Diaz and Salcido are Victorious in Ontario
Posted by Igor Frank on 11.29.2008
Ontario, California – Thompson’s Boxing Promotions final card of the year titled
“Heavy Artillery” was not a disappointment for a sold out crowd of 1200 at Double Tree Hotel on Friday night, November 28th.
Aside from six very competitive fights, Jr welterweight champion Timothy Bradley was named the fighter of the year.
Heavyweight contender Christobal Arreola has made an appearance. He is scheduled to fight Travis Walker tomorrow at The Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario in a heavyweight eliminator that will be televised by HBO.
In the main of the evening Antonio Diaz (45-5-1, 29 KO'S) from Indio, California continued on his comeback trail in the welterweight division taking on light hitting Mario Ramos( 17-5-1,3KO'S) from Phoenix, Arizona in an eight round bout. Diaz's experience and better technique were obvious from the onset; he connected with a short right hand on a regular basis. Even though a tough southpaw from Phoenix did not have the power to keep Diaz off of him, he boxed and fought on bravely.Diaz applied more pressure in the latter rounds but had to settle for a decision. Judges scored it 80-72, 79-73, 77-75.
Crowd favorite, lightweight contender Dominic Salcido (17-1,9KO'S) from Rialto, California took on Celestino Rodriguez (6-13-3,6KO) from Moca, Puerto Rico in a six round bout. It was a first come back fight for Dominic after his devastating KO loss a few months ago to Vicente Escobedo. Dominic gained confidence with every passing minute and controlled the action throughout: he knocked down his opponent with a sharp right hand at the end of fourth stanza and then dropped him again with a body blow at the beginning of the fifth and finally finished the job with a sharp combination at 2minutes 55 seconds of the same round. Good come back fight for Salcido.
"I had a little trouble with his height," said Salcido who was sparring with Ricky Hatton in Las Vegas to prepare for this fight and help Ricky for Malignaggi: "But otherwise I felt good in there. I am definitely going down to fight at 130 pounds."
The opening bout featured two flyweights in their debut: Malcolm Franklin form San Bernardino, California and Alejandro Solorio from Huntington Park, California. After getting knocked down with a quick right hand Solorio recovered well and made a very competitive fight with faster and more skilled Franklin. Judges score cards (39-36 all in favor of Franklin) did not indicate how competitive the fight was.
Another good battle broke out between flyweights Omar Salado (20-1-2,11KO) from Tijuana, Mexico and Jose Albuquerque (8-2-2, 2 KO'S) from Los Angeles, California. The eight round contest was a non stop action brawl, from the beginning to end. Both combatants gave it their all for every second of every brutal round and when the final bell rang judges scored it; 78-74, 79-73, 79-73 al in favor of Omar Salado. Boxing is a hard way to make a living.
Undefeated featherweight from Tijuana, Mexico Juan Carlos "Mini" Burgos (20-0,14KO) took on a rugged veteran from Miami, Florida Jesus Perez (24-22-3,14KO'S) in an eight round bout. It took Burgos two rounds to figure out what to do with an awkward veteran, but once he did he started to connect with body shots and hooks. It was an ugly fight with neither opponent gaining a clear advantage and each on the floor due to slips. Burgos had his best round in the 8th, when he unleashed a barrage of body punches that seemed to hurt Perez. Judges gave a split decision victory to Burgos: 76-76, 77-75, and 79-73.
Junior welterweights Pavel Miranda (18-3, 11 KO'S) from Tijuana, Mexico and Mauricio Herrera (8-0,3KO'S) from Riverside, California collided in an 8 round battle. Despite his lack of experience Herrera was the better boxer and controlled the distance and the action in the ring. Miranda was consistent and was throwing punches regularly and had some success with uppercuts and hooks, but the sharper crisper punches belonged to Herrera, who combined body and head attack with a precision of surgeon in the seventh stanza and opened up a cut on the bridge of Miranda's nose. He continued his assault and forced referee Ray Corona to stop the fight at 1 minute of round number eight. Mauricio Herrera is a prospect to watch.
