The veteran junior welterweight Miguel Angel Huerta (28-12-1, 18 KOs) of Orange, Calif. added another win to his extensive resume by outpointing the younger and taller Luis Solis (14-4-4, 12 KOs) of Progreso, Mex. in the 8-round “New Blood” main event from the Omega Products Outdoor Arena in Corona, Calif. on Friday. Huerta, 35, won via split decision with scores, 77-75, 77-75, 75-77 and with it, halts a three-fight losing streak dating back to 2008.
“I knew I won the fight,” said Huerta, a southpaw. “I hit him with some strong shots and kept backing him up.”
Solis, for his part, was active in spurts, but never really pressed the action. His punches lacked significant pop, and he failed to string together combinations, a crucial requirement to steal rounds when they are close. Huerta, on the other hand, had plenty of snap on his punches and landed counter left hooks upstairs when Solis dropped his guard, which happened quite frequently in every round. Huerta’s punches also reached Solis’ midsection, despite giving up four inches in height. It was a much-deserved win for a veteran fighter that does not have that much time left in the ring.
The co-main event did not produce a fan friendly result at the sold-out outdoor arena. Light flyweights Sindy Amador (12-1-1, 1 KO) of Riverside, Calif. and Anahi Torres (12-10-1, 2 KOs) of Mexico City fought to a split decision draw with two judges halving identical scores of 78-74, while the third judge scored it 76-76.
Both boxers had their moments, with Amador being the busier of the two, but Torres appeared to land the stronger punches. Amador suffered a bruised left eye, the direct result of Torres’ ability to land straight rights throughout the eight, 2-minute rounds.
All-action featherweight Juan Reyes (11-1-3, 1 KO) of Riverside looked sharp throughout his 6-round scrap versus Victor Capaceta (4-7-3, 2 KOs) of Tijuana, Mex. Reyes secured a majority decision win (60-54, 57-57, 58-56) through his trademark style of suffocating pressure, all made possible by a steady jab.
While Reyes does not possess knockout power, he did manage to control the pace of the fight quite well. On this occasion, he fired every punch in the book from a variety of angles. In the fourth round, Reyes landed a handful of straight rights that backed up the advancing Capaceta. Reyes does have a habit of opening his guard, and Capaceta took advantage of that by countering to the head and body.
The rapidly improving Isaac Zarate (8-1-1) of San Pedro, Calif. required one round to dispatch the over matched Guadalupe Barrera (5-3-1, 2 KOs) of Tijuana. Within the first seconds of the opening round, Zarate, a super bantamweight, landed a hook to the body that quickly dropped Barrera to one knee. Halfway through the round, Zarate connected to the body again, sending Barrera back to the canvas. The third knockdown, also from a pinpoint body punch, produced the curtain call for Barrera with the referee putting a stop to the beating at the 2:47 mark.
Junior welterweight Wilberth Lopez (4-3, 1 KO) of Tucson, Ariz. used a steady jab and timely power punching to hand Danny Ramirez (4-1, 2 KOs) of Los Angeles his first professional defeat. The majority decision scores read: 39-37, 38-38, and 39-37.
Opening the “New Blood” event were lightweights Andres Fabian Figueroa (4-0, 3 KOs) of Bogota, Colombia and Luis Silva (0-5) of Tijuana. Figueroa dished out a nasty beating throughout the fight that translated into a 4-round unanimous decision sweep across all three scorecards (40-36 x 3). While not technically strong, Silva proved he could take a punch. Figueroa pounded him with heavy leather, but Silva powered through and suffered a badly bruised face because of it.
Thompson Boxing Promotions returns to the Doubletree Hotel Ontario on Friday, Sept. 26 with a lightweight main event consisting of top prospect Jose Roman (17-1, 12 KOs) of Garden Grove, Calif. and Brian Ramirez (10-4, 5 KOs) of Los Angeles.
