Jr. Welterweight Jesus Saracho scored a hard fought ten round unanimous decision over previously undefeated Cesar Francis on Wednesday night at the ProBox Events Center in Plant City, FL. The main event of digital Boxing streaming network Pro Box TV’s first installment of it’s Future Stars series did not disappoint as both Saracho and Francis brought their best in this ten round bout. In round two, Francis appeared to hurt Saracho with a body shot, but Saracho was able to withstand the barrage of offense at the end of the round.
Francis appeared to control the majority of the early
rounds by using his range as well as timing to catch Saracho with offense as he
came forward. As the fight progressed however, the two fighters appeared to
switch roles in the sense that Saracho appeared to be landing the harder
punches of the two and was the effective aggressor by periodically landing body
shots and mixing in offense to Francis’ head in spurts. At the conclusion of
the ten round bout, all three judges had scored the bout in favor of Saracho resulting
in a unanimous decision victory. Official scores were: 98-92, and 96-94 (On two
scorecards for Saracho. Jesus Saracho advances to 13-1, with 11 Knockouts.
Cesar Francis falls to 12-1, with 7 Knockouts.
Also on this card:
Unbeaten nineteen year old Jr. Lightweight Oscar Alvarez
scored a seven round technical decision over Nicolas Polanco. Alvarez dominated the fight due largely to his
6’3 height and reach where he was able to connect frequently on Polanco
frequently throughout the scheduled eight round bout. In round seven however,
the bout was stopped due to a deep gash that opened directly over Alvarez’ left
eye as a result of an accidental clash of heads that was bleeding profusely and
going directly into the eye. At the point when the bout was stopped, Alvarez
was ahead on all three official scorecards 70-63, and 68-65 (On two scorecards)
resulting in him remaining unbeaten via unanimous technical decision. Oscar
Alvarez advances to 8-0, with 7 Knockouts. Nicolas Polanco falls to 20-4-1,
with 11 Knockouts.
In an entertaining Lightweight bout, Jonhatan Cardoso scored a hard fought eight round decision over
previously undefeated and very “Game” Jose Arellano. Cardoso established a very
high pace in the early rounds and implemented a near relentless attack to the
body and head of Arellano. Although Arellano did everything he could to keep Cardoso
at bay, it was the relentless attack that ultimately resulted in Cardoso
winning an eight round unanimous decision in a fight where he also took a fair
share of punishment as well as dished it out. All three official judges scored
the bout 78-74 in favor of Cardoso. Jonhatan Cardoso
advances to 15-1, with 14 Knockouts. Jose Arellano falls to 10-1, with 6
Knockouts.
Jr. Welterweight Jorge Carlos moved
to 4-0 in his young career by scoring a first round knockout of Anthony Linenfelser.
A barrage of non-stop punches from Carlos put Linenfelser down in a corner midway
through the round. Although Linenfelser was able to get up from the knockdown
and was allowed to continue, Carlos moved in for the finish and a short right
hook sent Linenfelser face down on the canvas resulting in the fight being
immediately stopped. Official time of the stoppage was 1:40 of round one. Jorge
Carlos advances to 4-0, with 4 Knockouts. Anthony Linenfelser falls to 4-18-1,
with 4 Knockouts.
Undefeated Heavyweight Lorenzo
Medina began the evening, by scoring a first round knockout of veteran
Cleveland Billingsley. Medina immediately began to land his left hook in the
opening seconds of the fight and began mixing in combinations. A right hand to
the head put Billingsley down for the count. Official time of the stoppage was
2:40 of round one. Lorenzo Medina advances to 5-0, with 5 Knockouts. Cleveland
Billingsley falls to 5-9, with 5 Knockouts.
This card, which concluded a rare stretch of Boxing
events in four cards promoted by four separate promoters across the state of
Florida, like the previous three, showcased many of the upcoming fighters in
the ProBox Promotions stable, many of whom are Florida-based. As for the debut
of this Future Stars series, a series that ProBox TV intends to be a bi-weekly
series throughout 2023 on Wednesday evenings, this was very much in line with
what one might expect from a Boxing series that is focused on rising prospects
akin to Showtime Sports’ highly acclaimed ShoBox: The New Generation series.
For the first digital streaming network that is geared exclusively to the sport
of Boxing, the first edition of ProBox TV’s Future Stars series should be consider
a success. As both the Boxing promotion headed by promoter Garry Jonas and the
streaming network, which launched in May of last year continue to grow and
hopefully add content from more promoters, this series should evolve and be
regarded as a proving ground for fighters nearing world title contention, as
ShoBox was able to do over the past two decades. Something that for fighters
remains crucial and as far as the network is concerned should be viewed as a win
for Boxing fans and in particular fans in the state of Florida, which is a
growing hot spot for the sport.
“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”
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