Mizuki Hiruta Wins; Trinidad Draws with Parra at Chumash Casino

World champion Mizuki Hiruta continues her reign and Omar Trinidad met stiff resistance on a 360 Boxing Promotions card held in Santa Ynez on Friday evening.

“It was an action-packed show,” said Trinidad.

Trinidad (19-0-2, 13 KOs) remained undefeated by a slim majority draw decision after 10 tumultuous rounds versus Venezuela’s Lorenzo Parra (23-1-1, 17 KOs) at Chumash Casino. Trinidad retains the WBC Continental Americas featherweight title.

Early on it was evident that Parra was quick-fisted, polished and packed power in his blows. He quickly gained the upper hand in the first round, especially with the right cross. It seldom missed the target.

But one thing clearly in Trinidad’s favor was an ability to take a big blow. It must have surprised Parra who connected with flush rights only to see Trinidad barely blink. After two rounds the Venezuelan realized a knockout was not going to be easy against the fighter known as the “King of L.A.”.

Trinidad slowly began timing the attacks of Parra and once he figured out the movements, the East L.A. fighter began finding the range and hurt Parra several times, especially with the left hook. It staggered Parra many times but he never came close to going down.

Still, Parra kept his distance after tasting Trinidad’s power.

The Venezuelan fighter had the faster hands, but Trinidad had the better chin. Though the L.A. fighter was able to muster an attack, Parra’s skill and athleticism kept him out of danger. Back and forth they traded with neither able to establish dominance.

After 10 rounds and no knockdowns, one judge saw Trinidad the winner 96-94 while two others saw it 95-95 for a majority draw. Trinidad keeps his belt and remains unbeaten.

“He was durable,” Trinidad said after the fight. “I thought I won it.”

Parra was happy with the result.

“It was a great fight,” Parra said, then proposed to his girlfriend after the fight in front of fans.

Mizuki Wins

WBO super fly world titlist Mizuki “Mimi” Hiruta (9-0, 2 KOs) continues to improve and immediately showed off her increasing skills against Mexico’s hard-charging Naomy Cardenas (9-1, 2 KOs) in winning by unanimous decision.

Though Cardenas missed weight and could not win the title, she immediately charged in the opening round seeking to upset Japan’s popular Hiruta. But one feature in Hiruta’s arsenal is natural strength. She is very athletic and naturally strong. Anyone trying to muscle their way into punching range discovers that Hiruta can out-muscle just about anyone her weight and does.

Cardenas had a penchant of charging in with her head down flailing blows. Hiruta wrapped her up and powered her backward then let go while firing three shots and pivoting out of danger. It was a simple but effective formula used all night.

Hiruta also has speed in her blows and since training with Manny Robles has added defensive skills that make it very hard for opponents to catch her flush with blows. She is rarely in the firing zones very long.

Meanwhile, Hiruta continued scoring blows with jabs and quick combos that though not powerful, were scoring. Occasionally a left uppercut by the leftie Japanese fighter snapped Cardenas’s head back.

Cardenas began to get flustered but kept charging.

Hiruta also has incredible stamina and was able to circle her opponent and slip under blows from the Mexican fighter. Round after round the same attack saw the same result. After 10 rounds all three judges saw Hiruta the winner 100-90 twice and 98-92. She retains the WBO title for a fifth time.

When asked who she hopes to fight next, she answered “Anyone, anytime.”

Hiruta thanked her promoters 360 Boxing Promotions who continue to keep her busy and active. She also asked fans to pray for fallen Japanese male fighter Hiromasa Urakawa who passed away on Aug. 9, after injuries sustained in a boxing match. A day earlier Shigetoshi Kotari had died from injuries suffered on the same fight card.

“I lost my friend,” said Hiruta

Medina Wins

Lupe Medina edged past Mexico’s Rubi Gutierrez by split decision in a back-and-forth scrap. Early on Gutierrez couldn’t miss with the left hook and Medina had to make adjustments.

It could have gone badly for Medina, but she kept her poise against the extremely busy Gutierrez who continued to put the pressure. Medina began using space behind her jab and movement and found room to explode with her own combinations.

Though unable to break Gutierrez who scored heavily with combination punching and a follow-up left, Medina kept using angles and timing to unload her own combinations including some effective body shots.

Neither fighter was knocked down but toward the end Medina was connecting cleaner with her combinations. After eight rounds two judges scored it 77-75 and 80-72 for Medina and one judge saw it 77-75 for Gutierrez.

“It was difficult,” described Medina on the win.

Other Bouts

Abel Mejia (9-0, 6 KOs) survived a first-round knockdown and rallied to win by knockout in the second round over Aston Palicte (28-9-1, 23 KOs). The super featherweight fight ended at 1:34 of the second round.

Not too many punches landed, but Oxnard’s Angel Carrillo (5-0-1) was the aggressor and won by unanimous decision over Compton’s Damien Basualto (3-1) after four rounds in a super bantam clash. Two judges saw it 40-36 and another 39-37.

Photos courtesy of 360 Promotions

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