The Ladies Excelled in Long Beach with WBO Champ ‘Mimi’ Hiruta Leading the Charge

One year into her contract Japan’s Mizuki “Mimi” Hiruta slammed her fourth opponent in a year with Mexico’s Gloria Gallardo taking all the punishment in the WBO super fly world title challenge on Saturday.

Four up and four down.

Hiruta (10-0, 2 KOs) demonstrated speed, power and agility against Gallardo (16-4-3) who never stopped trying in front of the sold-out crowd at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, CA. It was Hiruta’s fourth world title defense in 11 months after signing with Tom Loeffler’s 360 Promotions.

Fan appeal is growing for Hiruta.

Gallardo was expected to be a tough foe for the fiery, pink-haired Hiruta and looked sturdy enough. But from the opening round it was clear she could not match the Japanese fighter’s speed. It took Hiruta about 90 seconds to figure out that she could catch and counter the Mexican fighter all night.

“[Trainer] Manny [Flores] told me to fight smart the first three rounds to figure her out,” said Hiruta. “And when I see a chance, to go for the knockout.”

Hiruta, a southpaw from Tokyo, was able to connect with counter lefts almost at will. Three-punch combinations, and one-two combinations followed Gallardo’s attempts to connect with big blows. The Mexican fighter was only able to score if Hiruta stayed inside the pocket, which was rare.

Gallardo, who fights out of Rosarito Beach, scored inside to the body. Her favorite weapon was a looping right hand that rarely found the target. But she did connect to the body during exchanges with Hiruta.

Perhaps, the best round for Gallardo was the sixth round when both fighters punched sparingly. Neither fighter looked excited to punch. Perhaps both decided to take a round off.

In the seventh Hiruta slipped into overdrive and the tempo immediately increased as she attacked with three-punch combinations and waited to counter Gallardo’s counters. When the Mexican fighter retaliated Hiruta unloaded a strong right hook that sent Gallardo reeling. Hiruta followed up with more combinations and finished with a wicked left that snapped Gallardo’s head back. As Gallardo walked back to her corner blood was streaming down her face.

Hiruta opened the eighth round on full attack mode and moved forward with determination. Gallardo tried to fight back and launched her looping rights, but Hiruta was almost ignoring them and seemed intent on a knockout.

Gallardo survived.

‘If I were a little bit more brave I could have got the knockout,” said Hiruta. “I wanted a knockout badly.”

The last two rounds saw Hiruta keep the pressure on Gallardo with knockout on her mind, but the Mexican fighter was just too sturdy. Hiruta unloaded early in the ninth round but tired after expending too much energy. Still, she had too much speed and technique for Gallardo to take advantage. The 10^th and final round saw both fighters diminish in their punch output. Still, Hiruta was clearly a notch faster and after 10 rounds all three judges scored in her favor 100-90 twice and 98-92.

It was Hiruta’s sixth WBO super fly world title defense. She is also recognized as the Ring Magazine super fly champ.

Lupe Medina Wins by KO

360 Promotions has two other high-quality female fighters. All three of the women are very marketable with skill and class. They also could pose for fashion magazines if an ad agency took a look at them.

Light flyweight Lupe Medina is one of them.

A rematch between Lupe Medina (12-0, 3 KOs) and Lilliam Almaraz (2-5) was expected to be another close fight but Medina ended it in two by knockout.

“I wanted to make a statement,” said Medina who weighed 109 pounds for this fight.

A year ago, Medina won by majority decision but a lot has happened since then. Medina was ready for the return match. Though anxious to prove superiority, she was fighting at a heavier weight class. The difference showed in the result.

“I remained calm to see what she had,” said Medina.

After some vicious exchanges in the first round, the second round proved even more impactful as Medina opened-up with a four-punch combination. During the exchange a left hook to the chin of Almaraz collapsed her legs and down she went. Referee Thomas Taylor gave her the count and allowed the fight to continue. Medina had other ideas and opened- up with a barrage of blows to the body and head and Taylor stopped the fight at 1:43 of the second round for a knockout win for Medina.

“I don’t know which punch did it,” said Medina. “It happened so fast.”

Right Hook Roxy

The third female match saw Iyana “Roxy” Verduzco (7-0) in a very competitive super bantamweight bout against Mexico’s Maria Salinas (27-14-6). On paper it looked to be a very close match but inside the ropes Verduzco simply beat Salinas to the punch for eight rounds.

Verduzco showed off a very polished right jab from the southpaw stance. Every time Salinas began to punch she was met with a Verduzco jab and that stopped any intent by the Mexican to cause damage. That clean jab was the key and Verduzco used it like a gamer might use a controller during a video game.

Of course, depending on it for eight consecutive rounds with the same motion and intent is not advisable and Verduzco changed the rhythm and pattern to confuse Salinas, a very experienced veteran who had fought several world champions in her career.

Every time Salinas attempted to charge, Verduzco used her agility and angles to move slightly out of range. Her years of amateur experience at a high level were visible and Salinas just could not pin her down.

Verduzco remained in control with that snapping right jab and sometimes changed it into a right hook that shook Salinas. Sometimes it was the left cross that Verduzco kept cocked and ready.

After eight rounds it was evident that Verduzco was in control and all three judges saw her the victor by scores of 80-72 twice and 79-73.

Other Bouts

Fontana’s Domingo Dominguez (4-1) out-boxed Oxnard’s Abraham Morales (3-1) to win the super feather fight by majority decision after four rounds.

San Diego’s Adan Palma (14-0, 9 KOs) knocked down Philippines Judy Flores (14-6) with a four-punch combination in the second round. Flores got up and was stopped with a left hook to the body. Referee Ray Corona stopped the fight at 1:43 of the second round.

Abel Mejia (10-0, 7 KOs) took his time deciphering Filipino fighter Jason Buenaobra (10-13-3) and proved too quick. The Orange County fighter rained combinations on Buenaobra. In the third round Mejia had seen enough and poured more than 22 blows on the Filipino fighter that forced the referee to halt the fight.

Mario Zamora (1-0) won his pro debut by knockout over Nesly Trezile (1-5) in the second round in a super feather bout.

Photo credit: Al Applerose

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