Joet Gonzalez Wins NABO; Seniesa and Maricela KO Foes in L.A.

RINGSIDE REPORT BY SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT TARRAH ZAEL –Judges gave a surprising split decision to Glendora, California’s Joet Gonzalez (20-0, 11 KO) over Tijuana, Mexico’s Rafael Rivera (25-2-2) on Friday on a Golden Boy Promotions card at The Novo at L.A. Live in Los Angeles.

The judges scored the 10-round main event 97-93 and 96-94 for Gonzalez; also, 96-94 for Rivera; allowing Gonzalez to capture the vacant NABO featherweight title and continue his undefeated record.

The first three rounds of the fight, Rivera came out on top as the busier fighter. He was aggressive and landed connecting combinations over his opponent. Gonzalez did not do as much to gain any points during these rounds. When Gonzalez did decide to counter his uppercuts and jabs, they landed perfectly as a means to void the work Rivera was putting in.

Even though the first couple of rounds started off slow for Gonzalez, it was the fourth round that he put some work in with body shots and straight jabs over Rivera, setting him back off his game. The exchange was aggressive and an outright slugfest developed between the two fighters for the remaining rounds until the end of fight.

Regardless of the exchanges, and even though both fighters never backed down, it was Rivera who stayed busier against the Californian Gonzalez. Rivera, also known as “Big Bang,” lived up to his name as he delivered promising punches upon the undefeated featherweight contender Gonzalez throughout the whole fight.

Rivera’s response to the loss: “I came from Tijuana, so I knew this was going to happen. This is what happens when you go into someone’s backyard.”

Gonzalez thought otherwise: “I felt like I dominated the majority of the fight. It was a pretty exciting fight!”

Some agree with Gonzalez on the excitement of the fight, not only from the response from the crowd but from both corners of the fighters. All eyes were glued to the last couple of rounds.

Seniesa Wins

In the co-main event, light flyweight Seniesa “Super Bad” Estrada (14-0) of Los Angeles continued her undefeated record with a 20 second stoppage in the third round. The left hook to the liver forced Ecuador’s Jhosep Vizcaino (7-7) to take a knee as she embraced the pain from Estrada’s power.

At the mention of a possible fight with another popular contender, Marlen Esparza, Estrada smiled and replied, “I’m ready. I’ll be ready anytime. I’m ready tomorrow.”

Maricela Wins

In the T.V. opener, a super middleweight bout scheduled for six-rounds, Maricela Cornejo (12-2, 5 KO) started off the night with a knockout win over Samantha Pill (3-1). Once Cornejo got comfortable in the ring, she administered her right hand and combinations over the less experienced Pill who wasn’t throwing many punches at all. Finally, the referee stopped the bout at 41 seconds in the third round.

Cornejo is ranked as a super middleweight and middleweight. She formerly fought for a middleweight title against Kali Reis and seeks another title fight against anyone with a title or ranked high.

“I can’t wait to fight an even better opponent to show all of my capabilities,” said Cornejo.

Other Bouts

“Kansas Kid” Richard Acevedo (3-0, 3 KO) of Kansas towered over Louisiana’s Quantavious Green (1-2-1, 1 KO). After three rounds of hard shots to the body of Green, the referee finally stopped the continuous damage. The super welterweight bout was scheduled for four-rounds but was stopped at :40 in the third round, having Acevedo score the technical knockout win.

The last bout of the night had Christian “El Chimpa” Gonzalez (19-2, 15 KO) winning a unanimous decision over the bouncy veteran German Meraz (58-48-2, 38 KO). All three judges scored it 80-71.

Photo credit: Al Applerose

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