In the main even between Fairfield, California featherweight Manuel “Tino” Avila (13-0, 5 KO’s) and somewhat game replacement opponent Jose Angel Cota (15-10-1, 11 KO’s) of Mexicali, Mexico, Avila would need all of two rounds, stopping Cota at the 2:32 mark. Causing a cut to the bridge of Jose Angel’s nose in the second, Manuel would swarm with endless punches. And although nothing seemed to land for “Tino” during this stretch, the action would nevertheless prompt the referee to call a halt.
A competitive co-main event at middleweight would see Louis Rose (8-1-1, 2 KO’s) of Los Angeles, California land the harder more eye catching blows in comparison to lighter hitting opponent Paul “El Gallo Negro” Mendez (14-2-2, 6 KO’s) of Salinas, California. However, fatigue would set in often for Rose so that Mendez’s work rate would allow him to steal much of the action with the end result being a split draw at 97-93 for Rose, 96-94 for Mendez, and 95-95.
Junior welterweight Jonathan Chicas (11-1, 4 KO’s) of nearby San Francisco would as the slightly harder puncher appear to be the more effective aggressor in comparison to Los Angeles opponent Joaquin Chavez (6-11-2, 2 KO’s) who mainly gave ground. All told, Chicas after six rounds of boxing would garner a unanimous decision verdict by scores of 60-54, and 59-55 twice.
In a swing bout, undefeated junior lightweight Andy Vences (5-0, 2 KO’s) of San Jose, California would find things quite competitive early on against game opponent Jose Garcia (3-7-1, 2 KO’s) of Bakersfield, California. But using the ring and a smart left hand would allow the better tactician Vences to gain control the rest of the way through for a unanimous decision win in this four-round tilt. The final tallies would read 39-37 all the way around for Vences.
San Leandro, California’s Benjamin Briceno (3-1) would erupt upon hearing the opening bell, throwing hard crowd pleasing combinations to get the better of it in the first round against junior featherweight Mario Ayala (2-2) of Sacramento, California. That said, in the ensuing three frames in yet another scheduled four-round match, it appeared the crouching Ayala with a bit of head movement landed better so that he deserved the nod. The judges didn’t see it that way though, awarding Briceno a majority decision by scores of 38-38, and 39-37 twice.
In a good two-way action bout at featherweight, bloodied hometown fighter Jesus Sandoval gave just about as good as he got against Tigard, Oregon’s Sammy Perez (1-2-3), so that the four-round affair would fittingly end in a majority draw. The final scores would read 40-36 for Perez, and 38-38 twice.
Salinas, California’s Darwin Price would improve to 3-0, registering the kayo at 1:58 of the second round against the much shorter and overmatched Omar Avelar of Lummi Reb, Washington. Avelar in failing to close the gap wasn’t competitive at any point, getting dropped in both the first and second frames so that his corner saw fit to throw in the towel.
Cruiserweight Andrew Tabiti of Las Vegas, Nevada improves to 2-0 with 2 KO’s after finishing off Columbus, Ohio’s Eric Slocum at 1:27 of the very first round in a scheduled four-rounder. Eric going down thrice during the brief encounter would no doubt force his corner’s hand, as Team Slocum threw in the towel in the face of a dominant showing by Tabiti. Slocum remains winless at 0-2.
