Last night Gary Shaw Productions and Thompson Boxing Promotions’ showcased a great show on ESPN2 “Friday Night Fights” at the Morongo Casino Resort and Spa in Cabazon, Calif. The 10-round main event, featuring Columbia’s Darley Perez against Houston’s Bahodir Mamadjonov ended in a dramatic split decision.
In the early rounds, Mamadjonov used his boxing skills to take a commanding lead, as he kept the fight in the middle of the ring, boxing on angles. He was the busier fighter for the first five rounds, but stated to fade down the stretch after throwing a lot of power punches.
Perez got into his grove in the middle rounds when he started to let his hands go. Perez started to find a home for his overhand right, and in the sixth round, landed it, give a welt on the left cheek bone of Mamadjonov. In round eight, Perez caught Mamadjonov with that same overhand right, sending the Kazakhstan native to the canvas for the first time in his career.
Going into the last round it was even and both fighters had to dig deep to make a final impression on the judges. When it was all said and done, Perez (26-0, 19 KOs) won a split decision, while Mamadjonov (11-1, 7 KOs) suffered his first loss. One judge had it 95-94 for Mamadjonov, while the others had it 96-93 and 95-94 for Perez. Both fighters felt they won the fight.
“He hit me real hard and he was dangerous but I pulled it out in the later rounds,” said Perez. “I will make the adjustments earlier in the fight next time I get in the ring. Fighting a southpaw was difficult but I was victorious and the experience I gained was invaluable.”
A dejected Mamadjonov stated, “I felt I won the fight. The knock down was a slip. I’m very disappointed on the decision.”
In the 10-round junior featherweight co-feature, Chris Avalos (20-2, 15 KOs) won a decisive unanimous decision against Yenifel Vincente (23-1-2, 15 KOs) in a hard fought action packed fight.
Avalos was the busier fighter from the opening bell. His one-two combination was having success throughout the early rounds. Vincente showed a lot of heart after getting dropped with a hard left hook in round five. Avalos almost got him out of there, but Vincente fought gallantly as he was firing back hard shots of his own before the bell rang to end the round.
Both fighters were going toe to toe and Avalos got caught with a right hand flush on the jaw after a break in the eighth round. The referee gave Avalos some time to get his head together and the fight continued. As the fight headed into the final two rounds, both fighters were leaving it all in the ring. After the final bell rang, Avalos was declared the winner with scorecards reading 97-92 from all three judges.
“The fight was tougher than I thought it was going to be, but I came in here looking for “W” and I got it, said Avalos, ‘He caught me with a couple of punches, but that’s boxing, it happens. I felt decision was accurate. I was boxing and brawling, mixing it up doing what I had to do to win.
Undercard Results:
(8-round lightweight bout) Jonathan Maicelo (18-0, 10 KOs) vs. Wilfredo Acuna (13-11, 10 KOs) – After scoring a first round knock down with a powerful right hand, Peruvian standout Jonathan Maicelo went on to win a lopsided unanimous decision against Wilfredo Acuna. Acuna was on his bike after he got dropped as Maicelo was battering him around the ring for the remainder of the fight. Scorecards read 60-53 across the board.
“I want to thank Gary Shaw for this opportunity. I had him down early, but he survived the rest of the fight. I have some things to work on when I get back in the gym but I feel I’m getting better each time I step in the ring. I got the win and I’m still undefeated.” – Jonathan Maicelo
(6-round lightweight bout) Alejandro Luna (10-0, 8 KOs) vs. Eddie Ramirez (6-11-1, 3 KOs) – Crowd favorite Alejandro Luna dazzled his fans with a stunning performance knocking out his opponent with a barrage of punches in the final round of their scheduled 8-round bout. The referee stopped the bout at the 2:12 mark. Luna dominated the fight from the opening bell as he forced Ramirez against the ropes with his relentless pressure.
“I wanted to come out here tonight and give my fans a great fight. I got the TKO and I’m happy with my performance.” – Alejandro Luna
(8-round super-bantamweight bout) Glenn Porras (27-2, 16 KOs) vs. Jose Silveria (12-8, 4 KOs) – In an all out slugfest, Philippine native Glenn Porras outworked his game opponent, Mexico’s Jose Silveria on his way to a unanimous decision. Both fighters were throwing nothing but power shots throughout the fight, but it was Porras who was landing the cleaner blows. Scorecards read, 79-73 twice and 78-74.
(6-round light-middleweight bout) Geovanny Rodriguez (7-0, 4 KOs) vs. Clevan Ishe (3-8, 1 KO) – Geovanny Rodriguez improved remained undefeated with a hard fought slugfest against Clevan Ishe. Ishe was throwing wild punches trying to land a homerun punch, but never got into a rhythm. Rodriguez used his southpaw stance to give his opponent problems and ended the bout strong. Scorecards read, 60-54 twice and 59-55 for Rodriguez.
“It was hard to figure out my opponent because he was so wild and awkward, but I did what I had to do to remain undefeated.” – Geovanny Rodriguez
