Oscar Negrete Returns to his Winning Ways at Fantasy Springs

INDIO, Calif.-After a slow start Colombia’s Oscar “Jaguar” Negrete slipped into gear and used his experience to win a unanimous decision over Argentina’s Alberto Melian and capture the vacant WBA International bantamweight title on Thursday.

Negrete (19-2-2, 7 KOs) out-smarted his less-experienced opponent Melian (6-2, 4 KOs) in front of more than 800 people at Fantasy Springs Casino in a 10-round fight. He also proved that despite three consecutive fights without a win, he still has gas left in the tank.

Melian started quick against Negrete (pictured on the right) who simply allowed the Argentine fighter to do as he pleased the first two rounds. Then he figured out the slightly taller fighter and went to work with short and concise punching.  After 10 rounds in a fight with no knockdowns, the judges scored it 97-93 and 98-92 twice for Negrete.

“I have to recognize that Alberto Melian is an amazing fighter. He came to win. He won the public’s respect tonight,” said Negrete. “I did what I had to do to win the fight. We want an opportunity to fight for a world title. I deserve it. We worked extremely hard to get here.”

In a flyweight clash Riverside’s Ricardo Sandoval (18-1, 13 KOs) won by stoppage in the seventh round against Filipino fighter Raymond Tabugon (22-12-1, 11 KOs), a very resilient fighter.

Sandoval showed off excellent boxing skills and connected with a check left hook that floored Tabugon in the second round. But the Filipino fighter survived the round and proved even more resilient thereafter despite a heavy attack by the Riverside fighter.

But despite his sturdiness Tabugon had no answer from the body and head attack mixed by Sandoval and after a barrage of 16 straight blows in the sixth round, the next round proved more of the same and referee Eddie Hernandez stopped the bludgeoning at 1:43 of the seventh round.

“Raymond (Tabugon) was a tough opponent with a lot of experience. I needed that kind of experience,” said Sandoval.

Female Fight

A female bout saw Arizona’s Sulem Urbina get her first professional win on American soil with a unanimous decision over Florida’s Noemi Bosques in a six round flyweight contest.

Urbina, a former Mexican Olympian, had been fighting in Mexico though she lives in Phoenix, Arizona. In her first U.S. foray she used her speed and combination punching to win every round against experienced veteran Bosques.

Left uppercuts scored repeatedly in almost every round for Urbina who has improved immensely since her first three pro fights. A counter-left hook in the fourth round by Urbina staggered Bosques, but she remained upright.

All three judges scored it 60-54 for Urbina.

“I tried to get the stoppage, but she had a strong will. I learned a lot from my opponent. It was an honor to fight her,” said Urbina, 29, whose parents were able to see her fight professionally for the first time. “I hope Golden Boy keeps an eye out for me.”

Other Bouts

In a featherweight battle between two tough Mexicans it was Leonardo Baez (18-2, 9 KOs) who pulled out a win by unanimous decision over Moises “Chucky” Flores (25-3, 17 KOs) after eight rugged and unapologetic rounds.

Baez needed a few rounds to figure out what “Chucky” liked to do and then targeted the body with lefts and rights uppercuts to the mid-section. This was only after figuring out Flores could not be hurt with blows to the head which he absorbed with glee.

Flores got the name Chucky because of his facial resemblance to the fictional horror movie character. He even has a tattoo of Chucky on his arm. But it couldn’t help the Guadalajara fighter against the scoring punches of Mexicali’s Baez. After eight rounds all three judges scored it 80-72 for Baez.

A clash of heads between flashy newcomer Anthony Reyes (7-0-1, 5 KOs) and Mexican veteran Diuhl Olguin (14-13-4, 9 KOs) stopped the fight at 35 seconds of the third round. Coachella’s Reyes emerged with a cut over his forehead and the ringside physician advised referee Ray Corona to halt the super bantamweight fight. It was an interesting pairing as Reyes flashed his ability to connect with rights and Olguin was able to force the youngster to think inside the boxing ring. The fight was ruled a technical draw. Olguin fights out of Guadalajara.

Southpaw Oscar Acevedo (7-0) won by technical majority decision at 2:36 of round six over New Jersey’s Dan Murray (5-3) in a lightweight match set for six rounds. A clash of heads with 24 seconds remaining in the fight caused a cut over the left forehead of Murray who yelled in pain immediately after the collision. On advice of the ringside physician the fight was stopped and the scores were 57-57, 59-55 twice for Acevedo who fights out of Los Angeles.

Oakland’s Anthony Garnica (5-0, 3 KOs) won by majority decision over southpaw Luis Alvarado (1-1) in a four round super featherweight fight. Garnica was tentative throughout the four rounds and his lack of action almost allowed Washington’s Alvarado to take the fight. One judge scored it even 38-38 but two other judges saw it 39-37 and 40-36 for Garnica. “I settled down through the rounds and got the win,” said Garnica.

Jan Salvatierra (4-0, 2 KOs) floored Miguel Rebullosa (4-10) with a six punch combination in the second round, and after he beat the count he was met with three-punch head-snapping combination that forced referee Tom Taylor to stop the fight at 1:47 of the second round.

Photo credit: Al Applerose

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