L.A. Fight Card Chock-Full of Close Fights

LOS ANGELES-Two of the most closely matched fights ended in a draw and the actual main attraction was a female clash on Saturday.

A crowded ballroom saw a lightweight clash between East L.A.’s Ruben Martinez (5-1-1) and L.A.’s Joseph Lopez (1-1-2) result in a draw after four back-and-forth rounds at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel. No television was available for the All Star Boxing card.

Martinez worked like a piston firing blows at a nonstop pace, but Lopez didn’t allow the taller boxer to gain momentum as he skittered around side to side and occasionally jumped in with his own combinations. But neither fighter was especially effective. After four rounds two judges scored it 38-38 while a third saw it 40-36 for Martinez, thus resulting in a majority draw.

A match between bantamweights saw Oakland’s Larry Kloak (0-1-1) jump out to a quick lead with effective counter punches in the first two rounds against Compton’s Daniel Constantino (1-1-1). In bouncy castle water slide the opening round, a left hook by Kloak (pictured on the right) nearly decked Constantino but he kept on his feet. In the second round a five-punch combination had Constantino on his heels but he managed to stay upright.

Things suddenly changed in the third. Constantino began targeting the body with lefts to the ribs while occasionally crossing rights to the head of Kloak. It was all Constantino in the third and fourth rounds. Suddenly it was Kloak holding on in full survival mode. But after the final round the judges all scored it the same 38-38 for a draw. It was clearly a draw and both fighters nodded in agreement when the scores were read.

Female Fight

The largest contingent in the crowd arrived to see L.A.’s Adelaida “La Cobra” Ruiz (3-0) meet Oakland’s Dalia “La Pantera” Gomez (1-2) in a four round clash set at 120 pounds.

Both Ruiz and Gomez had been away from boxing for a decade and had debuted as pros earlier this year. Each also had successful amateur careers and their skills were obvious in the boxing ring.

Though Ruiz was an inch or two shorter than Gomez she was the aggressor from the start and connected with solid combinations. But once Gomez got the kinks out she was able to land a few of her own combinations. After four turbulent rounds all three judges scored it 40-36 for Ruiz. But Gomez showed had the fight been a six or eight round fight it might have been enough to figure out how to counter Ruiz’s attacks. A rematch in a year or two seems to be a natural.

Other Bouts

 A super lightweight contest saw L.A.’s Misael Elias (2-0) and Palmdale’s Hector Torres (0-1) fight to a majority decision win for Elias.

A welterweight clash saw Markus Jones (1-0) survive a knockdown in the first round against Garden Grove’s Alan Moreno (1-1) and turn on the steam in the next three rounds to win by unanimous decision. Jones was the stronger puncher and busier fighter the last three rounds and all three judges saw it that way too.

Uladislau Panin (1-0) won the battle of pro debuts versus Pedro Meza (0-1) by knockout at 1:27 of the third round in their super welterweight bout.

Photo credit: Al Applerose

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