By Karl Freitag
Photos: Chris Farina / Top Rank
Unbeaten WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr (46-0-1, 32 KOs) earned a lot of respect with a seventh round TKO over Andy Lee (28-2, 20 KOs) on Saturday night at the Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, Texas. The taller Lee’s jab was a weapon early as he kept Junior at bay. Chavez upped the pressure in round four and hurt Lee with some big shots. Good two-way action in round five with Chavez doing more damage. That scenario continued to be the theme as Chavez pressured Lee and landed the better punches. Referee Laurence Cole finally waved it off as Chavez punished Lee in the seventh. Time was 2:21. At the time of the stoppage, Lee was ahead on all three cards 58-54.
“I could’ve knocked him out in the first round, but I had leg cramps so I waited,” said Chavez afterward. The win clears the path for Chavez to take on Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez in September.
IBF lightweight champion Miguel “Titere” Vazquez (31-3, 13 KOs) scored a lopsided ten round unanimous decision over former world title challenger Daniel “The Prophet” Attah (26-11-1, 9 KOs) in a non-title bout. Vazquez was in command all the way in compiling a shutout 100-90 win on all three cards. Attah suffered his fourth straight loss.
Featherweight prospect Robert Marroquin (22-1, 15 KOs) scored a two round demolition of Arturo Santiago (7-6-1, 4 KOs). Marroquin floored Santiago three times in the opening round, but Santiago survived. The bout ended in the following round after Marroquin put Santiago on the deck again. Time was 1:32.
Unbeaten lightweight Casey Ramos (16-0, 5 KOs) scored a fifth round TKO over game but outclassed Arthur Trevino (7-8-3, 4 KOs). Ramos gave Trevino a hellacious beating from round three round on. Time was 1:14.
Unbeaten middleweight Abie Han (17-0, 11 KOs) scored an impressive fourth round KO over Joe Gomez (18-6-1, 8 KOs). Hometown favorite Han dropped Gomez three times in round three and the bout was ended when Han floored Gomez again in round four. Time was 1:39.
Unbeaten super bantamweight Alejandro “Cobrita” Gonzalez Jr. (12-0-2, 7 KOs), son of former world champion Cobrita Gonzalez, needed just 44 seconds to demolish Leopoldo Gonzalez (12-7-1, 7 KOs). Leopoldo was down three times.
Super bantamweight Tremaine Williams (2-0, 2 KOs) scored a third round KO over Theo Johnson (0-2, 0 KOs). Time 2:24.
Super bantamweight Adam Lopez (3-0, 1 KO) outpointed Raul Carillo (1-6, 1 KO) by scores of 40-36, 40-36, 39-37.
