Undefeated Welterweight contender Santiago Dominguez scored a hard-fought ten round split decision over veteran Ricardo Lara on Thursday night at the Marina Terra Hotel and Spa in San Carlos, MX. In what was a competitive and tactical bout, the unbeaten Dominguez had difficulty with Lara throughout as the veteran seemed to be the one dictating the pace, landing short combinations as Dominguez came forward, and made it difficult for him to get into an offensive rhythm.
As the fight progressed, the ebb and flow shifted back and forth between the two fighters in what became a difficult fight to score. In round eight, Lara had what may have been his best round of the fight when he hurt Dominguez with a left hook to the body late in the round that allowed him to back Dominguez up in a corner and unleash a flurry of punches. Although he was clearly hurt by the initial left hook to the body, Dominguez was able to survive the round. Although it appeared as though that rally late in the eighth round seemed to give Lara the edge, the fight remained competitive until the final bell and it was Dominguez who got the nod of two of three official judges to give him the split decision victory. Official scores were 96-95 (On two scorecards for Dominguez), and 96-94 for Lara. Santiago Dominguez advances to 24-0, with 18 Knockouts. Ricardo Lara falls to 22-9, with 10 Knockouts.
Also on this card:
In the co-main event, unbeaten eighteen year old Lightweight prospect Luis Torres scored a devastating third round knockout over Juan Marcos Rodriguez. What was developing into an entertaining scrap between two fighters that did not seem to have an issue standing and exchanging with each other in close, saw Torres generally get his punches off first including catching Rodriguez with a flush left hook to the head at the conclusion of the second round. In round three, Torres would bring the fight to a sudden conclusion when he connected with two flush left hooks to the head of Rodriguez that sent him down and out on the canvas. The bout was stopped immediately with no count. Rodriguez remained down on the canvas for several minutes, but was eventually able to leave the ring under his own power. Official time of the stoppage was 1:48 of round three. Luis Torres advances to 10-0, with 7 Knockouts. Juan Marcos Rodriguez falls to 9-3, with 7 Knockouts.
In a clash of undefeated Featherweight prospects, Jailer Lopez scored a four round unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Armando Ramirez to remain unbeaten. Despite seeming to get the better of the action throughout the four round bout, Lopez did have a flaw in that several of his body punches would hit Ramirez below the belt. While these low blows all appeared unintentional, Lopez was penalized a point in round three for low blows. Although he had the point deduction working against him, Lopez still was the fighter who forced the action, was able to out work Ramirez throughout, and this was enough for him to earn the unanimous decision victory. Official scores were 39-36 (On two scorecards), and 38-37 all in favor of Lopez. Jailer Lopez advances to 4-0, with 2 Knockouts. Armando Ramirez falls to 3-1, with 0 Knockouts.
Undefeated Heavyweight twenty-three year old Geovany Bruzon scored a first round knockout over forty year old late substitute Hugo Lomeli. Bruzon used his 6’2 height to dictate the combat over the 5’9 Lomeli, who appeared underprepared for an assignment on short notice. A left hook to the body seemed to signal the beginning of the end of this fight as Lomeli offered no resistance and went down on the canvas on his knees in what appeared to be a delayed reaction to the initial hook to the body. The bout was immediately stopped. Official time of the stoppage was 1:55 of round one. Geovany Bruzon advances to 5-0, with 5 Knockouts. Hugo Lomeli falls to 21-16-1, with 15 Knockouts.
In a Jr. Middleweight bout that began the evening, unbeaten Yoelvis Gomez moved to 3-0 in his young career by scoring a third round stoppage of veteran David Rangel. Gomez came out swinging and seemed to be putting everything he had into every punch he threw right from the opening bell. This resulted in him landing several hard and thudding punches, many of which were to the body of Rangel that obviously kept him on the defensive. The consistent pressure along with the thudding blows eventually took their toll on Rangel and after sustaining a body shot early in round three, indicated that he did not want to continue resulting in the fight being stopped. Official time of the stoppage was :31 of round three. Yoelvis Gomez advances to 3-0, with 3 Knockouts. David Rangel falls to 13-8, with 9 Knockouts.
All and all, the two Boxing cards on back to back nights promoted by future Hall of Famer Roy Jones’ RJJ Boxing provided a look at various prospects at varying stages of their respective development in their careers as well as a close call for rising contender Santiago Dominguez in what will probably be regarded as his toughest test thus far in his career. While some of the bouts over the two nights of action, which also featured unbeaten Super-Middleweight Lester Martinez in the main event of night one, were not necessarily competitive, it is important to remember that Boxing as is the case with most sports is in the midst of trying to operate during a still ongoing global epidemic known as COVID-19 and even though some might argue that some of these bouts did little for some of these prospects, perhaps the more important thing is simply being able to get these fighters in position where they can stay active as timed remain uncertain.
If one is to assume that circumstances surrounding COVID-19 will significantly improve at some point in 2021 however, it will be interesting to see which of these prospects and contenders will be able to step up in their next bouts.
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