By Jeff Zimmerman at ringside
In the co-main event at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, TX, home of the Dallas Cowboys practice facility, WBA super featherweight champ Roger Gutierrez (26-3-1, 20 KOs) from Maracaibo, Venezuela faced his nemesis Rene Alvarado (32-10, 21 KOs) out of Managua, Nicaragua, for the third time and second time this year as he squeaked out a close unanimous decision 116-112, 116-112 and 115-113.
In a very tactical fight over the first five rounds from both fighters, it finally heated up in round six as Alvarado rocked Gutierrez with a big right hand early in the round and punctuated it with a left uppercut before it ended. From that point on, Alvarado appeared to gain confidence and pressured Gutierrez, forcing the champ backwards. However Gutierrez made sure the judges knew when he landed a punch or at least appeared to as he raised his hand in the air that was highlighted in the recent Tokyo Olympics.
Gutierrez did not have the same dominating performance he had in January this year when he dropped Alvarado three times, including the twelfth and final round. Many of the rounds were very close and the judges felt Gutierrez did enough to earn the victory in their trilogy. Alvarado won their first fight by KO back in 2017 at the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles. Once again the Alvarado brothers go 1-1 in their back to back fights in Texas this year, but with this fight much closer, perhaps a fourth one is on the horizon.
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Light flyweight champ Felix Alvarado (37-2, 32 KOs) out of Managua, Nicaragua destroyed late replacement Israel Vazquez (10-5-2, 7 KOs) hailing from Puerto Rico in the first round to earn the TKO victory of the scheduled ten.
Alvarado jumped on Vazquez immediately and unloaded power shots to the the head and body as Vazquez tried to match the champ punch for punch. Alvarado finally dropped Vazquez with an overhand right as he was clearly hurt from the non-stop onslaught to stat the fight. Vazquez reluctantly got to his feet before referee Luis Pabon decided to waive it off. The official time was 2:50.
Alvarado was originally scheduled to face Mexico’s Erick Lopez, but due to visa problems, ended up fighting Vazquez to defend his title. This is Alvarado’s second trip to the Lone Star State this year as he defended his title at American Airlines Center in Dallas in early January under the Ryan Garcia – Luke Campbell card. He stopped former champ DeeJay Kriel that night. Now he waits for his twin brother, Renee, to fight his nemesis Roger Gutierrez from Venezuela in a trilogy to reclaim his title after losing it to Gutierrez on the same Golden Boy show in January.
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Rising welterweight star in the Golden Boy stable George Rincon (12-0, 7 KOs) out of Dallas, opened the live stream on DAZN as he faced the stocky Nikolai Buzolin (8-4-1, 4 KOs) out of Brooklyn, New York in an eight-round affair. Rincon, a southpaw, peppered Buzolin with jabs and used his big left hand to keep Buzolin at bay all night. Buzolin switched stances from orthodox to southpaw often but wasn’t super effective with either style.
Rincon kept a steady pace and found success with left and right hands to the body and left hook to the head at times. Buzolin kept bullying forward and dd his best to land inside against the taller Rincon but had a tough time landing against the solid defense of Rincon. Rincon landed the cleaner punches all night and won an easy unanimous decision as all three judges saw it the same 80-72. Rincon joined his brother Alex, who won earlier in the night, to the delight of their family and friends in attendance.
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The crafty super lightweight southpaw hailing from Chicago Alex Martin (17-3, 6 KOs) used the whole ring to outbox the gritty Josec Ruiz (23-5-3, 16 KOs) based out of Miami, Florida, over ten rounds to win a lopsided unanimous decision. Martin landed his right, left combos all night as Ruiz stalked him around the ring. Martin showed swift feet and exceptional ring generalship to avoid any serious damage from Ruiz. And when Martin stayed in front of Ruiz, he flicked a fast jab and sat down on his punches to the head and body. Ruiz was rugged and kept the pressure on Martin, but Martin was too skilled in the end. All three judges scored it 100-90 for Martin.
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In the opening bout at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, TX, hometown favorite middleweight Alex Rincon (9-0, 6 KOs) battled Sanny Duversonne (11-4-2, 8 KOs) over eight tough rounds and earned the unanimous decision. The event is promoted by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions.
In a fight that had several ebbs and flows, it was the southpaw Rincon who led most of the exchanges with right hooks to the body followed by right hooks upstairs. However, Duversonne showed he was not backing down as he countered Rincon if he stayed in the pocket too long and at times landed big shots at the end of rounds.
But Rincon controlled the ring from the opening with his jab and let his hands go throughout the fight with powerful combinations that landed on the head and body of Duversonne. Duversonne, if nothing else, was tough and durable as he stayed right in front of Rincon to get his shots off. Rincon ended the fight with a flurry that had Duversonne hurt but couldn’t finish him off as the bell sounded.
In a very competitive, action packed fight, Rincon remained undefeated as the scores read 80-72 twice and 79-73. Rincon now waits for brother George to do battle as both are promoted by Golden Boy.
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