Jolene Blackshear Defeats Sindy Amador & Reyes Kos Perez

ONTARIO, CALIF.-­San Diego’s Jolene Blackshear knocked down Riverside’s Sindy Amador twice to win by split decision and grab the interim WIBA junior flyweight title on Friday.

Behind a ramrod right hand, Blackshear (8-3, 4 Kos) kept at bay the fast pressure of Amador (10-1) over eight rounds before 1,000 fans at the Doubletree Hotel on the Thompson Boxing Promotions fight card. It was hometown favorite Amador’s first loss.

Amador began the fight behind a good jab as Blackshear seemed to gauge what she had in front of her in the first round. The busier Amador used a lot of head movement and moved around skillfully in the first two minute round.

“Our game plan was to keep moving and give her different angles to offset her forward momentum and pressure,” said Blackshear.

Blackshear ( landing right cross, above, in Al Applerose photo)began catching Amador with a lead right hand that popped back the head of the hometown favorite. Amador walked through them but right after right kept landing on the button. It became the theme of the fight.

“We planned to drive her back with power shots in order to make her fight backwards and to control the fight and control the pace,” Blackshear said. “I did not feel I was behind on the scorecards, although there were some competitive rounds that I would give her, especially given it was her home town.”

Amador had a good round in the fifth but was still catching rights from Blackshear. The Riverside fighter increased the pressure and found success. Blackshear rallied a bit but was caught with a combination.

Blackshear returned to form with her crisp right hands as Amador tried to retaliate with more and more pressure. In the seventh round Blackshear fired a right cross and left hook combination that dropped Amador on her seat. She got up before the count of eight.

Amador opened up aggressively in the eighth and final round and was caught with a Blackshear left hook and down she went again. The Riverside boxer beat the count but couldn’t mount a rally.

After eight rounds judges Marty Denkin and Pat Connolly had the fight scored 76-74 for Blackshear. Judge Gwen Adair saw it 76-74 for Amador, giving Blackshear a win by split decision and the interim WIBA junior flyweight title.

“I felt I was doing my job and keeping her in check during some competitive rounds,” Blackshear said. “The concern going into the fight was the element of the unknown.”

After tonight Blackshear’s abilities will not be unknown.

Reyes

San Bernardino’s Artemio Reyes (20-2, 16 Kos) won by knockout against Mexico’s Sergio Perez (28-15, 19 Kos) in a welterweight clash.

Reyes boxed carefully for two rounds against Tijuana veteran Perez who was firing some tricky bombs. But he kept the pressure on and also remained composed on the slick southpaw.

Perez maneuvered around looking for weaknesses in Reyes’ guard and occasionally fired lefts from a right hand stance. Reyes didn’t fall for any of deceptions and kept his guard tight.

The third round saw Reyes maneuver Perez into a corner and fire a left hook to the Tijuana fighter’s exposed body. Down he went for a count. After a count of six Perez got up and Reyes feinted on top and landed another hook to the body. Perez did not beat the count this time at 1:39 of round three.

Other bouts

Colombia’s Alex “El Principe” Theran (14-0, 8 Kos) overcome a sluggish start against Mexico’s Juan “El Chiflado” Rojas to win by unanimous decision after six rounds of a middleweight matchup. Rojas jumped on the southpaw Theran early with some solid right hands but once the Colombian got his rhythm he was able to control the fight. All three judges gave Theran the win, 60-54.

San Diego’s Jorge Ruiz (3-0) had a difficult time with Houston’s Alex Ruiz (0-3) but won a majority decision after four rounds. The taller San Diego junior welterweight fought with a shoulder roll but wasn’t allowed time to counter against Houston’s Ruiz. They battled all four rounds with one judge scoring it a draw and the other two giving it to San Diego’s Ruiz. Houston’s Ruiz was a busy fighter and had a good chin to go with his constant punching.

Riverside’s Ralph Lopez (7-1, 6 Kos) knocked out Mexico’s German Valdez (2-2) with a flurry of blows in the second round of a middleweight fight. Lopez, the younger brother of welterweight contender Josesito Lopez, had knocked down Valdez in the first round with a counter right after getting hit with a left to the body. Valdez didn’t learn that lesson and fired another left to Lopez’s body and immediately caught a right counter that snapped his head back. Lopez did not hesitate and forced referee Raul Caiz Jr. to end the match in 29 seconds of round two.