Early Results From Oakland
Posted by Ramon Aranda on 11.21.2009
Off-TV results of the Kessler vs. Ward undercard.
The kid from Cincinnati, Mel Crossty (4-0-1, 1 KO) looks like the kind of kid who can turn into something fun to watch. He bedazzled Carlos Herrera (2-3, 1 KO) with his speed, particularly the lead left hand and right uppercut while his footwork made him hard to catch. Herrera fought bravely and never gave an inch but he couldn't avoid the left hand as Crossty won with scores of 39-36 and 40-35 (twice).
Stan Martyniouk (8-0, 1 KO) showed some athletic ability and accurate combination punching with a lopsided decision win over the iron-chinned journeyman Anthony Martinez (21-24-3, 9 KOs). Martinez as usual withstood the punches but was obviously outclassed as Stan 'The Man' made it look easy in there. Martinez gave it his all but he ate way too many punches and didn't give many in return as Martyniouk took home the win via scores of 40-36 (three times). A fun little scrap to watch though.
There were moments early on in the fight between Karim Mayfield and Francisco Santana where they both felt compelled to exchange but aside from those moments of action, they both were content to stay back and try to land from the outside. That is until the 5th round. Mayfield, of nearby Daly City was landing some hard shots in the round and after a series of straight right hands, Santana (11-2, 5 KOs) went down. He got to his feet but with the crowd behind him, pushing him for the kill, Mayfield (11-0-1, 7 KOs) went right to the body; taking the wind out of Santana. Moments later, another right hand put Santana down for the second time and the fight was finally waved off. Solid win for Mayfield.
Tony Hirsch (10-3-1, 5 KOs) has had success landing the straight right hand against the southpaw Jose Celaya from the start. Celaya (31-6, 16 KOs) appeared too tentative through the first two rounds rounds and never really got it going. It was all Hirsch who's right hands found a home on Celaya's face. He couldn't avoid those rights and Hirsch knew it. By the end of the 6th, Celaya looked done and I don't think it could've gone another round. Scores were 40-36 all the way around for Hirsch.
