By Héctor Villarreal
Photos: Martín Pérez
Super lightweight Jonathan “Alta Gamma” Miniel (5-0, 5 KOs) stopped Jonathan “El Bloque” Torres (4-1, 1 KO), at 3:00 of the very first round to claim the vacant National championship in the main event of the Boxing Summer Fest card in which Laguna Premium presented the top local rising stars facing opponents of their same level, on Thursday night at the Arena Roberto Duran in Panama City, Panama.
In the 8-round co-main event, featherweights Kadir Macias (3-0-1, 0 KOs) and Hibrahim Valdespino (3-0-1, 2 KOs) battled to an epic split draw in the early Fight of The Year candidate. Valdespino overcame 2 knockdowns in round 4 as a result of taking a powerful hook to the liver. Scores were 76-74, 74-76 and 75-75.
In another Clash of Panamanian prospects with similar records, flyweights Angel Bethancourt (5-0, 5 KOs) and Santos Villar (2-2, 1 KO) starred in a dramatic slugfest until referee Ivan Ballesteros decided to stop the fight at 2:32 of the 6th and final round, declaring Bethancourt the winner by TKO.
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It don’t look like Alta Gamma and El Bloque were exactly on the same level last night, because it ended with a KO in the first round. The ones who did the “leveling” might want to find a new way to level things.