By Sam Geraci at Ringside
In the main event of the evening, Robert Guerrero (30-1-1, 18 KOs) of Gilroy, CA, showed that he can handle a strong 147lb fighter in defeating Selcuk Aydin (23-1, 17 KOs) of Trabzon, Turkey, via unanimous decision for the vacant WBC Interim Welterweight Title with two scores of 116-112 and one score of 117-111. Although Guerrero clearly won the fight with his ring generalship and work rate, Aydin acquitted himself well by landing dynamic body shots with an occasional uppercut while applying constant pressure throughout the bout. After the fight, Guerrero expressed that although he felt a little rusty, he is confident with his talents at 147 and he is ready for the best.
“Floyd, if you want your belt, here it is. Come and get it.
Unlike his behavior during the pre-fight hype, Aydin was gracious in defeat. “The judges were not the problem tonight. I was the problem.”
In the co-main event, rising prospect Shawn Porter (20-0, 14 KOs) of Cleveland, OH, overcame two serious cuts from head butts to defeat former TV Contender star Alfonso Gomez (23-6-2, 12 KOs) of Guadalajara, Mexico, for the Vacant NABO Welterweight Title by unanimous decision with scores of 98-92, 96-94, and 97-93. While two of the scores were close, most at ringside seemed to view the fight more along the lines of the 98-92 score. Gomez appeared to push the younger fighter for the first three rounds while scoring with looping rights. Towards the first half of the fourth, however, Porter made adjustments to the looping right and began to dominate the fight in punishing fashion by working up and down behind his jab to set up combinations. In addition to working behind the jab to score, from the fourth on, Porter’s youth, speed, and reflexes reduced Gomez to an aging fighter whose only recourse was to fling wild shots that occasionally caused damage.
In a junior middleweight bout that resembled a sparring session much more than a prize fight, Hugo Centeno (15-0, 8 KOs) of Oxnard, CA, defeated Ayi Bruce (14-7, 8 KOs) of Albany, NY, via unanimous decision with one score of 79-73 and two scores of 80- 72. Centeno controlled the action of the fight with his ring generalship and left hand while Bruce only managed to land 59 punches to Centeno’s 252.
Manuel Avila (8-0, 2 KOs) of Fairfield, CA, defeated Raymond Chacon (4-4) of Northridge, CA, via unanimous decision by two scores of 40-36 and one score of 39-37.
In only his second fight outside of Europe, George Groves (15-0, 12 KOs) of Hammersmith, England, fought through a cut over his right eye to knockout a game Francisco Sierra (24-6-1, 22 KOs) of Tepic, Mexico, at 2:15 of the sixth round with a dynamic overhand right followed by a stunning left hook and quick left-right combination. Despite the blood pouring from theoutside of Groves’s right eye, which was caused from a head butt in the
third, Groves controlled most of the action with slick upper-body movement and powerful looping rights for which Sierra had no defense.
In the second bout of the evening, Paul Mendez (8-2-1, 2 KOs) of Delano, CA, defeated Leshon Simms (5-11, 3 KOs) of Inglewood, CA, via unanimous decision with three scores of 59-55. Mendez pressed the action throughout and landed several notable rights to the body in the third, which was his most dominant round. Following the third, Simms picked up his activity, which made for exciting action during the fifth and sixth rounds and if the judges were looking for a round to give Simms, the fifth might have been it.
In the first bout of the evening, Gerald Washington (1-0, 1 KO) of San Jose, CA, made his pro debut in emphatic fashion by knocking out the winless Blue Delong (0-4) of Glendale, AZ, in the first round. Washington outclassed and overwhelmed Delong throughout the bout and scored three knockdowns before the referee stopped the fight at 2:36 in the first round. While Delong offered nothing in the way of a challenge, Washington did maintain good balance, speed, and combination punching.
