Oxnard Fighters Shut Out Competition In L.A. Fight Card…AVILA

LOS ANGELES-In the heart of downtown Los Angeles, just a few miles away from where USC and UCLA battled on the gridiron, a couple of Southern California boxing gyms with high pedigree collided on Saturday, matching young prospects against each other.

Oxnard’s Robert Garcia Boxing Academy clashed with South-Central L.A.’s Broadway Boxing Club at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel. All Star Boxing held a pro-am mixed martial arts and boxing show at the swanky hotel.

Javier “Pelos” Garcia (7-2-1, 6 Kos) of Oxnard was looking for his fourth consecutive knockout and seventh win when he faced Palm Springs’s rugged Hugo Ramos in a four round lightweight bout. He got the win but was stymied from obtaining the knockout.

Ramos put up a fierce struggle against Garcia and showed his experience with his ability to slip and connect with multiple right hand counters. But it wasn’t enough to convince the judges who liked Garcia’s constant pressure. One judge saw it 39-37 and the other two 40-36, all for Garcia.

Oxnard’s Herbert Acevedo (6-0) hammered Santa Ana’s Ramon Flores but just couldn’t get him out of there. Both traded early but soon it was evident Acevedo had more firepower and knew how to use it. Flores gritted his teeth and swung for the fences with abandon. It just wasn’t enough as Acevedo won by unanimous decision.

Oxnard’s Erik Ruiz (3-0, 3 Kos) needed less than two rounds to blast out L.A.’s Manuel Machado (1-5) in a featherweight bout. Early in the opening round Ruiz connected with a right that shook up Machado. Round two proved even worse as a left hook seemed to roll Machado’s eyes. That was just an appetizer to the right uppercut and left hook combo that sent Machado to the floor. He recovered but was met with a left hook followed by a right hand and a left hook to the body. Referee Jerry Cantu stopped the fight at 2:51 of round two.

A bruising battle saw Oxnard’s Carlos Rodriguez out-slug South Central L.A.’s Luis Hernandez after four rounds of a lightweight match. Hernandez seemed to have the edge in power especially to the body which saw him deliver some crunching blows early on. It didn’t faze Rodriguez who kept battling until delivering his own shot to the body that sent Hernandez to his knees in the fourth and final round. He beat the count but lost the fight by 39-36 decision.

Oscar Diaz (2-0) of Oxnard beat San Diego’s Jesus Hernandez by unanimous decision. A knockdown in round four by a counter right helped Diaz win by unanimous decision in a lightweight contest.

Broadway Boxing Gym prospect Louis Rose won a close middleweight fight against Rialto’s John Wandi by majority decision after four rounds. Rose was busier but was caught repeatedly by Wandi , who showed poise. One judge saw it an even fight but the other two scored it 39-37 for Rose.

Appearing at the MMA and boxing show were former world champions James “Lights Out” Toney and Lamon Brewster.

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