By Miguel Maravilla at ringside

Diego De La Hoya (20-0, 9 KOs) of Mexicali, Mexico the cousin of Oscar De La Hoya, won a unanimous decision in impressive fashion over former world champion Randy “El Matador” Caballero (24-1, 14 KOs) of Coachella, California in winning the NABF Super Bantamweight title.

Off to fast start De La Hoya tagged Caballero with big punches landing a solid left hook in the opening round. Caballero’s aggression caused him to slip early in round two but he landed a left hook of his own as De La Hoya was cornered and attempted escape. In round three Caballero began to swell on his left eye as De La Hoya unloaded combinations. Keeping his distance in round four De La Hoya landed a solid right hand that snapped Caballero’s head. Trading inside in the fifth round, a clash of heads caused Caballero to briefly back away as De La Hoya went after him.

Boxing away in round six De La Hoya kept his distance as a bruised up Caballero pressed the action. De La Hoya was back on the inside in round seven as he momentarily staggered Caballero. Mixing it up De La Hoya pumped the jab keeping his distance catching Caballero as he came in and unloading combinations backing the former champion to the ropes. Late in the fight Caballero was fading as De La Hoya unloaded combinations and seemed to have him going as De La Hoya cruised his way to an impressive decision victory.

Scores were 100-90, 98-92, and 98-92.

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Opening up the HBO PPV telecast, Chattanooga, Tennessee’s Ryan “Blue Chip” Martin (20-0, 11 KOs) had his hands full with Francisco Rojo (20-3, 13 KOs) of Mexico City, winning a ten round split decision in a hard fought bout where Martin boxed and Rojo pressed the action.

Martin’s right eye was swelling at the halfway point as Rojo backed him to the ropes landing a solid shot to the midsection stopping his momentum. Rojo continued to back Martin to the ropes as the Mexican unloaded. The seventh round saw Rojo and Martin fighting on the inside as referee Russell Mora issued a warning to Martin for hitting below the belt.

Late in the fight in round eight, Martin landed two low blow’s as Mora continued to warn Martin but no point was deducted as the Rojo camp went wild. The point deduction finally came in the ninth round as Martin once again connected low, Mora took a point away. The tenth and final round saw Rojo coming forward sensing the urgency as Martin fought him off displaying his superior skills.

The judges scored the bout 98-91 for Rojo, 96-93, and 95-94 for Martin.

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In the opening bout from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas 2016 U.S. Women’s Olympian Marlen Esparza (3-0) of Houston, Texas won a unanimous decision over Aracely Palacios (8-7, 1 KO) of Durango, Mexico going the distance in a scheduled six round bout. Esparza boxed well as Cosme was the aggressor with the Olympian displaying her skill over her tough Mexican opponent in route to a unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout 60-54.

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Dallas, Texas’s super lightweight Vergil Ortiz (7-0, 7 KOs) scored a second round knockout over Cesar Valenzuela (7-2, 2 KOs) of Phoenix, Arizona. Ortiz landed a body shot and followed up with a right hand dropping Valenzuela as he got up but was down a second time. Referee Robert Byrd waived the bout at 1:22 of the second.

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Welterweight Serhii “El Flacco” Bohachuk (5-0, 5 KOs) who is trained by Gennady “GGG” Golovkin’s trainer Abel Sanchez, disposed Joan Valenzuela (5-9-1, 5 KOs) of Baja California, Mexico in two rounds. Bohachuk patiently boxed and in round two he landed a crunching left hook to the body as Valenzuela hit the canvas. The Mexican got up but Bohachuk continued to attack patiently as referee Jay Nady waived the bout at 1:58 of the second.