By Miguel Maravilla at ringside
Unbeaten featherweight prospect Manny “Chatto” Robles III (14-0, 6 KOs) was victorious headlining his first card in stopping Jose Estrella (18-13-1, 12 KOs) of Mexico in seven rounds as Golden Boy Promotions “LA Fight Club” series returned Friday to the Belasco Theater in downtown Las Angeles on the Boxeo Estelar on Estrella TV main event. Robles knocked down Estrella during an exchange with a counter left hook in the final seconds of round two. That did not discourage Estrella from coming forward throughout the fight as Robles countered with big punches.
Estrella was cut and trickling blood from his right eye in round five as Robles let loose backing Estrella unloading combinations. Fighting more confidently in round six Robles continued to back Estrella. However a two-punch combination in round seven dropped Estrella as the referee stopped the fight on the corners behalf at 1:39 of the seventh.
In the opening bout from the Belasco Theater in downtown Los Angeles super lightweight Everton Lopes (5-0, 2 KOs) of Brazil stopped Daniel Bastien (4-7) in two rounds of a scheduled four round bout. A crunching left to the body dropped Bastien early in the opening round as he got up surviving the round, Lopes continued his attack. Bastien was bloodied in round two, Lopes worked patiently breaking down Bastien as referee Eddie Hernandez had seen enough waving off the bout at 1:56.
Bantamweight Cesar Diaz (6-0, 5 KOs) of Palmdale scored a fifth round stoppage over Antonio Rodriguez (11-19-1, 5 KOs) of Durango, Mexico in a scheduled six round bout. Diaz put in hard work against a very tough Rodriguez. Working on the inside Diaz gave Rodriguez everything he had hurting him with a body shot in round three but that did not stop the Mexican. However a left uppercut in round five did it sending Rodriguez to the canvas as the referee waived the bout at 1:12 of the fifth.
Dallas, Texas’s featherweight Francisco Javier Martinez (3-0, 3 KOs) stopped Jose Antonio Martinez (10-11, 6 KOs) in three rounds. Exchanging on the inside in round three a left to the body by the Texan did it as Martinez took a knee, referee Raul Caiz Sr. stopped the fight at 2:03 of the third.