Photo by Showtime Sports via Facebook
Joel Diaz Jr. (16-0, 12 KOs) scored a hard-earned unanimous decision victory over Tyler Asselstine (14-2, 7 KOs) at the Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut. The bout was the main event of a card presented by DiBella Entertainment and Showtime Sports.
Diaz, the 22-year-old from Palmdale, California, began his first ten-round fight by applying a lot of pressure and landing straight right hands.
It was clear very early that Asselstine’s game plan was to land punches and step around Diaz. However, he was unable to implement the game plan successfully as Diaz’s power and pressure were too much for him to handle.
Diaz landed lead right hands throughout the fight, the preferred method of entry when fighting a southpaw, but also peppered his offense with jabs and hooks to close the distance.
Asselstine, as if he needed more bad luck, was plagued by a mouthguard that had trouble staying in his mouth, which forced the referee to deduct a point in round seven and to nearly stop the fight in round eight.
Despite his issues with the mouthgaurd, Asselstine simply did not have the tools to beat Diaz, who seemed to be unfazed by most of Asselstine’s offense.
In the eighth round, as both he and his corner knew he needed a knockout to win, Asselstine threw caution to the wind and began standing his ground against Diaz.
Asselstine was able to hurt Diaz with a powerful right hand to end the round, perhaps enlivened by the words of his couch.
Nevertheless, he would go on to lose the following rounds, especially after a reinvigorated Diaz landed a body shot in the tenth that nearly stopped Asselstine as it was followed by a powerful flurry.
All judges scored the bout 97-92.
Photo by Jeremy Flores/Round By Round Boxing
In the co-main event, Frank “Notorious” Galarza (14-0-2, 9 KOs) scored a unanimous decision victory over Sebastien Bouchard (8-1, 2 KOs) in a Light Middleweight bout.
The 28-year-old Brooklyn native was coming off four knockout wins before allowing Showtime viewers to see his boxing skills in an eight-round fight.
Bouchard pushed the action early and landed a right hand, but Galarza soon found his rhythm and began circling around his opponent, landing right hands and body punches.
In the third round, Galarza continued boxing on the outside, landing flush jabs and body shots on an ostensibly frustrated Bouchard.
As the rounds progressed, Galarza found it easier to land combinations on Bouchard, who responded by covering up and throwing hardly any counterpunches.
In the seventh round, Bouchard walked in to a powerful right hand that Galarza timed as he stepped around Bouchard.
Galarza was deducted a point in the eighth round for a low-blow, but was too busy and effective throughout the fight for the deduction to have any effect on the fight’s decision.
The judges scored the bout 77-74, 77-74, and 78-73.
