Chris Arreola vs. Joey Abell, Mike Dallas Jr. vs. Josesito Lopez & Shawn Estrada: Full Results & Report-
ESPN2 Friday Night Fights on January 28th is headlined by the Chris Arreola vs. Joey Abell heavyweight fight, as Arreola looks to climb back into contention in the division. The undercard features junior welterweight prospect Mike Dallas Jr. taking on tough contender Josesito Lopez, and also featured undefeated Olympian Shawn Estrada continuing to move up the ranks. Check out full results and live updates from the event, held live at the Pechanga in California.
Arreola vs. Abell Results
In the main event, big heavyweights Chris Arreola and Joey Abell collided in a ten rounder. The southpaw Abell is a decent enough fighter, but needs a win over a guy like Arreola to get noticed. Arreola is looking to get back to the atature that allowed him to challenge WBC Heavyweight Champion Vitali Klitschko. One good sign: At 249.6, this is the first ime he’s been south of 250 since he fought Travis Walker in ’08. Even if it’s only by a Jumbo Jack, it’s a good sign.
Despite being better put together at 236.6 pounds, the southpaw Abell figured to have a mass deficit in power and it showed as he was worked over a bit in the opening moments. Abell, a fairly sharp fighter, drove home a few straight lefts to the head and body.
A powerful right drove Abell’s head back dramatically. A followup assault had Abell’s legs going in opposite directions. Referee Tony Krebs jumped in and stopped it at just 2:18. A sudden, and dare I say, premature stoppage. To the ref’s credit, he merely saved Abell from further punishment.
Abell, who lost 13-20-2 Andrew Greeley and the anonymous Arron Lyons, proved he is not ready for this level heavyweight, nor will he ever be. Good performance for Arreola. He looks to at least be in the right direction as far as his weight and should have a little confidence after his first impressive win in a few years.
Dallas Jr. vs. Lopez Results
In a bout between two good junior welterweights looking to get into the higher reaches of this stacked division, Mike Dallas, Jr. 17-0-1 (7 KOs) took on Josesito Lopez, 28-3 (16 KOs) in the co-feature. Dallas has been surging lately, with 5 knockouts in his last 6 fights–especially impressive since he looked to be a pitty-pat hitter earlier in his career. Lopez has lost once since ’06 and is by far the toughest opponent of Dallas’ career.
Things got off to untidy start with some rough-housing. Lopez, with vociferous vocal support, hailing from nearby Riverside, came out looking determined. Dallas, Jr. showed greater speed, with Lopez looking to get inside to land punches. Toward the end of the round, Lopez showed blood above his left eye. It appeared to come from a butt, but the referee either didn’t note it or this reporter didn’t see it.
Dallas, Jr. came out looking a bit more committed to the task in round two, countering Lopez’ advances., while ripping home a few telling shots. More holding took place, much to the dismay of the crowd. For whatever reasons, their styles seem to be making for a sloppy and grappling affair. Lopez tagged him at the end of the 2nd. In the 3rd, the pattern of the fight continued with Lopez in pursuit. He earnestly dug into the body. One such shot landed on the back of Dallas, drawing a time-out and warning from the referee.
The 4th saw Dallas, Jr. making better use of his speed as took the round, landing some swift counters. The fifth has Lopez getting a little better of the action as he pressed, while Dallas, Jr. attempted to potshot. In the 6th, with the action becoming a little uneven, Lopez dug home a few meaningful shots and appeared to take the round. So far, the bout isn’t terrible, but has a certain indecipherable quality to it. The battle lines are not clearly drawn and the rounds hard to score.
Dallas, Jr. started the 7th with more vigor from Dallas, Jr., but Lopez answered back with a spirited body attack that had Dallas, Jr. looking a bit weary. He threw Dallas down a few times, before connecting in the corner with a fusillade of shots that had Dallas, Jr. in dire straits. Referee Caiz, Jr. stopped the fight with Dallas, Jr pinned on the ropes–looking like an inevitable KO victim. The time was 1:46 of the 7th round. Good win for Lopez.
Shawn Estrada vs. Jon Schmidt Results
In another showcase, 2008 Olympian Shawn Estrada took on the mohawked and tattooed Jon Schmidt. Estrada lost in the Olympics to current mega-prospect James DeGale. With 9 knockouts in 10 wins, this looked to be a short night for Schmidt, despite carrying a 10-1 record. All of Schmidt’s fights were in either Wisconsin or Minnesota. A right almost immediately put Schmidt down. He got up was put down again by another assault, before getting dumped again, this time in emphatic fashion. The end came at just 1:48. A total mismatch. Estrada is unquestionably an offensively gifted fighter. It is common practice to not be overly critical of the opponents prospects face early in their careers, but even by those standards, Schmidt shouldn’t have been in the same ring as Estrada.
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Undercard Action & Event Notes
The evening got underway with a look at undefeated prospect Joseph Elegele (9-0, 7 KOs) as he took on fellow unbeaten Manuel Aguilar. Elegele, a big junior welterweight southpaw struck early and it was soon clear it would be a short night for Aguilar. The end came at 2:18, as Elegele deposited Aguilar on the canvas, taking the full count. Nice performance. Elegele strikes hard and fast and will need to be reckoned with in the future. Also helping Elegele is the work he does in Florida, working alongside welterweight titlist Andre Berto.
The second bout featured a look at a hot little prospect in Kevin Hoskins, as he faced Ramon Flores in a junior lightweight bout scheduled for four rounds. Hoskins, 20, and trained by Joe Goossen, immediately put a dent in Flores, unleashing combos in the first round. Flores, with only one win in his last ten fights and a victim of 6 stoppage losses (all inside 2 rounds), fought gamely in the first round, well enough to reverse what looked like a surefire first-round knockout loss.
Flores continued to soldier on in the second, letting his hands go freely in a valiant effort, despite obviously being brought in to lose. In winning the second round, he showed tremendous spirit. Not that he’s hurting Hoskins, but he’s throwing his entire spirit into his performance that he has Hoskins a little thrown.
Hoskins opened the third by landing some hurtful shots. Flores responded with a sweeping left hook. Flores continued heaving himself into Hoskins for the duration of the third, earning some new fans here at the Pechanga Ballroom. Not bad for a 3-9-2 pug who had been on a terrible run of late in his career.
Hoskins again opened the 4th with a corking right, but Flores, with heart to spare, again winged back shots in retaliation. Flores appeared ready to wilt, but kept roaring back. This observer had it a draw. But as is often the case in evenly-contested bouts, the guy who is perceived as having a bigger future just so happens to almost always get the decision. At least it was split. A little of the luster is off Hoskins.
In the walkout bout of the evening, 4-0 (4KOs) prospect Matt Villanueva took on 5-11-2 Jose Luis Cardenas. Villanueva has been making a little bit of noise despite a relatively late start to his boxing career. Cardenas immediately felt the power of Villanueva, going down twice–the second time very hard. Villanueva showed some of his inexperience in becoming too gung-ho in attempting to finish Cardenas.
Cardenas, who lost to Nonito Donaire in 2006, has fought only 4 times in the past 4 years. He tried as hard as he could, but the power of Villanueva proved too much. Already hanging by a thread, Cardenas was dropped again in the second, before the referee thankfully ended matters. Villanueva is a potent puncher and could become a prospect to keep an eye on with some added polish.
All in all , it was an entertaining night of boxing, even if the bouts were more or less showcases, rather than competitively-matched fights per se, with the exception of Lopez-Dallas, Jr. It was good night for Riverside county, with Arreola and Lopez both notching wins. It is nice to see a fighter like Arreola interact with his fans. The man has a lot of friends and he acknowledges all of them and makes them feel good. Watching him work the crowd shows he has a lot of support and will have even more if he can finish 2011 as strong as he started it.
Among the boxing luminaries on hand were promoters Don Chargin and Jackie Kallen, as well as lightweight contender John Molina. The ultra-friendly star of the new boxing-themed FX series Lights Out–Holt McCallany was also on hand.
Thanks for checking out this ringside report, live updates and results for the Friday Night Fights card January 28th from the Pechanga. Keep on checking in with ProBoxing-Fans.com for more of the latest boxing news and coverage.
