Chocolatito Wins the Battle of Champions in San Diego

Published

3 years ago

March 6, 2022

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SAN DIEGO-Four-division world champion Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez welcomed smaller weight world titlist Julio Cesar Martinez to the master class level of prizefighting with a display of pinpoint combination punching and machine-like stamina that led to a unanimous decision victory on Saturday for a regional title.

It was mesmerizing.

Nicaragua’s Gonzalez (51-3, 41 KOs) changed the mood of the boisterous pro-Mexican crowd with a superb display of pinpoint fighting over Martinez (18-2, 14 KOs) who moved up one weight division to face the legendary fighter at the Pechanga Arena.

Martinez’s WBC flyweight title was not at stake.

Despite a large crowd of mostly Mexican fans cheering Martinez and slightly booing Gonzalez, by the third round it was apparent that the Nicaraguan fighter’s special talent for fighting was worth watching.

Instead of booing, the fans vocally supported the various moves and counter moves Chocolatito had in store for the young Mexican fighter.

Martinez had his moments especially in the opening round, but the Nicaraguan fighter seemed to be studying the Mexican fighter with curiosity.

“I wanted to feel his power first and work with him,” Gonzalez said. “My corner said to not give him any rounds.”

Taking the advice, Gonzalez went right to work in the second round with a dazzling display of razor-sharp combinations that rattled the head of Martinez and gave a glimpse of what to expect.

Martinez showed off his Mexican machismo and smacked his gloves together repeatedly as to signify he wanted more. And every time he unleashed his own wide combinations he was met with Gonzalez’s tight and much straighter combos that seldom missed. It was class in session.

But youth can sometimes beat experience and though Chocolatito has been through dozens of wars, his legs and reflexes remain sharp. And as for his stamina, though he lagged a bit in the middle, his wisdom eased him through those brief moments too.

Time after time the two super flyweights exchanged vicious combinations and each time it seemed Gonzalez would finish the exchange. Martinez just couldn’t seem to win a round. During the 11^th round Gonzalez hit Martinez with so many blows it seemed to make the Mexican dizzy.

The final round saw both fighters unload every last spark of energy with furious combinations. Neither fighter was hurt but exhausted. After 12 rounds all three judges ruled in favor of Chocolatito 118-110, 117-111, 116-112.

“Martinez was very courageous and can take a lot of punishment,” said Gonzalez. “I’m very surprised.”

Now Gonzalez awaits his new victim or foe and does not care who it is.

“Whatever comes,” he said. “As long they pay me well.”

Mexican War

An explosive Mexican lightweight battle erupted between Mexico City’s Mauricio Lara and Southern California’s Emilio Sanchez and was fun while it lasted with Lara emerging the winner by knockout.

Sanchez and Lara didn’t waste time warming up. They simply used each other’s heads for target practice and delivered action from the opening bell.

Lara favored the windmill overhand bombs and Sanchez preferred right uppercuts in bunches. Each connected and each was rocked with Sanchez going down in the first hand from a hammer of a right by Lara. He got up gingerly but willing.

It didn’t look good for Sanchez in the second round but he found success with four consecutive right uppercuts that seemed to surprise the Mexico City bomber. It was open season for bombs and both were willing to go down on their shield. The crowd went crazy.

Both exploded with an exchange of blows probably knowing that whoever got hit first was going down. Sanchez seemed to connect with a right to the head, then delivered a body shot that had Lara with a look of pain. He grabbed Sanchez and took him down like a safety bringing down a possible touchdown run. The referee warned Lara of the tactic and the fight resumed. It turned out to be a wise man as Lara returned with some wicked rights and wobbled Sanchez. As he stumbled across the ring Lara chased him like a hungry wolf and connected with a four-punch combination. Down went Sanchez crookedly in bent fashion. Down went the referee Ray Corona too as he tripped over Lara while trying to end the fight at 2:59 of the third round. Lara was declared the winner by knockout.

The crowd went delirious. Its exactly what they wanted to see: a Mexican style war.

Other Bouts

A regional lightweight title fight between Angel Fierro (19-1-2) and Juan Carlos Burgos (34-6-3) ended in a split draw after 10 back-and-forth rounds. Tijuana’s Burgos used his old tricks to jump out in front but the younger Fierro was able to figure out the Mexican fighter’s style and roared down the stretch with an aggressive attack. He slowed a bit in the stretch and that allowed Burgos to steal some rounds. But the last round may have decided the draw as Fierro was able to connect with heavier shots. After 10 rounds one judge scored it 96-94 Burgos but two others saw it 95-95 for the split draw.

France’s Souleymane Cissokho (15-0, 9 KOs) hit and moved his way to victory despite an exchange of knockdowns with Robert Valenzuela Jr. (19-3, 3 KOs) in the fourth round of the super welterweight fight.

After the fourth round Cissokho got on his bicycle and ran his way to victory but stopped just enough to rattle off combinations against Valenzuela who loaded up too much while looking for the knockout. The judges scored the regional title fight 100-90, 99-91 twice for Cissokho.

Diego Pacheco (14-0, 11 KOs) met someone near his size in Genc Pllana (9-4-1) but still blew out his foe in the second round. Pacheco floored Pllana in the first round with a three-punch combination and then finished the job in the second round with a four-punch combination that included two vicious left hooks to end the fight at 1:29 of their super middleweight fight.

Fresno’s Marc Castro (6-0, 5 KOs) survived a knockdown early in the fight to out-box and out-punch Mexico’s Julio Madera (3-2) and win by unanimous decision after six rounds in a lightweight bout. Madera scored a knockdown with a left hook to the chin during a furious exchange in the second round. After the knockdown, Castro refrained from throwing more than three-punch combinations and swept the rest of the rounds to win by unanimous decision 58-55 on all three cards.

Skye Nicolson (1-0), an amateur star in Australia, was able to use her quickness and mobility to win by unanimous decision against San Diego’s Jessica Juarez (3-1). Very few punches were actually thrown or connected in the six round super featherweight bout. Instead, Nicolson slapped and tapped her way to victory against Juarez who had no idea how to cut off the ring. Boring stuff. Lots of touch fighting and few exchanges.

Photo credit: Al Applerose

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David A. Avila

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Floyd Schofield Wins a Banger and Gabriela Fundora Wins by KO

Published

2 days ago

November 3, 2024

David A. Avila

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Floyd Schofield Wins a Banger and Gabriela Fundora Wins by KO

LAS VEGAS-Shades of Henry Armstrong and Baby Arizmendi. If you don’t know those names, look them up.

Floyd Schofield battled his way past Mexico’s super tough Rene Tellez Giron who walked through every blow the Texan could fire but lost by decision on Saturday.

It was a severe test and perfect matchmaking for Schofield who yearns for the big bouts against the lightweight giants roaming the world.

Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs) remains undefeated and won the war over thick-necked Mexican Tellez Giron (20-4, 13 KOs) who has never been knocked out and proved to be immune to big punches.

In the opening rounds, the Texas fighter came out firing rapid combinations from the southpaw and orthodox stances. Meanwhile the shorter Tellez Giron studied and fired back an occasional counter for two rounds.

Tellez Giron had seen enough and took his stand in the third stanza. Both unleashed blazing bombs with Schofield turning his back to the Mexican. At that moment referee Tom Taylor could have waved the fight over.

You never turn your back.

The fight resumed and Schofield was damaged. He tried to open up with even more deadly fire but was rebuked by the strong chin of Tellez Giron who fired back in the mad frenzy.

For the remainder of the fight Schofield tried every trick in his arsenal to inflict damage on the thick-necked Mexican. He could not be wobbled. In the 11^th round both opened up with serious swing-from-the-heels combinations and suddenly Schofield was looking up. He beat the count easily and the two remained slugging it out.

“He hit me with a good shot,” Schofield said of the knockdown. “I just had to get up. I’m not going to quit.”

In the final round Schofield moved around looking for the proper moment to engage. The Mexican looked like a cat ready to pounce and the two fired furious blows. Neither was hit with the big bombs in the last seconds.

There was Tellez Giron standing defiantly like Baby Arizmendi must have stood in those five ferocious meetings against the incomparable Henry Armstrong. Three of their wars took place in Los Angeles, two at the Olympic Auditorium in the late 1930s as the U.S. was emerging from the Great Depression.

In this fight, Schofield took the win by unanimous decision by scores 118-109 twice and 116-111. It was well-deserved.

“I tried to bang it out,” said Schofield. “Today I learned you can’t always get the knockout.”

Fundora

IBF flyweight titlist Gabriela Fundora needed seven rounds to figure out the darting style of Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz before firing a laser left cross down the middle to end the battle and become the undisputed flyweight world champion.

Fundora now holds all four titles including the WBO, WBA and WBC titles that Alaniz brought in the ring.

Fundora knocked down Alaniz midway through the seventh round. She complained it was due to a tangle of the legs. Several seconds later Fundora blasted the Argentine to the floor again with a single left blast. This time there was no doubt. Her corner wisely waved a white towel to stop the fight at 1:40 of the seventh round.

No one argued the stoppage.

Other Bouts

Bektemir Melikuziev (15-1, 10 KOs) didn’t make weight in a title bout but managed to out-fight David Stevens (14-2, 10 KOs) in a super middleweight fight held at 12 rounds.

Melikuziev used his movement and southpaw stance to keep Pennsylvania’s Stevens from being able to connect with combinations. But Stevens did show he could handle “The Bully’s” punching power over the 12-round fight.

After 12 rounds one judge favored Stevens 116-112, while two others saw Melikuziev the winner by split decision 118-110 and 117-111.

Super middleweight WBA titlist Darius Fulghum (13-0, 11 KOs) pummeled his way to a technical knockout win over southpaw veteran Chris Pearson (17-5-1, 12 KOs) who attempted the rope-a-dope strategy to no avail.

Fulghum floored Pearson in the first round with a four-punch combination and after that just belted Pearson who covered up and fired an occasional blow. Referee Mike Perez stopped the fight at 1:02 of the third round when Pearson did not fire back after a blazing combination.

Young welterweight prospect Joel Iriarte (5-0, 5 KOs) blasted away at the three-inch shorter Xavier Madrid (5-6, 2 KOs) who hung tough for as long as possible. At 2:50 of the first round a one-two delivered Madrid to the floor and referee Thomas Taylor called off the beating.

Iriarte, from Bakersfield, Calif., could not miss with left uppercuts and short rights as New Mexico’s Madrid absorbed every blow but would not quit. It was just too much firepower from Iriarte that forced the stoppage.

Photos credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy

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Results and Recaps from Turning Stone where O’Shaquie Foster Nipped Robson Conceicao

Published

2 days ago

November 2, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Top Rank was at the Turning Stone casino-resort in Verona, New York, tonight with an 8-bout card topped by a rematch between Robson Conceicao and O’Shaquie Foster with the victor retaining or recapturing his IBF world junior lightweight title. When the smoke cleared, the operative word was “recapturing” as Foster became a two-time title-holder, avenging his controversial setback to the Brazilian in Newark on July 6.

This was a somewhat better fight than their initial encounter and once again the verdict was split. Foster prevailed by 115-113 on two of the cards with the dissenting judge favoring Conceicao by the same margin. Conceicao seemingly had the edge after nine frames, but Foster, a 4/1 favorite, landed the harder shots in the championship rounds.

It was the thirteenth victory in the last 14 starts for Foster who fights out of Houston. A two-time Olympian and 2016 gold medalist, the 36-year-old Conceicao is 19-3-1 overall and 1-3-1 in world title fights.

Semi-wind-up

SoCal lightweight Raymond Muratalla (22-0, 17 KOs) made a big jump in public esteem and moved one step closer to a world title fight with a second-round blast-out of Jose Antonio Perez who was on the canvas twice but on his feet when the fight was stopped at the 1:24 mark of round two. Muratalla, a product of Robert Garcia’s boxing academy, is ranked #2 by the WBC and WBO. A Tijuana native, Perez (25-6) earned this assignment with an upset of former Olympian and former 130-pound world titlist Jojo Diaz,

Other Bouts

Syracuse junior welterweight Bryce Mills, a high-pressure fighter with a strong local following, stopped scrawny Mike O’Han Jr whose trainer Mark DeLuca pulled him out after five one-sided rounds. Mills improved to 17-1 (6 KOs). It was another rough day at the office for Massachusetts house painting contractor O’’Han (19-4) who had the misfortune of meeting Abdullah Mason in his previous bout.

In a junior lightweight fight that didn’t heat up until late in the final round, Albany’s Abraham Nova (23-3-1) and Tijuana native Humberto Galindo (14-3-3) fought to a 10-round draw. It was another close-but-no- cigar for the likeable Nova who at least stemmed a two-fight losing streak. The judges had it 97-93 (Galindo), 96-94 (Nova) and 95-95.

Twenty-one-year-old Long Island middleweight Jahi Tucker advanced to 13-1-1 (6 KOs) with an eighth-round stoppage of Stockton’s teak-tough but outclassed Quilisto Madera (14-6). Madera was on a short leash after five rounds, but almost took it to the final bell with the referee intervening with barely a minute remaining in the contest. Madera was on his feet when the match was halted. Earlier in the round, Tucker had a point deducted for hitting on the break.

Danbury, Connecticut heavyweight Ali Feliz, one of two fighting sons of journeyman heavyweight Fernely Feliz, improved to 4-0 (3) with a second-round stoppage of beefy Rashad Coulter (5-5). Feliz had Coulter pinned against the ropes and was flailing away when the bout was halted at the 1:34 mark. The 42-year-old Coulter, a competitor in all manner of combat sports, hadn’t previously been stopped when competing as a boxer.

Featherweight Yan Santana dominated and stopped Mexico’s Eduardo Baez who was rescued by referee Charlie Fitch at the 1:57 mark of round four. It was the 12^th knockout in 13 starts for Santana, a 24-year-old Dominican father of three A former world title challenger, Mexicali’s Baez declines to 23-7-2 but has lost six of his last eight.

In his most impressive showing to date, Damian Knyba, a six-foot-seven Pole, knocked out paunchy Richard Lartey at the 2:10 mark of round three. A right-left combination knocked Lartey into dreamland, but it was the right did the damage and this was of the nature of a one-punch knockout. Referee Ricky Gonzalez waived the fight off without starting a count.

Knyba, 28, improved to 14-0 (8 KOs). A native of Ghana coming off his career-best win, a fourth-round stoppage of Polish veteran Andrzej Wawrzyk, Lartey declined to 16-7 with his sixth loss inside the distance.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 303: Spotlights on Lightweights and More

Published

3 days ago

November 1, 2024

David A. Avila

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Those lightweights.

Whether junior lights, super lights or lightweights, it’s the 130-140 divisions where most of boxing’s young stars are found now or in the past.

Think Oscar De La Hoya, Sugar Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather.

Floyd Schofield (17-0, 12 KOs) a Texas product, hungers to be a star and takes on Mexico’s Rene Tellez Giron (20-3, 13 KOs) in a 12-round lightweight bout on Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada.

DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotion card that includes a female undisputed flyweight championship match pitting Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz and Gabriela Fundora.

Like a young lion looking to flex, Schofield (pictured on the left) is eager to meet all the other young lions and prove they’re not equal.

“I’ve been in the room with Shakur, Tank. I want to give everyone a good fight. I feel like my preparation is getting better, I work hard, I’ve dedicated my whole life to this sport,” said Schofield naming fellow lightweights Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta “Tank” Davis.

Now he meets Mexico’s Tellez who has never been stopped.

“I’m willing to do whatever it takes,” said Tellez.

Even in Las Vegas.

Verona, New York

Meanwhile, in upstate New York, a WBC junior lightweight title rematch finds Robson Conceicao (19-2-1, 9 KOs) looking to prove superior to former titlist O’Shaquie Foster (22-3, 12 KOs) on Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, N.Y. ESPN+ will stream the Top Rank fight card.

Last July, Conceicao and Foster clashed and after 12 rounds the title changed hands from Foster to the Brazilian by split decision.

“I feel that a champion is a fighter who goes out there and doesn’t run around, who looks for the fight, who tries to win, and doesn’t just throw one or two punches and then moves away,” said Conceicao.

Foster disagrees.

“I hope he knows the name of the game is to hit and not get hit. That’s the name of the game,” said Foster.

Also on the same card is lightweight contender Raymond Muratalla (21-0, 16 KOs) who fights Mexico’s Jesus Perez Campos (25-5, 18 KOs).

Perez recently defeated former world champion Jojo Diaz last February in California.

“We’re made for challenges. I like challenges,” said Perez.

Muratalla likes challenges too.

“I think these fights are the types of fights I need to show my skills and to prove I deserve those title fights,” said Fontana’s Muratalla.

Female Undisputed Flyweight Championship

WBA, WBC and WBO flyweight titlist Gabriela “La Chucky” Alaniz (15-1, 6 KOs meets IBF titlist Gabriela Fundora (14-0, 6 KOs) on Saturday Nov. 2, at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada. DAZN will stream the clash for the undisputed flyweight championship.

Argentina’s Alaniz clashed twice against former WBA, WBC champ Marlen Esparza with their first encounter ending in a dubious win for the Texas fighter. In fact, three of Esparza’s last title fights were scored controversially.

But against Alaniz, though they fought on equal terms, Esparza was given a 99-91 score by one of the judges though the world saw a much closer contest. So, they fought again, but the rematch took place in California. Two judges deemed Alaniz the winner and one Esparza for a split-decision win.

“I’m really happy to be here representing Argentina. We are ready to fight. Nothing about this fight has to do with Marlen. So, I hope she (Fundora) is ready. I am ready to prepare myself for the great fight of my life,” said Alaniz.

In the case of Fundora, the extremely tall American fighter at 5’9” in height defeated decent competition including Maria Santizo. She was awarded a match with IBF flyweight titlist Arely Mucino who opted for the tall youngster over the dangerous Kenia Enriquez of Mexico.

Bad choice for Mucino.

Fundora pummeled the champion incessantly for five rounds at the Inglewood Forum a year ago. Twice she battered her down and the fight was mercifully stopped. Fundora’s arm was raised as the new champion.

Since that win Fundora has defeated Christina Cruz and Chile’s Daniela Asenjo in defense of the IBF title. In an interesting side bit: Asenjo was ranked as a flyweight contender though she had not fought in that weight class for seven years.

Still, Fundora used her reach and power to easily handle the rugged fighter from Chile.

Immediately after the fight she clamored for a chance to become undisputed.

“It doesn’t get better than this, especially being in Las Vegas. This is the greatest opportunity that we can have,” said Fundora.

It should be exciting.

Fights to Watch

Sat. ESPN+ 2:50 p.m. Robson Conceicao (19-2-1) vs O’Shaquie Foster (22-3).

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Floyd Schofield (17-0) vs Rene Tellez Giron (20-3); Gabriela Alaniz (15-1) vs Gabriela Fundora (14-0).

Photo credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy

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