Rosales, Viloria, Martirosyan win!

January 13, 2008

By Francisco Salazar
Photos: Big Joe Miranda

Although the fight was fought inside a tent due to a driving rainstorm, it was hard-hitting Michele Rosales who was the one raining punches down on a defenseless fighter in Dairo Esalas.

Rosales stopped Esalas in the second round of a scheduled 12 round bout before a sold-out crowd of over 750 at the Alameda Swap Meet in Vernon, CA.

Despite the victory, Rosales lost his WBC Continental Americas Super Lightweight title the day before on the scales, weighing in two and a quarter pounds above the 140-pound limit.

Rosales won the title in his last fight in stopping hard-hitting Americo Santos in the first round in October. Esalas also scored an impressive victory when he earned an eight round split-decision victory over former world champion DeMarcus Corley.

Both fighters opened the bout winging punches as they hoped to catch their opponent. Rosales got the better of the exchanges with Esalas landing right hands to the head.

Rosales was more aggressive in the second round although he was just as wild with his punches. Suddenly, Esalas went in for a combination. It was then that Rosales threw a left hook that Esalas ran into, dropping him onto the seat of his pants.

Esalas stood up and fought back bravely. He was able to land lead right hands to the head of Rosales and became aggressive with each passing moment. However, Esalas was caught with a right hand to the head, stunning him. Rosales went in for the kill, pinning Esalas against the ropes. An accumulation of punches dropped Esalas again in a corner, prompting referee Jack Reiss to immediately halt the action at 2:06 of the round.

Afterwards, Rosales admitted to spending too much time enjoying the holiday season.

"I admit that I ate too much during the holidays," said Rosales, who has now won his last three bouts in a row since his only defeat at the hands of Jesus Soto Karass. "I want to fight at this weight (140 pounds) because I know I can fight at this weight and I feel stronger."

Rosales, from Sam Luis Potosi, Mexico, improves to 19-1, 17 KO's. Esalas, from Miami, FL by way of San Onofre, Colombia, falls to 31-11, 25 KO's.

In the co-feature bout, former world champion Brian Viloria scored a workmanlike eight round unanimous decision over former title challenger Jose Garcia Bernal.

It was the first fight for Viloria since his loss by majority decision to Edgar Sosa in April. He was hoping to regain the WBC Light Flyweight title that he lost to Omar Nino Romero in August of 2006.

In this bout, he was fighting two weight classes above his normal weight. The victory on Friday night snapped a three-bout losing streak.

Viloria opened the bout by outworking Garcia Bernal with combinations to the head and body. Viloria countered well with left hooks to the body and right hands to the head.

However, Garcia Bernal would control the second and third rounds by outworking Viloria. Garcia Bernal turned southpaw from his conventional style to press the action and land right hands to the head.

However, Viloria controlled the second half of the fight, utilizing his far-superior boxing skills over Garcia Bernal. Garcia Bernal attempted to press the action, but Viloria wisely stayed on the outside and attempted to work behind a jab.

In the final stanza, Garcia Bernal had a point taken away from him by referee David Mendoza for spitting out his mouthpiece for the third time in the bout. Garcia Bernal pressed the action in the attempt to score a knockdown.

However, Viloria hurt Garcia Bernal with a left hook to the body and eventually scored a knockdown with a right hand. Garcia Bernal got up and fought back, but was outgunned and outboxed for most of the fight.

All three judges scored the bout 78-72 in favor of Viloria. Fightnews.com scored the bout the same for fighter also known as the "Hawaiian Punch."

Viloria, from Waipahu, HI, improves to 20-2 2 NC, 12 KO's. Garcia Bernal, from Miami, FL by way of Barranquilla, Colombia, drops to 26-11-1, 17 KO's.

Super Welterweight Vanes Martirosyan won a six round unanimous decision over tough Clarence Taylor.

The taller and stronger Martirosyan was in control of most of the action. Martirosyan landed the more effective punches and set up his punches well behind a jab.

Martirosyan had Taylor momentarily stunned in the first round with a combination to the head. Rather than throw wild punches, Taylor remained poised and attempted to land right hands as Taylor tried to connect.

Despite being outgunned, Taylor did not back down and tried to land counter right hands to the head. He would catch Martirosyan with an occasional right hand to the head. However, Martirosyan was patient and worked well, gaining experience with a tough fighter who took his best punches.

All three judges scored the bout 60-54 in favor of Martirosyan as did Fightnews.com.

Martirosyan, from Glendale, CA by way of Abovyan, Armenia, improves to 18-0, 12 KO's. Taylor, from Wilmington, DE, falls to 12-13-2, 6 KO's.

In a battle of unbeaten fighters, Lightweight Juan Garcia won a hard fought six round unanimous decision over Gamalier Rodriguez.

Garcia controlled the action in the opening round. However, Rodriguez increased his punch output and was able to counter effectively to the head and body of Garcia. Rodriguez' best round was when he caught Garcia with a right hand flush to the head of Garcia. An inadvertent elbow opened a cut on the hairline of Garcia.

The best round of the fight was the fourth as Rodriguez hurt Garcia with a left hook to the head. Rodriguez attempted to follow up, but was stunned with a right hand to the head by Garcia.

Despite the cut and being hurt in the previous round, Garcia controlled the final two rounds of the fight by landing the more effective punches to the head of Rodriguez. Garcia was impressive with finishing strong as Rodriguez began to slow down.

All three judges scored the bout 59-55, 59-55, and 58-56 in favor of Garcia. Fightnews.com scored the bout 58-56 in favor of Garcia.

Garcia, from Phoenix, AZ, improves to 14-0, 5 KO's. Rodriguez, Bayamon, Puerto Rico, falls to 5-1-2, 2 KO's.

In other bouts:

- Bantamweight Leo Santa Cruz scored a second round knockout over Jose Pacheco in a scheduled four round bout. Santa Cruz, from Lincoln Heights, CA, improves to 4-0-1, 2 KO's while Pacheco, from Huntington Park, CA, falls to 0-1-2.

- In the walkout bout of the evening, Super Featherweight Charles Huerta stopped Jose Luis Cabrera as Cabrera did not come out in the second round. Huerta knocked down Cabrera in the first round as well. Huerta, from Paramount, CA, improves to 3-0, 2 KO's. Cabrera, from Medford, OR, falls to 0-3.

Notes:

- Faces in the crowd: WBO Super Bantamweight champion Daniel Ponce De Leon, WBO Featherweight champion Steven Luevano, unbeaten Flyweight contender Giovanni Segura, Welterweight contender Victor Ortiz, Super Flyweight contender Martin Castillo, and unbeaten Middleweight prospect Alfredo Angulo.

- Despite the early local start and driving rainstorm, the tent was almost filled with local fight fans. The fight card started at 4:30PM west coast time, with a boisterous crowd cheering and chanting during and after the television fights. The tent was in the middle of a parking lot at the Alameda Swap Meet.

- Bernardo Osuna and Ricardo Celis called the action from ringside for Telefutura's popular "Solo Boxeo Tecate" series. Both are in their seventh season of calling the action on the Spanish-language channel on Friday nights.

- Ring announcer was Lupe Contreras, who was recently profiled on Fightnews.com.