By Jeff Zimmerman

In the main event at the world-famous Mesquite Rodeo Arena, Dallas’ lightweight Alexis Del Bosque (17-5-1, 9 KOs) and Pedro Vicente (7-2-1, 2 KOs) hailing out of Puerto Rico battled to an entertaining split draw over eight rounds. This was the first local DFW card since Canelo-Saunders set an indoor U.S. boxing record of 73,126 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington a couple of weeks ago.

Texas, particularly Dallas-Fort Worth, became a hotbed for big-time boxing as it has hosted Garcia-Campbell, Chocolatito-Estrada 2, Ortiz-Hooker, Spence-Garcia, and Canelo-Saunders over the last several months during the year of COVID.

But local fan favorite lightweight Del Bosque nicknamed “El Perro” and Vicente showed that smaller shows are alive and well in Dallas as they did not disappoint the raucous crowd on Friday night.

Del Bosque came out firing from the opening bell as he used his long reach to rifle off a stiff jab and fast combos to the head and body of Vicente. And at six feet tall, Del Bosque held a seven-inch height advantage over Vicente. Del Bosque appeared to be cruising early, until Vicente found his footing and found success inside. By the third round, it was a fight, as Vicente was taking big shots to the body, but was also beginning to land power shots of his own. He snapped Del Bosque’s head back with a powerful right hand in the round.

In round five, Del Bosque and Vicente exchanged leather in the center of the ring, exchanging punch for punch. While in round six, Vicente landed a solid right hand and a big uppercut in round seven, as Del Bosque’s fans chanted “Perro” to help give him an extra boost. In the eighth and final round, Del Bosque and Vicente went toe-to-toe until the final bell. The official scores read 79-73 Del Bosque, 77-75 Vicente and 76-76.

The event was promoted by The Boxing Showcase and sponsored by Hector Vazquez’ Sweat Boxing and included Mexican boxing legend Marco Antonio Barrera who was in town all week and made various appearances for the fans.

Barrera also announced in the ring prior to the main event, that he will face his Mexican rival Erik Morales in July possibly back in Dallas in an exhibition. The ring announcer was former Fightnews.com correspondent Christian Schmidt who kept the crowd engaged all night.

Rafael “Listo” Gaitan vs. Jorge Martinez

In the co-main event, Dallas’ cruiserweight Rafael “Listo” Gaitan (6-0-1, 4 KOs) dropped the game Jorge Martinez (4-7, 1 KO) in the first round and unleashed a flurry of big punches to the head and body in round two that put Martinez down and out. As Gaitan landed the crushing right hand that put Martinez on the canvas for the second time, referee Neal Young jumped in and fell on top of Martinez. Young quickly got back to his feet and immediately waived off the fight. The popular Gaitan had a large fanbase in attendance as he was an amateur star as the #1 Heavyweight in the USA and a 2017 Golden Gloves Champion. Gaitan told the media in attendance afterward he was excited to have the legendary Marco Antonio Barrera in attendance and was happy to perform well in front of him and all his fans.

Daniel Bailey vs. Benjamin Gurment

Super lightweight Benjamin Gurment (3-0, 2 KOs) out Fort Worth pounded out a tough four round decision against Daniel Bailey (0-1) to remain undefeated. Gurment was the aggressor throughout pushing the action as Bailey was happy to counter. Gurment bullied his way inside often and unleashed shots to the head and body as Bailey did most of his work on the outside. In a competitive fight, the official scores read 38-38, 40-36 twice for Gurment as he kept his undefeated streak alive to start his career. Gurment is trained by Ray Ray Barrera, brother-in-law of two-time world champion Paulie Ayala.

Keven Soto vs. Anthony Adams

Super lightweight Keven Soto (1-0) out of Dallas used a strong body attack to beat cross-town rival Anthony Adams Jr (0-1) out of Fort Worth. The southpaw Adams landed his straight left hand in the round one, but Soto turned the tide later in the round and had Adams against the ropes where he dropped big shots to the head and body. Soto continued to take the fight to Adams and seemed to hurt him in round three, but Adams hung tough and countered with shots to the head. Adams was deducted one point in round four for holding. The scores read 37-37, 40-35, 40-36 for Soto as he earned the majority decision victory. It was the pro debut for both fighters.

Rufugio Montellano vs. Angel Gomez

In the opening bout at the world-famous Mesquite Rodeo in Mesquite, Texas, Dallas’ super lightweight Rufugio Montellano (2-0, 1 KOs) stopped Angel Gomez (0-2) in the third round of the scheduled four. Gomez continued to spit out his mouthpiece and was deducted two points in the third round by Referee Rosario Solis and after another occurrence, Solis immediately waived the fight off and disqualified Gomez. The time of the disqualification was 2:47. It was a spirited fight while it lasted as both fighters stayed in the pocket and were headhunting and landed bombs to the head. The spirited crowd booed the ending. although their fighter came out with his second win in as many fights.