Arnold Barboza Advances to 27-0 on a Top Rank Card at the Pechanga Resort

TEMECULA, CA.-In a fight that seemed much closer, Southern California’s Arnold Barboza won the battle of the unbeaten super lightweights over Puerto Rico’s Danielito Zorrilla by unanimous decision on Friday.

“I was a little rusty, it had been a little awhile,” said Barboza.

It was the boxer versus the puncher and Barboza (27-0 10 KOs) out-punched Zorrilla (16-1,12 KOs) to win a regional super lightweight title in front of a near-sellout crowd of 2,836 at Pechanga Arena.

The battle of contrasting styles took a few rounds to unravel.

“I was just trying to relax. It was hard,” said Barboza about the first three rounds.

Zorrilla had knocked out most of his opponents silly and had a long reach that enabled him to tag Barboza a few times in the early going. But the Puerto Rican fighter relied on that power and seldom punched in combination. That’s where Barboza excelled.

Though it took three rounds to break the ice, especially in the form of body shots mixed with head blows, the Southern California boxer began to find his reach. Zorrilla connected with a solid counter right. It proved to be the invitation Barboza needed to take more risks and he did.

Barboza opened up the fourth round on a quicker tempo and fired combination after combination. It seemed to surprise Zorrilla who seemed stunned by one of the shots. But when Barboza tried to attack he was met by a sizzling left hook counter.

During the next few rounds Barboza unleashed the combination punching while Zorrilla settled on one-punch bombs. That began the signature of the fight. And when Barboza connected solidly with uppercuts and a right cross, Zorrilla covered up and relied on setting traps.

They mostly did not work.

Zorrilla scored heavy with a right counter that sent Barboza into a swerve.

“I was more off-balance. I went back into it,” said Barboza about the big blow landed by the Puerto Rican fighter. “My conditioning was on point.”

Though Zorrilla connected in each of the last three rounds, he was always out-punched by Barboza who was always the busier fighter. After 10 rounds one judge scored it 98-92, and two others 97-93 all for Barboza who picks up a regional title and moves into contention territory.

“The main goal is a title shot,” said Barboza. “We want Teofimo Lopez.”

Semi-Final

Fontana’s Ray Muratalla (15-0, 12 KOs) showed off his boxing mastery with a convincing win over Mexico’s tough Jai Valtierra (16-2, 8 KOs) to win their lightweight contest by unanimous decision after eight rounds.

Muratalla scored a knockdown in the fourth round with a left hook to Valtierra’s temple that short-circuited his legs. Even after he beat the count his legs were unsteady but the fighter from Leon, Mexico kept upright and remained vigilant.

Valtierra was able to remain competitive but just couldn’t match Muratalla’s speed and technique. Muratalla was especially effective going to the body and using the double left hook to score heavily throughout the fight.

“I felt I was a little bit sloppy. He was tough and had a strong head,” said Muratalla who trains in Riverside at Robert Garcia Boxing Academy.

All three judgers scored the fight 80-71 for Muratalla.

Other Bouts

In a battle between heavyweights named Junior, it was Olympian Richard Torrez Jr. (2-0, 2 KOs) stopping Roberto Zavala Jr. (2-2-1) with a three-punch combination that prompted referee Eddie Hernandez to halt the action at 58 seconds into the first round. Torrez wins by knockout according to California rules.

San Diego’s Austin Brooks (7-0, 2 KOs) had the size, reach and speed advantage over L.A.’s Victor Saravia (1-3) but a slight adjustment in the third round made the four-round fight more difficult. Still, Brooks won by unanimous decision over Saravia who waited until the third round to use a bob-and-weave style to confuse Brooks in a featherweight bout.

Stephan Shaw (17-0, 13 KOs) wiped out Mexicali’s Bernardo Marquez (14-5-1, 10 KOs) with three knockdowns in the first round in a heavyweight fight. Referee Jose Cobian ended the fight in 2:35 of the opening round. Marquez tried valiantly to provide action but was simply out-gunned by Shaw who hails from St. Louis.

Las Vegas’ Floyd Diaz (6-0, 2 KOs) remained undefeated via knockout over Pedro Salome (3-1-1) at 1:17 of the third round of a featherweight fight. Diaz scored a knockdown and then followed up with a three-punch combination that forced referee Daniel Zamora to stop the fight.

A welterweight fight between Mexico’s Adrian Yung (28-7-3) and Jorge Marron Jr. (20-3-2) ended in a majority draw after six rounds.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank via Getty Images

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