By Miguel Maravilla at ringside
Filipino lightweight slugger Romero Duno (15-1, 13 KOs) dominated Juan Sanchez (29-14, 14 KOs) of Tabasco, Mexico going distance in a scheduled eight-round lightweight fight. It was Duno pressing the action from the opening bell as Sanchez poked with the jab, on his toes Sanchez kept away as Duno attacked. In round four Duno connected Sanchez with a hard right hand as he backed the Mexican to the ropes.
Sanchez was cut one the left eye in the fifth as blood trickled Duno went forward landing power shots. The Filipino continued to work Sanchez stalking and landing heavy shots. In the seventh round Duno boxed and moved as Sanchez pressed swinging wildly. Keeping it conservative in the eighth and final round Duno kept his distance boxing away as Sanchez obviously behind searched for the knockout.
All three judges scored the bout 78-74
Glendale, California’s Azat Hovhannisyan (13-2, 10 KOs) of Armenia and Sergio Frias (19-8-2, 10 KOs) of Guadalajara, Mexico scrapped it out for the vacant WBC Continental Americas Super Bantamweight title. In the first half of the fight, Hovhannisyan was the aggressor as he backed and pinned Frias unloading with power punches. The Mexican however was able to fight well off the ropes and scrap with Hovhannisyan.
Frias boxed away in the second half of the fight keeping his distance mixing it up standing and trading with Hovhannisyan. Continuing to exchange the Armenian rocked Frias in the eighth with a hard left hook as Hovhannisyan came on. Late in the fight Hovhannisyan was cut on the left eye as Frias pressed the action. The tenth and final round saw Frias go forward jabbing and targeting the cut as Hovhannisyan kept his distance. In the end, the judges scored the bout 100-90, 100-90, and 98-92 as Hovhanniysian wins a hard-fought unanimous decision.
La Puente’s Abraham “Chamaco” Lopez (23-1-1, 16 KOs) returned to the ring with a stoppage over Isao Carranza (15-10-1, 9 KOs) of Mexico City. Lopez worked on the inside in the opening round as he worked Carranza’s body. Continuing on the inside in the second, Lopez staggered Carranza with a left hook in the final seconds of the round. Exchanging on the inside in round three, Carranza and Lopez did not take a step back as they traded. In the fourth Lopez and Carranza continued to trade as Lopez landed a solid combination in the final seconds of the round. After completing the fourth round Carranza did not come out of his corner as the referee waived the bout.
In the opening bout from the “Fabulous” Forum in Los Angeles, California, Rafael “El Alikin” Gramajo (8-1-1, 2 KOs) of West Los Angeles won a unanimous decision over Tijuana’s Pedro Melo (17-15-2, 8 KOs) in a six-round super bantamweight fight. Gramajo had his way with Melo dominating him for most of the fight. Melo had a good round in the fifth as he backed Gramajo with a series of punches. The Tijuana fighter however pressed in the final round as he sensed the urgency, Gramajo boxed in route to the decision win. Scores were 59-55, 58-56, and 58-56.