By Francisco Salazar at ringside
Photos: Big Joe Miranda
Lightweight contender John Molina (23-1, 19 KO’s) won by technical knockout over Robert Frankel after the fifth round of a scheduled 10 round bout at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, CA. Frankel came to fight from the opening round, even stunning Molina with a right hand to the head in the second. However, Molina busted Frankel (28-11-1, 5 KO’s) up, opening a cut above Frankel’s left eye and below his right eye. As Molina began connecting more to the head, Frankel’s right eye began to close. After the fifth round, the ringside physician advised referee Raul Caiz, Jr. to stop the fight.
In a crossroads battle between young junior welterweights, Mauricio Herrera won a 10 round majority decision over Mike Dallas. Herrera (18-1, 7 KO’s) was busier than Dallas in the early part of the fight, as Dallas looked to counter. Sensing he was down on the cards, Dallas (17-2-1, 7 KO’s) came on in the final three rounds, at times beating Herrera to the punch during exchanges between the two. One judge scored the bout 95-95, while the other two judges scores the bout 96-94 and 98-92 in favor of Herrera. Fightnews.com scored the bout 96-94 in favor of Herrera.
In the walkout bout of the evening, 2000 U.S. Olympian Ricardo Williams won a eight round split decision over Arman Ovsepyan. The southpaw Williams (19-2, 10 KOs) controlled the action in first half of the fight, but Ovsepyan (11-2, 9 KOs) came on in the second half of the fight. One judge scored the bout 77-75 in favor of Ovsepyan, but was overruled by the other two judges who scored the bout 77-75 and an unbelievable 79-73 in favor of Williams.
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Javier Molina (8-0, 4 KO’s) remained unbeaten with a six round unanimous decision over Hector Alatorre (16-16, 5 KO’s). Molina outboxed Alatorre for most of the fight while Alatorre switched back and forth from conventional to southpaw, landing an occasional punch. All three judges scored the bout in favor of Molina, with scores of 60-54, 60-54, and 59-55.
The scheduled six round bantamweight bout between Matt Villanueva and Ernie Marquez was declared a technical draw in the third round when Villanueva (6-0-1, 6 KO’s) landed a low blow below Marquez’s beltline. When Marquez (9-8-2, 3 KO’s) was unable to continue, the bout was stopped. California State Athletic Commission rules state that when a bout is stopped because of an unintentional foul before four rounds are complete, the bout is declared a technical draw.
