By Miguel Maravilla and Jeff Zimmerman at ringside

Washington D.C. super featherweight Lamont Roach Jr. (23-1-1, 9 KOs) won a lackluster unanimous decision over Angel Rodriguez of Columbia (20-2, 10 KO’s) in a twelve round WBA 130lb eliminator on the Garcia-Fortuna undercard at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. Roach boxed aggressively early in the fight taking the fight to Rodriguez. Letting his hands go in the third, Rodriguez connected with a low blow as Roach took a knee in pain, Roach recovered and was up fighting. Roach staggered Rodriguez with a right hand in the fifth as he stalked the Colombian throughout the round. Momentum appeared to be going Roach’s way in the sixth as he backed Rodriguez and connected with combination late in the round. Boxing patiently in the seventh, Roach attacked smart backing and limiting Rodriguez. In the eighth, Rodriguez appeared to be fading as Roach kept coming staying on top of the limited Rodriguez.

In the ninth, Roach stayed on top of Rodriguez scoring points and painting up Rodriquez behind the jab staying busy. The whistles began to fill the arena with noise in the tenth as L.A fans began to boo, Roach’s dominance of Rodriguez. Roach boxed in the eleventh as he was obviously ahead on the cards outworking Rodriguez. Stalking in the twelfth and final round, Roach pressed behind the jab as Rodriguez held on in making it the distance. The judges scored the bout 117-111, 116-112, and 116-112.

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In a WBA flyweight title eliminator, David Jimenez (12-0, 9 KOs) out of Cartago, Costa Rica stunned the local, crowd favorite Ricardo “El Nino” Sandoval (20-2, 15 KOs) from Rialto, CA with a come from behind majority decision 114-112 twice, 113-113. Through the first six rounds, Sandoval picked his spots and tried to neutralize the constant movement of Jimenez as neither fighter could gain control. But in the 7th round, the tide appeared to change as referee Thomas Taylor deducted a point on Jimenez for holding. This seemed to energize Sandoval, as he came out firing in the eighth, which started with a left hook to the body that clearly hurt the Costa Rican. Sandoval smelled blood and went on the attack and dropped bombs to the head and body on Jimenez, who showed his toughness and survived the round. Jimenez was no longer coming forward as Sandoval was now in complete control until the fateful eleventh round. After a missed right hand by Sandoval, Jimenez stepped back and landed a flush right on the jaw of Sandoval that sent him to the canvas. Jimenez was now looking to stop Sandoval who did his best to survive to the final bell. Jimenez pulled out the victory to the dismay of the pro-Sandoval crowd and remained undefeated, while Sandoval lost for only the second time as his 16-fight winning streak came to a halt in dramatic fashion.

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Unbeaten minimumweight Oscar Collazo (5-0, 3 KOs) of Puerto Rico won a unanimous decision over Victor Saludar (21-6, 11 KOs) in a WBA 105lb eliminator. Collazo worked his way to a hard-fought 118-110, 116-112, and 116-112 judges’verdict.

Figuring each other out in the opening round, Saludar connected with a straight right hand but Collazo returned the favor connecting the Filipino flush. Mixing it up in round two, Collazo attacked the body and worked inside as the Saludar stood in the pocket. The Puerto Rican countered in round three connecting solidly, answering Saludar’s attack as Collazo stood busy. Attacking inside in the fourth, Collazo connected with a solid left hand backing Saludar and stopping his momentum.

It appeared that Saludar was tired as Collazo began to break down the Filipino in the fifth. Collazo continued to dominate Saludar past the halfway point. Just when the fight appeared one-sided, Saludar connected with an uppercut in the seventh, dropping Collazo. Saludar continued to fight as Collazo continued to work. Late in the fight Collazo boxed and used the jab more effectively as Saludar fought valiantly.

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Featherweight Diego De La Hoya (23-1, 11 KOs) out of Mexicali, Mexico, showed a diverse attack against fellow countryman from Guadalajara and rugged, veteran Enrique Bernache (24-14, 12 KOs) and finally stopped him in round four of the scheduled ten to earn the knockout victory. De La Hoya came out fast in the first round sending Bernache back with a solid left hand. He also landed uppercuts in the opening frame. De La Hoya landed a flurry to close out round two, which prompted the ringside physician to take a quick look between rounds. Bernahce showed toughness and tried to counter, but by round four it was just a matter of time before De La Hoya closed the show. And sure enough at the end of the round, De La Hoya unleashed another barrage of punches and referee Ray Corona finally waved it off at 2:51. De La Hoya’s only loss came via Ronny Rios in 2019. De La Hoya is the cousin of the Golden Boy, Oscar De La Hoya.

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In the opening bout from the Crypto Arena in Los Angeles lightweight prospect Miguel Gaona (3-0, 2 KO) of Los Angeles disposed of Abdiel Padilla (1-3, 1 KO) of Puerto Rico. Gaona dropped Padilla early in the opening round, and floored him a second time with a right to the body. Referee Jack Reiss reached a ten count. (No official time was announced.)