Orozco Beats Reynoso in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS-San Diego’s Antonio Orozco used a vicious body attack to stop Riverside’s Jose Reynoso and remain undefeated on Friday.

Before a crowd of more than 1,200 at the Cosmopolitan Resort in Las Vegas, Orozco (17-0, 13 Kos) won the battle of Southern California junior welterweights by knockout. The San Diego fighter was fighting on his first main event in Las Vegas and it was a good one.

Orozco (seen landing, above, in Al Applerose photo) was very familiar with Reynoso (16-4-1, 3 Kos) and had sparred with each other before. But this time there was no head gear and both collided at full force. Orozco seemed a little stronger and more pinpoint with his punches.

A body attack by Orozco resulted in a knockdown in the fourth round. Reynoso struggled a bit to get up but nodded to the referee that he was ready to continue. He landed some good left counters to prove that he was not going away easy.

Orozco kept the pressure and Reynoso seemed stuck along the ropes most of the fight. In round seven a right hand to Reynoso’s body sent the lanky Riverside fighter down once again. Referee Kenny Bayless waved the fight over at 1:13 of round seven.

Other bouts

Anthony Dirrell (25-0, 21 Kos) withstood a furious rally from Don Mouton (11-7-1, 9 Kos) in the last four rounds to win by unanimous decision after eight rounds of a light heavyweight clash.

Dirrell was hit often in the second half of the fight as Mouton simply would not quit. Body shows flew as the taller Dirrell withstood combination punching from Houston’s Mouton. Neither fighter was ever hurt but both took serious blows to the head and body. The judges scored it 78-74, 77-75 twice for Dirrell.

“I know next time to box,” said Dirrell, who said he hadn’t fought in 15 months. “He was a strong fighter but he gave me good rounds to get the rust off.”

Former Olympian Errol Spence Jr. (5-0, 4 Kos) attacked the body quickly and found dividends with a knockout of Brandon Hoskins (16-5-1, 8 Kos) of Missouri in a junior middleweight bout. Spence had floored Hoskins earlier in the first round with a left to the body. It took Hoskins about 10 seconds before the pain registered and he collapsed to his knees. He beat the count then was hit with a left to the body and left to the chin for the knockout at 2:35 of the first round.

Former US Olympian Joseph Diaz (4-0, 2 Kos) cranked out a left cross at 2:13 of round three to knock out Puerto Rico’s Eric Gotay (3-2) in their junior featherweight fight. Diaz started quickly and was laser sharp with his punches as Gotay tried valiantly to find an antidote for those lead left blows. While trying to evade a three-punch combination Gotay was caught flush by a long left cross from South El Monte’s Diaz. It was an impressive performance.

Joet Gonzalez (4-0) hammered out a unanimous decision victory over Alex Chavez (1-1) after a four round junior featherweight clash. Both fighters walked in with no losses in their young careers but Gonzalez was a little more accurate and slightly busier. Combination punching proved beneficial in Gonzalez out-pointing Chavez.

Former US heavyweight Olympian Dominic Breazeale (5-0, 5 Kos) knocked down Missouri’s Lance Gauch (3-7-2, 3 Kos) with a right hand to the top of the head to drop the heavyweight in the first round. The fleshy fighter beat the count and continued. In round two, a long right counter sent Gauch against the corner ropes and referee Vic Drakulich immediately waved the fight over at 2:41 of the second round.

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