Ringside at the Bonaventure: Prospects Rumba in L.A.

L.A. RINGSIDE REPORT — For one night Los Angeles could be renamed Prospect City on Saturday.

Abraham Lopez (pictured on the left) led a large fight card of undefeated prizefighters at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in downtown L.A. The All Star Promotions event was not televised live but the rumba line took place in front of more than 800 fans.

Lopez (7-1-1, 4 KOs) hails from Rowland Heights, a hidden suburb in the San Gabriel Valley, and trains out of the Wild Card in Hollywood. The 20-year-old super featherweight was the main event and has that look of a veteran despite his age.

Facing Lopez was Jonathan Zamudio (1-4-3) from San Francisco who knows a thing or two about facing killers. Despite his record he knows what he’s doing inside the boxing ring.

For example, Lopez blasted Zamudio to the floor with a powerful left hook within the first minute of the opening round. Zamudio got up shakily and was met with a right cross. How Zamudio was able to stand straight while the referee checked him was a tremendous feat in itself. He was allowed to continue and four seconds later the round ended. Zamudio had somehow escaped.

In the next round Zamudio fired several low blows. The first one sent Lopez to a knee as the referee warned about the low blow. I guess Zamudio didn’t care because he followed with a couple more bell busters. It bought him time but could not win him the round.

For the next two rounds Zamudio was getting belted around the spacious boxing ring but nothing like he received in the opening round. But blows were connecting.

As Zamudio stood up from his stool to begin the fifth round the referee called over a physician to take a look. She looked at him carefully and raised some fingers for the San Franciscan to see and I guess his answers weren’t suitable. The physician stopped the fight thus declaring Lopez the winner by knockout at the end of the fourth round.

Fight of the night

In the fight of the night, undefeated Anthony Sanchez of Long Beach was paired against Whittier’s Humberto Zatarain. It was quite an explosive  super featherweight fight while it lasted.

Sanchez (6-0, 6 KOs), a southpaw, is trained by Sal Casillas, a former fighter who happened to be the last to exchange blows in the Olympic Auditorium. The old boxing palace was soon closed and now is a church. Casillas knows a thing or two about boxing. Few could fight like him. He fought anybody though he was always shorter, less powerful and the underdog.

Zatarain (3-4-2) is trained by Oscar “The Boxer” Muniz who was a fan attraction at the Olympic Auditorium during his day in the 70s and 80s. Muniz was famous for being the first to defeat Philadelphia’s Jeff Chandler during the 80s. He fought numerous times at the Olympic Auditorium and was a crowd pleaser.

Here were two former fighters with good boxing skills now pitting their students against each other.

Zatarain jumped on the undefeated Sanchez like he stole his mother’s purse. Left hooks, right crosses and everything he could fire was landing on Sanchez who seemed surprised by the attack. For a moment it looked like Sanchez might go down from the overwhelming attack. But he survived.

The second round would prove far different. Sanchez seemed more expectant of the attack and was poised to counter. Zatarain attempted to connect with the quick left hooks but found himself the recipient of a counter left cross. Sanchez then stepped on the gas and had Zatarain backing up but still trading. It was all Sanchez sending powerful blows and not letting up. Zatarain tried to stand his ground and was firing his own bombs. During one exchange Sanchez connected with a perfect right hook that caught Zatarain with his guard down and he never saw the blow that sent him crumbling to the floor. There was no need to count at 57 seconds into the second round.

Female bout

Lisa Porter (1-0) was making her pro debut against Haley Pasion (1-1) a girl from Hawaii whose only previous fight took place two years ago.

From the opening bell Porter took charge with a sharp jab that she kept repeating like a machine gun. It was a razor sharp piston-like jab that Pasion could not get past. After about a dozen jabs Porter unleashed a quick one-two combination that connected soundly. It was a scene repeated for the next four rounds.

Pasion never could figure out how to get past that snapping jab. The longer she waited the easier it was for Porter to suddenly begin mixing in combinations. It was an easy fight to judge as Porter won every round convincingly in the four-round lightweight fight.

Other winners:

Adam Lopez (4-0) defeated Alfredo Hernandez (1-1) in a super featherweight bout.

Ricardo Cuellar (3-0) beat Manuel Cortes (0-4).

Joshua Zuniga (4-0) beat Samuel Yniguez (4-5-4).

Moreno Valley’s Jonathan Torres (7-5-1) knocked out La Puente’s Rafael Rivera (2-12) with a counter overhand right at 36 seconds of the second round.

East L.A.’s Francisco Ochoa (8-0) beat Barstow’s Alex Silva (2-4) by decision.

Eagle Rock’s Alex Enriquez (3-0-1) beat San Diego’s Mulapi Nijani (2-4-2) by decision.

Photo credit: Al Applerose

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