Friday Night Fights returned to ESPN+ for a one-night stand at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California.
In a WBC super lightweight eliminator between former world champions, WBC #2, WBO #7 Jose Ramirez (27-1, 17 KOs) won a twelve round unanimous decision over WBO #6, WBC #10 Jose “Sniper” Pedraza (29-4, 14 KOs). Hometown favorite Ramirez aggressively pressed the action and forced Pedraza into survival mode over the last few rounds. Scores were 116-112 3x.
Ramirez stated afterward, “Jose Pedraza is a smart, experienced fighter. He was going to find a way to survive and put up a fight. He was there boxing towards the end of the fight. My hat’s off to him and his team. He was well-prepared. It was a great fight. I got to see where I am right now.
“I was a little tense coming into this fight because of my last fight. Fighting at home, last minute, I got a little more tense than I thought I was going to be. I went out there and just boxed, had fun in there. I played it smart, used my jab, and I think I won more than eight rounds.
“Against anybody at 140… I’m going to go back, work and stay focused and stay active. That’s one thing that’s affected me these last couple of years. I’ve trained so many times for a little bit of fights. My inactivity, my discouragement throughout training camps, it really took a big toll on me. I’m ready to stay active and stay motivated. There’s a lot of really great fighters coming up to 140. There’s a lot of really good fighters at 140 right now.
Heavyweight Richard Torrez Jr., the 2020 Olympic silver medalist, won his pro debut with a second round KO against Allen Melson (6-3, 3 KOs). Torrez dropped Melson in round one, but suffered a bad cut over his right eye from a headbutt. Torrez floored Melson twice more in round two to end it. Time was 1:23.
“After the cut, I knew I had to get back to basics, and that’s what I did. I made sure to avoid additional head clashes, and I got the job done in the second,” said Torrez. “Sure, the cut is frustrating, but I’m not going to let it ruin the celebration. What a night. It was everything I’d hoped it would be.”
WBC #6, WBO #6 featherweight contender Joet Gonzalez (25-2, 15 KOs) scored a ninth round TKO over WBO #7 Jeo Santisima (21-4, 18 KOs) in a bout for the WBO international title. Tough, gritty fight with Gonzalez progressively breaking down Santisima. Mercy stoppage by the referee at 2:05 of round nine.
Jr. lightweight Gabriel Flores Jr. (21-1, 7 KOs) rebounded from his first career loss with an unpopular ten round majority decision over Abraham Montoya (20-3-1, 14 KOs). Scores were 95-95, 96-94, 96-94. Flores stated he’s moving to lightweight after this.
In a hard-fought eight rounder, lightweight Hector Tanajara Jr. (19-1-1, 5 KOs) and Miguel Contreras (11-1-1, 6 KOs) battled to a draw. Both fighters had their moments with Contreras closing stronger. In the end, scores were 78-74 Tanajara, 77-75 Contreras, 76-76.
Junior lightweight Karlos Balderas (12-1, 11 KOs) crushed Aelio Mesquita (20-7-1, 18 KOs) in two rounds. Balderas dropped Mesquita immediately after the opening bell and again at the end of round one. Balderas then floored Mesquita again in round two to end it. Time was :38. Balderas, now trained by Buddy McGirt, looked much improved.
Middleweight Javier “Milwaukee Made” Martinez (6-0, 2 KOs) outpointed Donte Stubbs (6-4, 2 KOs) over six rounds. Stubbs dropped Martinez in round three, but otherwise it was Martinez in charge. Scores were 59-56, 58-55, 58-55.
Lightweight prospect Charlie Sheehy (2-0, 2 KOs) scored a first round TKO over Johnny Bernal (2-1, 2 KOs). Sheehy dropped Bernal, then got a referee’s stop. Time was 2:33.
6’9 heavyweight Antonio “El Gigante” Mireles (3-0, 3 KOs) knocked out Brandon Hughes (2-1, 2 KOs) in the second round. Time was 1:04.
Gabriel Flores should have been disqualified for holding. He’s totally shot and going to get really bad beatings in his career, he should quit now.
I actually think Jack Reiss is one of the better referees around, but Flores should have at least lost points.
Except after knockdowns Reiss gives them an extra ten seconds to recover. “Walk over here…now walk over there…raise your gloves…what day is it?…what is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow? …OK box!”
He needs to get away from father as his trainer and get someone who can take him to the next level. If if it doesn’t work at least he did all he could
The fix was in. Montoya dominated that fight.
Bradley is a nightmare to listen to.
True. Bradley is overly emotional and his comments are sometimes downright crazy. Don’t always agree with Ward, but at least his commentary has some logic behind it.
Yeah, Bradley keeps me from ever subscribing to ESPN+, he’s like a nagging spouse who yells nonsense to try and get attention.
Absolutely! There wouldn’t have been a fight without Montoya. Flores does ring around the rosy and holds! Montoya hit Flores 75 more power shots and he loses the decision. Give me a break
Fighting bigger, stronger fighters doesn’t seem like the best idea for Flores in my opinion, but I guess he’s having trouble at the weight. I think he’s in a bad spot right now in his career, maybe he can prove me wrong though.
He has no power at 130. At 135 he is toast.
Yeah, I agree. He only has seven knockouts on his record and five of them were in his first six fights. If he goes up and, hypothetically, ends up fighting someone like a Richard Commey – that’s a big punching legit lightweight who won’t have to respect his power and he’s not the only one.
Wow! Very well said!!
Torrez is a bridgerweight
The cut on Torrez was caused by a straight right hand. It was clear as day live, and then I watched it back on replay to confirm.
Obviously didn’t make any difference in the outcome, but makes you wonder if the will be prone to cuts in future fights.
Years ago I absolutely HATED watching ESPN fights because of Atlas! His analogies were stupid and he was too emotional! Now we have damn Bradley doing the same crap!
Not a fan of ‘bugs on the windshield’ or ‘water in the basement’??? Me neither. I watched a lot of those cards on mute.
DAMN! you complain about everything. a couple of days ago you were complaining about De La Hoya and now its Atlas and Bradley. Ima tell you exactly what i told you the other day… DON’T WATCH THEM FIGHTS PERIOD. PARECES MI EX… ALL BITTER AND SH**.
They call Garcia a Prima Donna lol ! Atlas is good and is emotional because he’s a hard core dying boxing fan like us..
Time for Ramirez and Prograis to work things out before the winner searches for Taylor.
Ramirez on points, that was exactly my pick. I didn’t see the fight, I’m going to watch it on YouTube..