Vinan holds Perez to draw!

August 11, 2007

By David Robinett

Unheralded junior lightweight Carlos Vinan surprised a spirited crowd rooting on local fighter Eloy Perez, holding the unbeaten prospect to an eight-round draw in the main event Friday night under the lights at Raley Field ballpark in West Sacramento, California. Although Perez was the technically superior boxer, Vinan’s constant pressure and higher punch output was enough to win on one judge’s card 79-73, while the other two judges scored the bout 78-74 for Perez and 76-76.

The pattern for this fight was established early on, with Vinan stalking the more polished Perez around the ring while Perez was content to fight going backwards. Playing the role of aggressor, in the early rounds Vinan would eat a jab or two coming in, then put his head down and slug away until Perez would tie him up or jab while retreating, then they’d do it again. As the fight progressed and Perez settled into a groove, he’d mix in some solid hooks and combinations as Vinan closed in, but not enough to stop Vinan from continuing the pressure. Although Vinan never stopped punching, a combination of solid defense and movement from Perez coupled with only marginal accuracy from Vinan kept momentum from ever swinging away from Perez during the bout. Perez was able to jab effectively, counter when needed, and maintain his balance even while going backwards most of the fight. Nevertheless, at least one of the judges apparently would have preferred more aggression and activity out of the 20-year-old prospect.

For his part, Vinan added another impressive result to his resume, already holding a win against featherweight prospect (and recent ShoBox winner) Eric Hunter. Another quality performance against a good opponent and Vinan might be considered a prospect rather than a spoiler. Vinan’s record now stands at 7-4-1 (2 KOs), while Perez remains unbeaten but draws for the second time, at 9-0-2 (2 KOs).

The remaining bouts on the card provided a trio of second round knockouts and good action throughout. In the first bout of the evening, middleweight Leshon Sims, 4-5-2 (3 KOs), easily dispatched Allen Medina, 7-16-2 (1 KO) 50 seconds into the second round of a scheduled four-round bout. Sims spent the first round circling Medina in the center of the ring and picking him off at will with his jab and left hand, then stepped things up in the second round by dropping Medina early in the round with a right cross. Medina beat the count only to be finished off a few seconds later with three straight right hands, the third of which dropped Medina just as the referee was jumping in to stop the fight.

The second bout provided the best knockout of the evening, as junior middleweight Alan Cespedas annihilated Hugo Nunez with a textbook left uppercut at 1:47 of round two. Cespedas, who has been steadily improving through 13 professional bouts, avenged an earlier draw against Nunez in 2006. Cespedas started the fight solidly, with much better balance and control of his punches than in earlier fights as he peppered Nunez with his jab and a lead right hand that Nunez appeared unable to avoid. Cespedas reverted back to his wild ways early in the second round, but then with Nunez against the ropes, Cespedas set his feet, threw a lead right hook and then followed with the finishing blow that instantly dropped Nunez on his back and seemingly unconscious for nearly a minute. Nunez eventually recovered and walked out of the ring on his own power. Cespedes improves to 6-5-2 (4 KOs) while Nunez falls to 4-6-1 (4 KOs).

Junior middleweights James Buggs, 7-8-3 (2 KOs), and Alejandro “Alex” Bogarin, 7-5-3 (2 KOs), battled to a six-round draw, 58-56 for Buggs, 58-56 for Bogarin, and 57-57. The fight started off slowly as the proverbial chess match in rounds one and two, with neither fighter willing to engage until figuring out his opponent. By round three though, the fighters were trading body shots in the center of the ring before settling into a measured but steady pattern of give and take. Buggs appeared to be the stronger of the two fighters, and a cut over Bogarin’s left eye didn’t help his cause, but there wasn’t much to separate these two fighters and the final result reflected how close the rounds were.

In a four-round middleweight bout, Enrique Gallegos, 4-2 (1 KO), cruised past game but overmatched Joel Mills, 3-2 (1 KO). Mills matched Gallegos in punch output, but looked visibly smaller and his punches simply had no effect on the stronger and fresher Gallegos. All three judges scored the bout 39-37.

In women’s action, Demi Nguyen rudely welcomed Leslie Lubaczewski into the world of professional boxing, scoring a TKO at 1:05 of round two. Neither fighter looked technically sharp, but Nguyen’s wild and clubbing punches were faster and harder than Lubaczewski’s wild and clubbing punches, and the result was a left hook counter that crumpled Lubaczewski along the ropes. Lubaczewski was able to beat the count and looked like she could continue, but referee Marty Sammon did not appear eager to give her the benefit of the doubt. Nguyen rolls along at 4-1 (2 KOs) while Lubaczewski has an 0-1 record to show for her trouble.

The six-bout card was presented by Ringside Ticket and promoter Patrick Ortiz in an unusual but picturesque setting across from downtown Sacramento along the Sacramento River. Among those in attendance was special guest former Heavyweight Champion Joe Frazier, former Super Featherweight Champion Tony Lopez, and Harold Lederman of HBO Boxing. The next installment of Under the Lights: Fight Night at Raley Field will be on October 6, 2007.