ORANGE, Calif. (April 17, 2017) – Lightweight Manuel Mendez (15-1-2, 11 KOs) needed five rounds to record his fourth straight win by knockout over Luis Arceo (28-16-5, 18 KOs) Friday night from the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, Calif.
The main event, which was scheduled for 8-rounds, featured plenty of activity from both boxers. Arceo, who traveled from Tijuana, Mex. to face “La Tormenta,” started fast early in an effort to neutralize the power-punching Mendez, who is trained by Joel Diaz.
Mendez, 26, decided to feel out the challenger in the first few rounds before going on the offensive. Throughout the fight, Arceo threw a great deal of punches, but none connected accurately and had little effect, if any, on the much stronger Mendez.
For his part, Mendez picked his spots and landed crisp power punches in every round. The repetitive onslaught finally caught up with Arceo, as he refused to come out for the sixth round.
“He didn’t hurt me with anything,” said Mendez, who is from Indio, Calif. by way of Oregon. “He was awkward in that he would throw a bunch of punches, but they didn’t have anything behind it. I think I did a good job of side stepping his attack to set up my own.”
In the co-feature, junior welterweight Jessie Roman (21-3, 10 KOs) of Santa Ana, Calif. knocked out Puerto Rico’s Luis Joel Gonzalez (11-5-1, 6 KOs) in the fifth round (1:50) of their scheduled 8-rounder.
Roman came out aggressive and by the fourth round he managed to score two knockdowns, which would later set the stage for his knockout win.
In the fifth, Roman attacked the body with left hooks. He landed back-to-back body shots with the second one ending Gonzalez’s night.
“I just kept attacking and never let him relax,” said Jessie Roman. “After the fourth round, I knew I would be able to knock him out.”
Featherweight Alimkhan Jumakhonov (6-1-1, 3 KOs) overcame a third round knockdown to win by split decision over Alberto Mora (5-6, 1 KO) in what was an entertaining 4-round scrap.
Mexico’s Mora tagged Jumakhonov in the third round with a counter right. Jumakhonov, who is based in the Los Angeles suburb of Reseda, quickly shook it off and returned fire immediately. The pair would go back and forth for the remainder of the fight. Two judges scored the bout for Jumakhonov (38-37, 38-36), while the third judge had it for Mora (38-37).
In the third fight of the night, Mario Hernandez (1-0), who recently signed a contract with Thompson Boxing, was successful in his professional debut against the aggressive Manuel Manzo (0-5), who remains winless.
Hernandez, who describes himself as a pressure fighter, backed up Manzo with a steady diet of jabs and power punches. The one-sided scores read: 40-36, 39-37 twice.
In a fight that looked like a potential barnburner between two bantamweights making their professional debuts, the action, unfortunately was cut short due to low blows.
Daniel Guzman (0-1) of Los Angeles was disqualified after three rounds due to a low blow that landed against Xavier Pena (1-0) of Tijuana, Mexico. Prior to that, both fighters engaged in a furious return that saw Pena knock down Guzman in the opening round with a nasty right cross. Officially, Pena wins by disqualification after three complete rounds.
In the “Locked n’ Loaded” show opener, the Joel Diaz trained Alfredo Escarcega (1-0) of Indio, Calif. hit pay dirt in his professional debut versus Mario Aguirre (2-8, 2 KOs) of Chula Vista, Calif. He recorded a unanimous decision win by applying steady pressure and being first to the punch.
Showing his inexperience, Escarcega was deducted one point in round three for an intentional head butt. Despite the point deduction, Escarcega managed a commanding win, 39-36 all around.
Header photo by Carlos Baeza/Thompson Boxing
