All photos by Kyte Monroe/BoxStats
Paramount’s Charles Huerta (20-5, 11 KOs) scored an eight-round split decision win over Miguel Angel Gonzalez (20-3, 17 KOs) in Golden Boy Promotions LA Fight Club at The Belasco Theater on Thursday night.
The referee stopped the fight after an accidental clash of heads opened a cut above Huerta’s forehead in the final round. Due to the stoppage, the bout went to the scorecards. Two judges scored the bout, 78-75 and 77-76 for Huerta, while one judge scored it 78-75 in favor of Gonzalez.
Gonzalez went down in the second round on a low blow, but landed solid body shots followed by an uppercut. Gonzalez started pressing the action in Round 3 and backed Huerta to the ropes with body shots.
In Round 4, Gonzalez continued to the pressure, but Huerta kept busy, landing combinations and counters. Huerta landed short punches and was able to use the outside to his advantage.
In the co-main, Buena Park’s Christian Gonzalez (17-1, 14 KOs) bounced back from a loss in his last fight with a 6-round knockout victory over Daniel Perales (10-11-1, 5 KOs) from Mexico.
Gonzalez pressed the action in Round 1 and landed good body shots. In Round 2, Gonzalez staggered Perales with a right hook against the ropes, then landed another right hook followed by an uppercut.
Perales went down after a barrage of punches in round three and failed to get up, giving Gonzalez the much-needed win.
Gonzalez said when the referee stops the fight, that’s the greatest feeling in the world after putting in eight weeks of hard work in training.
“Since my last fight, I learned to be more relaxed, and to really take my time and have patience inside the ring,” said Gonzalez. “Perales had a good left hook and had a lot of power, but we practiced my jab in the ring and we wanted to go round by round.”
The six-round Featherweight bout between Francisco Esparza (6-0-1, 2 KOs) and Fernando Fuentes (12-7-1, 4 KOs) ended in a majority draw.
Esparza and Fuentes put on an entertaining, non-stop action fight with both fighters willing to exchange in the middle of the ring. Esparza landed good combos but Fuentes attacked the body well in Round 1.
Esparza landed a hard right hand in the second round, however, Fuentes continued to counter and attack the body.
Esparza said the judges have a different viewpoint than he does inside the ring.
“We kept clashing heads and I got a cut over my eye that I got lucky didn’t get out of control,” said Esparza. “He was a bit taller and had a bit more of reach. Every fight is a chance to improve.”
Both fighters looked tired but kept swinging in the final round. One judge scored it 58-56 while the two other judges scored it, 57-57, calling it a draw.
Fuentes said he wishes he would have thrown more punches at the start.
“It took us both some time to warm up,” said Fuentes. “I’m hearing that they want a rematch, and if we were to fight again, I’d like to go eight rounds instead of six.”
