By Jeff Zimmerman at ringside

The chiseled welterweight Marcelino “Nino” Lopez ( 37-2, 22 KOs) out of Buenos Aires, Argentina dropped Jairo “Doberman” Lopez (27-12, 18 KOs) from Mexico once in the second, third and fourth round and twice more in round five, before referee Mark Calo-oy waived it off at 1:25 of round five of the scheduled ten. Marcelino attacked Jairo nicknamed the “Doberman” like a Pitbull throughout the fight and dropped several bombs on the game fighter from Mexico who did his absolute best to counter the stronger man and did have limited success. But in the end, Marcelino was too powerful and closed out rounds strong as Jairo stood there firing back as much as possible and put on a game effort but could not keep Marcelino off of him. He earned his 37th win with the knockout.

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In the first TV fight on the DAZN in Fort Worth, TX and on the Ortiz-Hooker battle of Big D undercard, one of Golden Boy’s rising, young stars, cruiserweight Tristan Kalkreuth (8-0, 6 KOs) based out of Duncanville, TX, wasted little time and ambushed the outgunned Dustin Long (4-2-2, 4 KOs) fighting out of Tennessee at 1:18 of the first round of the schedule six. Kalkreuth went right after Long at the opening bell and unleashed a flurry of punches in the corner before Long finally crumbled to the canvas before the referee waived it off and gave Kalkreuth the knockout victory. Long laid on the canvas for several minutes, before he was put on a stretcher and taken out of the ring.

Kalkreuth, a towering 6’4”, is only 19 years old and continues to show the promise of a future world champion. Out of the ring, he is very soft-spoken and reserved, but once he enters the squared circle, he turns into a terror and could be a problem for years to come as he is still growing into his man’s strength. Kalkreuth is trained by world-renowned trainer Ronnie Shields.

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In a highly competitive back and forth battle, super lightweight Alex Martin (20-3, 6 KOs) bobbed and weaved over ten rounds to snatch the WBC Continental Americas super lightweight title from the aggressive Luis Hernandez (21-1, 19 KOs) out of Chihuahua, Mexico with a ten round unanimous decision with scores of 100-90 twice and 99-91.

The southpaw Martin stole a page from the legendary Roy Jones Jr fighting at various angles and off his back foot most of the night to frustrate the seek and destroy plan of Hernandez. Although Hernandez chased Martin around the ring and landed solid combos early in the fight, Martin countered with his own power shots. Starting in round seven and through the final bell, Martin decided to stay in the pocket with Hernandez and found success in doing so and would successfully move out of range of the stalking Hernandez. Although Hernandez was clearly the aggressor the entire fight, it was the cleaner, harder shots that won the judges over in a surprisingly wide unanimous decision. Martin leaves Fort Worth with the WBC Continental Americas super lightweight belt around his waist.

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Super lightweight George Rincon (11-0, 7 KOs) out of Dallas, TX, showed a diverse attack from the opening bell as he peppered veteran Luis Solis (25-12-4, 21 KOs) out of Mexico with a pinpoint right jab, right hook and left hand power shots to the head and body of Solis throughout the whole fight.

Solis had no answer for the southpaw Rincon, who paid homage to the rock-n-roll band KISS on his shorts. Rincon pressured Solis each round with right, left combinations and closed round two and four particularly strong, not letting Solis catch a breath. The veteran Solis hung around, but could not do any significant damage to Rincon, who kept coming forward and finally dropped Solis in round six, but the durable Solis quickly got back to his feet. In a virtual shutout, scores read 80-71 twice and 79-72 for the unanimous decision for Rincon who kept his undefeated record intact in front of his hometown fans.

Rincon and his brother Alex are both promoted by Golden Boy Promotions. Alex fought on the Ryan Garcia – Luke Campbell card in Dallas in January on the first big card of 2021. At 29, Rincon is looking to fast track his career after only eleven fights, and hopes to get a title shot in the next couple of years as he told Fightnews.com in an exclusive interview leading up to the fight.

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In an entertaining and spirited opening bout at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, TX, under the mega Texas Showdown between former 140lb world champ Maurice “Mighty Mo” Hooker and rising star Vergil Ortiz Jr for the WBO International welterweight title., Dallas’ own super bantamweight Hector Valdez (14-0, 8 KOs) faced Alberto Torres (11-4-3, 4 KOs) out of Sacramento, CA in an eight round scrap.

Valdez and the southpaw Torres traded shots in the center of the ring through the first few rounds, before Valdez started to let his hands go from round five to the final bell as he took control of the fight. Torres stood his ground and fired back against the local Valdez and did his best to slow him down.

Valdez came out firing in the final round looking for a knockout as he and Torres exchanged blows to the very end. The scores ready 78-74 twice and 79-73 for Valdez as he remained undefeated with the win. Valdez is part of the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy training team that includes Hector Beltran and Vergil Ortiz Sr.