Thompson Promotions Entertains in Ontario as Lopez Pounds out a Unanimous Decision over Brown
By Gabriel Montoya, Max Boxing (Jan 23, 2010) Special to Doghouse Boxing  
On Friday night, at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, CA, Thompson Promotions put on a solid night of action, filled with prospects and journeymen before a spirited, hardcore fight fan crowd of 1836 that added up to a good night at the fights. Junior welterweight champ Tim Bradley, bantamweight titleholder Yonnhy Perez and heavyweight contender Chris Arreola were ringside for this FoxSports Espanol telecast.

In the main event, junior welter Patrick “El Elegante” Lopez, 18-2 (11), pounded out a unanimous decision over John “The Eastern Beast” Brown, 24-17-2 (11) with one no-contest. It was not the best meshing of styles as Lopez, a southpaw boxer with solid power, good movement and a decent jab-left hand combo, had trouble against the reluctant and defensive-minded Brown. Either hanging all the way on the outside where Lopez could not get to him, or all the way in where he would clinch incessantly, Brown made an ugly fight of it. The size differential between Lopez, 5’ 8” and Brown, 5’ 4”, made things all the worse. What was worse for Lopez was that Brown kept leading with his head so, while he couldn’t hit Brown consistently, he kept getting headbutted; one of which opened a cut over his right eye.

Round after round, they circled each other. Lopez hunting and pecking away, Brown flurrying ineffectively on the inside to little or no effect. Lopez seemed to get frustrated with the rough stuff as the fight wore on but he steeled himself and eventually began to get his offense going.

Down the stretch, he finally landed a hard shot that hurt Brown; a left to the body. Brown fell to the canvas on his knees, right in front of this reporter, and his mouthpiece fell out. Not sure if it was out of frustration or impatience, but referee Jack Reiss didn’t wash off the mouthpiece after Brown rose to his feet at the count of nine. Ref Reiss just put it back in Brown’s mouth and Lopez tried to finish. Instead, Brown wrapped him up and the tumbled into the ropes and onto the canvas. Brown did what veterans do, when all failed, he found a way to survive to the final bell.. The scores, 79-72 and 80-71 twice, were unanimous for Lopez.

Lightweight prospect Daniel Hernandez, 10-0 (6), out of Southgate, CA, scored a fifth-round knockout over Baudel Cardenas, 18-20-2 (6). The action was tentative early on, from both men, but soon, it heated up. Baudel took some heavy leather from Hernandez, but came with hard left hooks and body shots of his own. Hernandez is a boxer-puncher who goes to the body very well and this night was no different. In the fourth, he ripped Cardenas with a hard hook to the body as they traded along the ropes and Cardenas fell to the canvas on his knees, grimacing. Surprisingly, he got up midway through the count and went straight at Hernandez until the bell ended the round.

While game as hell, Cardenas was not up to the task and Hernandez dropped him again in the fifth with two brutal hooks from the right and the left side. This time, there was no brave stand to be had and the fight was over at 31 seconds into the fifth round.

Huntington Park, CA junior welterweight Hector Serrano, 11-0 (3), scored a unanimous decision over rugged veteran Cristian Favela, 17-24-6 (10), in a tactical six-round bout. Serrano, who is trained by Henry Ramirez, is more boxer than puncher but he commits to his shots well, digs to the body nicely and has solid movement. Favela, a classic prospect builder, did his job by extending Serrano and getting to him in spots, particularly late in the fight when the younger man tired a bit. Scores were 59-55 and 60-54 twice.

In a great little fight, Carson, CA’s Efrain “La Cobra” Esquivias Jr., 7-0 (5), stopped game and heavy handed Randy “Savage” Arrelin, 2-2 (1), of Albuquerque, NM, at 2:40 of the sixth round of their featherweight fight. The action was hot from the start as Arrelin came out behind a heavy jab and right hand that caught the speedy and unorthodox Esquivias. An accidental headbutt opened a right eye cut over “La Cobra’s” head and Arrelin jumped on him.

Finding out how a young fighter gets through adversity is what this stage is all about and “La Cobra” was more than up to the task. A long right hand rocked the crowd favorite, Esquivias, in the second round but like a future champ, he came roaring back as he found his rhythm and began to get his offense going. As each round progressed, Esquivias tightened up his defense and landed compact combinations that started with lead hooks and ripping uppercuts to the body. As his attack sharpened, the reflexes and energy of Arrelin dulled. He would attack in spurts, land a hard shot here and there but, more and more, Esquivias took control of the fight. In both the fourth and the fifth rounds, Arrelin was forced to take a knee as the body shots from Esquivias nearly broke him in half.

In the sixth, it was mop-up duty as referee David Denkin looked hard at the action until he had finally seen enough as Esquivias battered Arrelin along the ropes. The time ruling was a TKO at 2:40 of the sixth. Esquivias Jr. is definitely a fighter to look out for. Fast, all action, technically sound, but missing a few defensive moves. Some seasoning and he can easily be an entertaining TV fighter.

Undefeated Riverside’s Alberto “Baby Dynamite” Herrera, 7-0 (5), scored a workmanlike, six-round unanimous decision over Hilario Lopez, 11-9 (8). Lopez seemed reluctant to engage with Herrera’s solid-but-basic output of jabs, rights and hooks. The caution was medium-paced until late, when Lopez came on a bit and began to land hard right hands.. But it was all Herrera, as he scored 60-54, across the board.

In a battle of debuting pros, Riverside, CA’s Johnatan “The Poison” Garcia, 1-0, scored a split decision win over Anthony Reyes, 0-1, in a wild and spirited first effort from both combatants. Garcia, a rangy, right handed junior welter, was the boxer-puncher to Reyes’ stout and aggressive combo puncher. Both men gave as good as they got with Reyes suffering a bloodied nose and Garcia’s back getting marked up from being bullied on the ropes. It was a back-and-forth affair with the difference, ultimately, being a missed call by referee David Denkin who, mistakenly, called a trip/slip by Reyes a knockdown. Judges at ringside scored the fight 38-37 for Reyes while Garcia received scores of 39-38 and 39-37.

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