Results From Fantasy Springs: Antonio Orozco Remains #1; JoJo Diaz Retains his NABF Belt

Results From Fantasy Springs – Number one contender Antonio “Relentless” Orozco (pictured with his team) found out being number one also means he has a target on his head.

Orozco (25-0, 16 KOs) was recently tabbed number one by the WBC as a super lightweight. On Saturday, Tijuana’s Abner Lopez (23-6, 19 KOs) came to Fantasy Springs Casino with upset dream headlights strobing in his mind. From the opening bell Lopez was looking to topple the San Diego boxer from his perch.

Fans got a glimpse of what to expect in the future.

Lopez seemed to be a physical body type similar to Terence Crawford, the WBC champion who recently defeated Viktor Postol. Lopez could have been seen as good preparation for a showdown with Crawford, but Orozco discovered early that the Tijuana fighter also has a solid chin.

Despite some heavy artillery coming from Orozco, the chin of Lopez proved steady and unbreakable. By the third round, Lopez discovered he could land his left hook and the uppercut and that changed the complexion of the fight. Lopez became the stalker and Orozco became the target.

“He was a strong fighter,” said Orozco, “an experienced fighter.”

Instead of trading toe to toe, Orozco began giving angles for the taller Lopez who had trouble finding the range for his punches. From the fourth round on it was movement by Orozco that allowed him to avoid Lopez’s heavy punches.

“I was able to make adjustments by boxing him,” said Orozco. “Not many people appreciated it.”

Around the fourth round things began to slide into a groove for the San Diego fighter who was able to avoid the big bombs as Lopez tried in vain to land the big shots. They never came. After 10 rounds the judges gave the fight to Orozco by scores of 99-91 twice and 97-93.

It proved to be a good test for Orozco.

“I’ll try to come back even stronger,” he said.

NABF title – More Results From Fantasy Springs

NABF featherweight titlist Jojo Diaz (21-0, 12 KOs) ran over Mexico’s Victor Proa (28-2-2, 21 KOs) with his speed, footwork and precision left hands. A lead left cross followed by a four-punch combination put Proa down in the second round. Proa got up but after a barrage of blows including a left to the body and left to the head, referee Raul Caiz Jr. stopped the fight at 1:07 of the second round.

Diaz keeps the title with the knockout win. It was an unexpected early knockout win for the South El Monte prizefighter and former US Olympian.

“I would like to fight on the Canelo fight card in September,” said Diaz. “I want to get back in there as soon as possible.”

East L.A.’s Roy Tapia (12-1-2, 6 KOs) drilled Mexico’s Jairo Hernandez with a right cross, knocking him down in the third round of their 8-round super bantamweight contest. From there he was able to out-work the fighter from Torreon, Mexico with good inside work. For a while it looked like he would be able to stop Hernandez but it wasn’t to be. All three judges scored it 77-74 for Tapia who found his timing after the knockdown.

Arizona’s Jesus Aguinaga (5-4-1) upset L.A.’s Nick Arce (8-1), handing him his first pro loss with a left hook that seldom seemed to miss. The fight had barely begun when a left hook wobbled Arce. From there it was Aguinaga imposing his strength on Arce who had moments but not enough to win the six-round featherweight clash. No knockdowns were scored but those Aguinaga left hooks almost did the job. Arce had success attacking the body but it came too late as all three judges scored it 59-55 for Aguinaga. The referee also had a bad day in allowing too many punches behind the head early in the fight, but both fighters seemed to adjust themselves.

Vergil Ortiz (1-0) blasted out Arizona’s Julio Rodas  (0-3) at 1:36 of the first round to win his pro debut in a super lightweight clash. The Dallas prizefighter Ortiz floored Rodas with a step back right counter at the beginning of the fight. Then a four-punch combination had Rodas pinned against the ropes forcing referee Eddie Hernandez to halt the beating.

Cesar Diaz (2-0, 2 KOs) returned after a few weeks and was quick to dispatch of Mexico’s Ramiro Ruiz (0-4) in three rounds. After two rounds of analysis, Diaz was able to find the solution and unloaded a three-punch combination that sent Monterrey’s Ruiz down for the count at 56 seconds into the third round of the featherweight match.

Results From Fantasy Springs – Check out the latest Boxing Rankings at TBRB.org.