By Ricardo Ibarra
Photos by Mike Blair/Boxingprospects

Pacific Northwest prospect Luis Gallegos (6-0, 2 KOs) maintained his unblemished record on Saturday night at Green River Community College in Auburn, Washington, eking out a six-round split decision win over Gregory Cruz (5-2, 3 KOs). The eighteen-year-old local jr. lightweight, who currently trains out of the Benavidez Sports Gym in nearby Burien, was fighting in the US for only the second time, having fought most of his young career in Mexico.

The bout was close from the start, with Gallegos working well in the pocket, focusing his early attack on the body, while Cruz maintained a busy work-rate, snapping a consistent jab in his opponent’s direction. Cruz upped his tempo in the middle portion of the fight, pushing Gallegos back, but Gallegos found openings as they stepped into short range, drilling his foe with tight shots upstairs and down.

The fight was close coming down the stretch and both fighters seemed to understand that fact, opening up hard, trading heavy leather to finish out a good fight.

The final tallies favored Gallegos, with two judges scoring the fight for him at 58-56, and the last seeing it 59-55 for Cruz.

In a closely contested co-main event, Seattle’s Rob Diezel (15-9, 4 KOs) scored a mild upset, taking a majority decision win over South Korea’s Ye Joon Kim (19-2-2, 11 KOs). The bout got off to an exciting start, with both men trading heavily from the outset, Diezel working off his jab and Kim countering well with power shots in close. Diezel came on strong in the second round, drilling Kim to the body and finding openings for quick right hands over the top, one of which opened a cut over Kim’s left eye.

The two traded momentum in most of the fight, Kim pressing forward with urgency and landing fierce combinations in close, while Diezel unloaded with sharp one-twos, looking to maintain an effective distance to land.

The pace continued down the stretch, with both fighters closing out an action-packed fight unloading their respective arsenals onto each other. The final tallies read 76-76, 78-74, and 77-75, to give Diezel his first win in nearly four years. The bout took place in the jr. featherweight division.

Local favorite Alexis De La Cerda (1-0, 1 KO) made a successful entrance into the paid ranks, stopping Cory Dea (0-1) in the opening round of a scheduled four round jr. featherweight match-up. De La Cerda staggered Dea a minute into the fight with a series of body shots, then quickly followed up with a flurry that sent his opponent to the ropes. The referee stepped in and administered a count after the ropes appeared to keep him from hitting the canvas. After the action resumed, De La Cerda pounced, unloading with a sustained volley, prompting his opponent’s corner to ask for the fight to be stopped. The end came at 2:13 of the first.

In a six round super middleweight contest, Fife, Washington’s Cameron Sevilla-Rivera (10-7-4, 6 KOs) pitched a shutout on the cards, taking a unanimous decision win over Dylan Carlson (1-7-2, 1 KO). Carlson came out active in the first, letting his jab go and following up with work to the body. Sevilla-Rivera, an experienced journeyman, slowly upped his tempo as the round wore on, and late in the stanza began to score with measured aggression. Sevilla-Rivera continued to counter well in the second, catching his opponent as he pressed forward. Sevilla-Rivera found his rhythm in the third, countering effectively and forcing his opponent to slow. He maintained an effective pace for the remainder of the fight, controlling the tempo with combinations to the head and body. All three judges had it 60-54 for Sevilla-Rivera, who added his tenth win as a pro and his first since April of 2021.

Welterweight Jose Cervantes (3-1, 3 KOs) notched a first-round knockout win over Evian Rodriguez (0-4). Cervantes landed a flurry mid-round, pushing his opponent into the corner, where he continued to unload. A series of body shots sent Rodrigues to the floor, where he would be counted out by the referee. The end came at 2:16.

Wenatchee, Washington’s Devontae McDonald (3-2, 1 KO) defeated Jacob Martin (1-2-1), of Tacoma, with a four round unanimous decision. McDonald took control of the action early on with an aggressive attack, pushing his opponent back and working well in close. The pace continued with McDonald edging out exchanges in close with precise uppercuts and busy combinations in the pocket. All three judges saw it for McDonald with tallies of 40-36 and 39-37 twice. The bout was fought in the super middleweight class.

In the card’s opener, Carlos Villanueva (5-3, 1 KO) faced off with Aurek Anderson (1-2, 1 KO) for the second time in seven months. In their first meeting, Villanueva took a four round unanimous decision. The result was much more conclusive in the return meeting. After a back-and-forth first round, Villanueva drilled Anderson with a hard right in the second, dropping him to the canvas, where he would stay. The referee called it at 1:14 of the second round. The contest took place in the heavyweight division.

The card was promoted by Makina Boxing Promotions.

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