Golden Boy Promotions brought world-class boxing for the second time this year to the Orange County area as former world title challenger Oscar “El Jaguar” Negrete (18-1-1, 7 KOs) defended his NABF 118-pound title against Joshua “The Professor” Franco (14-1-1, 7 KOs) in the 10-round main event of the October 4 edition of Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN at the Hangar at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa, California.
The main event was a back-and-forth brawl which saw more than 2,000 combined punches thrown over 10 rounds. In the end, Negrete and Franco battled to a split draw in a bout that certainly warrants a rematch.
Check out Round By Round Boxing‘s full-card results below. Download the RBRBoxing mobile app for iOS and Android for more updates and breaking news.
Oscar Negrete vs. Joshua Franco Fight Card Results
Oscar Negrete vs. Joshua Franco
In a hotly-contested main event that was fought in a phonebooth, Oscar Negrete and Joshua Franco combined to throw over 2,000 punches in the 10-round bout. It was an extremely difficult fight to call and in the end, the fight ended in a split draw with the judges scoring the bout 96-94 Franco, 96-94 Negrete and 95-95 even.
“Let’s do one more round,” said Negrete immediately after the fight. “Right now!”Franco was impressed with his opponent’s toughness, but felt he won by the lumps he left on Negrete’s face.
“I take my hat off to Oscar Negrete he was tougher than I thought,” said Franco. And in response to Negrete’s plea for one more round, Franco said, “It’s whatever, look at his face.”
Danielito Zorrilla vs. Dakota Linger
Danielito Zorrilla was too much for Dakota Linger in the night’s co-main event. Linger, who hung his hat on having competed in tough man competitions, was outclassed and it was evident pretty early on.Zorrilla busted Linger up in Round 2, sending him stumbling into the corner where the referee decided to stop the fight.
Jousce Gonzalez vs. Ivan Delgado
Jousce Gonzalez and Ivan Delgado got things off to an exciting start on ESPN2 as both men came out looking to land their best shots on the inside and heated exchanges.
Delgado seemed to be getting the better of things in Round 2 and 3 as Gonzalez’s brother and fellow Golden Boy fighter Joet instructed his brother from ringside to use his height and reach and work at a distance. Gonzalez did a better job of that in the last few rounds, but as the final bell sounded the fight seemed like a toss up.
In the end, the judges scored it 58-56 for Delgado and 57-57 (twice) to end things in a draw. Both men felt they won fight, but seemed to accept the draw.
“I thought I won the fight and controlled the fight with my distance,” said Gonzalez. “It’s a learning experience, but I feel I won the fight.”
“I respect the decision of the judges,” said Delgado. “I felt like he missed a lot of shots and I felt when I landed I hurt him.”
Carlos Caraballo vs. Felipe Rivas
In the first bout of the evening on the Watch ESPN app, Puerto Rican southpaw Carlos Caraballo entered the ring looking to extend his impressive knockout streak to nine. Caraballo pounded Felipe Rivas for the better part of six rounds to earn a merciful sixth-round stoppage.
Rivas was tough and channeled his inner Emanuel Augustus at times with his clowning and herky jerky upper body movement, but unlike the elite skills that Augustus would show in his fights, Rivas would follow up his theatrics and taunts simply by absorbing multiple clean shots.
Caraballo did his part to continually try and close the show with hard straight lefts up top and vicious hooks downstairs, which forced the referee, Thomas Taylor, to continually take a close look and eventually stop the fight in the sixth and final round at the 1:47 mark.
With the stoppage win, Caraballo moves to 9-0 with 9 KOs.
