Lopez KOs Espinoza

By Rocco Morales at ringside
Photos: Big Joe Miranda

Abraham “Chamaco” Lopez (16-0, 11KO) stayed perfect with a punishing fifth round knockout, in a scheduled eight round featherweight bout, over relic and one time WBO bantamweight title challenger, Gerardo “Locomotora” Espinoza (28-12, 26KO) on Friday night at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, California. Espinoza, fighting for the first time in five years, started his career with an impressive 20-1 record but towards the end of his first incarnation as a fighter served as a stepping stone for up and coming fighters. Resuming the role as stepping stone for Lopez, Espinoza was respectable enough but the speed of the 24-year-old Lopez proved to be too much for the just 31-year-old, but battle worn, Espinoza to handle. Lopez had Espinoza on the canvas towards the end of the second round, courtesy of a couple hard left hooks but Lopez was able to rise at the count of eight and then survive the round. Lopez finally wore Espinoza down with body shots and it was a perfect left hook to the liver that ended the bout as the referee counted out Espinoza at 0:43 of the fifth round.

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Semi main event action, a scheduled six round featherweight attraction, saw Richard “El Terminador” (8-0, 7KO) draw yet another easy assignment in Angel Torres (2-7-2, 1KO) and take advantage with a first round knockout. Contreras first had Torres on the deck courtesy of a left hook right cross combo. Torres rose at the count of four, only for Contreras to trap him in the ropes moments later to unleash a barrage that had him out on his feet leading the referee to end the bout. Time of the stoppage was 1:11 of the first round.

In a very interesting matchup, Alberto “Baby Dynamite” Herrera got back in the win column by handing Marcus “The Phenom” Robinson his first loss by way of unanimous decision in a six round welterweight contest. Herrera, the loser of his previous three fights, each against solid competition, proved to be too big a step up in class for the southpaw Robinson. Ultimately, Herrera won the fight by landing the more solid punches while Robinson could only manage to land a few occasional arm punches that were not enough to keep Herrera at bay. Scores for the fight were 60-53, 59-54 and 58-56. FightNews saw the bout as 60-53. Robinson, was deducted a point in the fifth round for hitting behind the head and never seemed comfortable in the fight.

A scheduled four round welterweight bout saw Rigoberto “El Asenio” Flores (2-1, 1KO) score a minor upset over Roberto “The Puerto Rican Prince” Crespo (2-1). With shades of Ricardo Mayorga vs. Vernon Forrest, Flores pressed the action and made it a very competitive and physical fight despite Crespo having the superior physical build and boxing skills. By the third round, it was all Flores as he chased Crespo around the ring and all Crespo could do was look to his corner for help and clench in the few spots that Flores stopped punching. Despite the Puerto Rican born Crespo being from nearby Riverside, the crowd was solidly behind the Mexican born Flores and in a frenzy by the final round as Flores seemed close to a knockout. In one of the most crowd pleasing fights in recent memory, Flores was the clear cut unanimous decision winner by scores of 39-37, 39-37 and 40-35 and wins his second fight in just three weeks at the same venue.

In other preliminary action, a scheduled four round featherweight contest, Juan Reyes (4-0-1, 1KO) won a slugfest over Alejandro Ochoa (1-1, 1KO). Both fighters gave 110% and both refused to back down, resulting in a brutal fight, particularly since neither fighter had the best defense. At the end of the fight, each fighter was cut and both of Ochoa’s eyes were black and swollen yet he never backed down. At the end of the fight, Ochoa looked as if he had just survived a street fight against Mike Tyson. Judges scored the bout 39-37, 40-36, 40-35.

Opening action for the evening, a scheduled four round bantamweight contest saw debuting Isaac Zarate (1-0, 1KO) win a unanimous decision over Anthony Briones (0-1). Zarate had Briones in trouble early and threw the much crisper punches appearing as if he was on the way for an early knockout. Instead, Briones showed plenty of heart to charge back and make a fight of it, despite fighting on heart alone and not having the same skills or power as Zarate. Zarate needed until the final seconds to finally floor the awkward Briones but Briones managed to get up and the bell sounded to end the bout. Scores were 40-35, 40-34, 40-35.

Promoter for “Path To Glory” was Thompson Boxing and the venue was the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, CA. For ticket information for the next “Path To Glory”, visit www.thompsonboxing.com

October 15th, 2011

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