Lightweight contender Jose Roman (20-1-1, 14 KOs) of Garden Grove, Calif. moved fast on Martin Cardona (19-5, 14 KOs) of Mexico, knocking him out in the third round of Thompson Boxing Promotions “Locked n’ Loaded” main event.
“I wanted to finish this fight quickly,” Roman said. “I stalked him from the start, and connected with a handful of punches in the third that put him out for good.”
With the win, Roman now has six consecutive victories, half of which have ended in stoppages.
“Roman is getting better every fight and you can see him gaining confidence,” said Ken Thompson, president of Thompson Boxing. “He has bigger fights in his future.”
In the co-main event, super bantamweight Danny Roman (13-2-1, 5 KOs) of Los Angeles cruised to an eight-round unanimous decision win over Giovanni Caro (23-15-4, 19 KOs) of Mexico City. Roman thoroughly battered and bloodied the more experience Caro. Scores read 80-72 all around.
“I trained hard for this fight and the plan was to come out aggressive and show the crowd what I could do,” Roman said. “Caro is a tough boxer, but I knew from the start that I was going to win.”
Undefeated heavyweight prospect LaRon Mitchell (7-0, 7 KOs) of San Francisco continues to chop down anyone that gets in the way of his flawless mark. This time, it was Sylvester Barron (8-5, 3 KOs) of Seattle that absorbed what six other opponents have come to know all too well.
In the first, Mitchell unleashed a double right hook that slammed Barron to the floor. In the following round, Mitchell shifted and landed a counter left hook that spelled the end for Barron at the 2:21 mark.
“I give the fight fans what they want to see,” said Mitchell, who signed with Thompson Boxing Promotions last year. “There’s nothing quite like hearing the roar of the crowd after knocking out an opponent.”
“We are very pleased with how quickly LaRon is developing,” Thompson said. “We see him making a name for himself in the heavyweight division very soon.”
Skilled middleweight prospect Rudy Puga (5-0, 5 KOs) of Salinas, Calif. extended his knockout win streak with a picture-perfect destruction of Katrell Straus (2-5, 1 KO) of Denver, Colo.
Puga, coming off a fourteen-month layoff, looked comfortable, moved effortlessly, and showed no evidence of rust. He landed a crushing body shot in the fourth and final round, sealing his fifth straight win by knockout.
“It felt great to be back in a competitive environment,” said Puga, who is promoted by Roc Nation. “I’m looking forward to returning to the gym and getting better.”
Eridanni Leon and Elih Lizama, a pair of welterweights, put on a thrilling fight that ended in a majority decision win for Leon (2-1) of Los Mochis, Mex. Lizama (0-1), who was making his professional debut, looked strong in the second, landing a straight right that caused blood to gush from Leon’s nose.
Leon, for his part, moved well with a high guard and landed heavy shots in the third and fourth rounds. Scores read 38-38 and 40-36, twice.
Opening the “Locked n’ Loaded” event were a pair of middleweights making their professional debuts. Miguel Trejo (1-0, 1 KO) of Anaheim, Calif. took home a TKO win over Jonathan Aceves (0-1) of Whittier, Calif. Aceves’ corner stopped the fight at the 2:58 mark of the third round. Trejo proved too strong and skilled for the overmatched Aceves.
