss to warn the long armed fighter to keep his punches up in round six. Herrera went back on the attack and was the busier fighter in back-to-back rounds.

Herrera’s strength was giving him more opportunities to land blows inside and out. The busier work rate by Herrera forced Dallas to rely on more defense than offense.

The action slowed a bit on Herrera’s part allowing Dallas to resume his hit and move tactics. Some good three combos by the Bakersfield junior welter scored well in round eight.

“I slowed a bit in the middle rounds,” said Herrera. “He pulled out a couple of flurries.”

Herrera had a big ninth round landing some good left hooks to the head and some nifty combinations. Dallas couldn’t seem to find Herrera though he fired away. Both expended a lot of punches.

“I know he was tired,” said Herrera.

Dallas came out on all cylinders in the 10^th and final round. Though he was firing more than usual he couldn’t crack Herrera’s defense much. He landed some blows but more of the slapping style of punches that are good in the amateurs but not in the pro level. Then, he mixed in some heavy blows that didn’t land flush but landed. Herrera seemed tired from the previous round and was unable to land many clean blows. But he kept firing with Dallas until the final bell.

One judge Zack Young scored it 95-95, while judges Alejandro Rochin 96-94 and Fritz Werner scored it 98-92 for Herrera by majority decision.

“I don’t know how he won, maybe because he’s from the area,” said Dallas about the scoring. “I just got to keep trying.”

It was a close fight that saw two judges not caring for Dallas’s holding tactics.

“I knew it was going to be an ugly fight with head butts, holding and low blows,” said Herrera accurately summarizing the fight. “I felt I kept busy all the time that he kept holding me.”

Molina wins by TKO The slender bomber Molina (23-1, 19 KOs) started very slowly in the first round as he gauged Frankel’s boxing style and distance. But from round two on he turned on the lawnmower and began firing big blows that quickly opened up a cut over Frankel’s left eye in round two. That was just the beginning.

Frankel (28-11-1, 5 KOs) had good boxing skills and tagged Molina solidly in the third round. But the Covina puncher opened up with the bombs and seemed to blast the Colorado fighter with each blow.

“When he hit me with that shot it was to my teeth more than anything,” said Molina about receiving the blow from Frankel.

From that point on Molina began punishing and punishing Frankel with almost every punch that landed. Frankel never wavered but his face let him down as cuts opened up all over. He was a bloody mess.

Finally, at the end of round five the fight was stopped by referee Raul Caiz Jr.

“He was very durable. He never stopped but the damage I gave him was the worst that was ever done to him,” said Molina about his opponent. “This is not Dancing with the Stars, it’s a fight.”

Olympians win Former U.S. 2008 Olympian Javier Molina (23-1, 18 KOs) spent six rounds with the ring educated skills of Hector Alatorre (16-16, 5 KOs) in a six round welterweight contest. Molina had the reach, the pop and the speed advantage over Alatorre who used his smarts to stay out of trouble. All three judges scored it for Molina by scores of 59-55, 60-54 twice.

Former 2000 U.S. Olympian Ricardo Williams (19-2, 10 KOs) scored a split decision win over Armenia’s talented Arman Ovsepyan (11-2, 9 KOs) after eight rounds of a welterweight bout. In a beautiful match Williams used pinpoint three-punch combos to keep the aggressive Ovsepyan from walking in. Little by little the Armenian boxer closed the distance by attacking the body. Soon he was able to open up firing lanes and close the distance in the fight. Williams saved the fight in the crucial eighth and final round with a sizzling left uppercut and straight left cross that nailed the fight for him. One judge Zack Young scored it 77-75 for Ovsepyan, while Fritz Werner’s 79-73 and Alejandro Rochin’s 77-75 for Williams turned the fight to his favor.

Technical decision Van Nuys bantamweight Matt Villanueva (6-0-1, 6 KOs) was powering his way through Colorado’s Ernie Marquez (9-8-2) through the first two rounds, then ran into a wicked overhand right that wobbled him in round three. An elbow nudge from Marquez put Villanueva on the floor but it was correctly ruled a push. The round continued with Marquez on attack when suddenly Villanueva fired a blow to the groin. Marquez could not continue after five minutes and the fight was ruled a technical draw.

Other bouts Vahe Saruhan (2-0) of Los Angeles won a unanimous decision over Pomona’s Oscar Santana (1-1) in a four round lightweight bout. Saruhan moved and countered to win easy over Santana who never could catch the twinkle toed Saruhan.

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