By David Finger

Fairytales eventually have to come to an end. And for Phoenix’s favorite son, it came this last Saturday night in hometown as 37-year old Raymundo Beltran Jr. dropped a unanimous decision to the slick boxing Puerto Rican Jose Pedraza over twelve rounds.

Beltran had emerged as one of boxing’s most compelling stories when the hard-luck veteran finally won his first world title back in February of this year against Paulus Moses. Beltran’s career spanned over 17 years and included many high points including a twelve round draw with Ricky Burns in his first bid for a world title in 2013. But the speed and slickness of the Puerto Rican proved too much for Beltran to overcome as Pedraza jumped out to an early lead and punctuated the fight with a knockdown over Beltran in round eleven, effectively sealing the deal.

Although local fans immediately cheered on the Mexican born Phoenix native with chants of “Mexico! Mexico!” in round one, it became apparent in that opening round that Pedraza had the skill and the speed to trouble the champion. Winning the *opening* round with the jab Pedraza continued to box beautifully in the second round, reddening the left eye of Beltran at the midway point of the round and opening a cut over the eye by the end of the round.

Beltran seemed to bounce back somewhat in round three, ripping hard shots to Pedraza’s body. But a well-timed counter right landed upstairs for Pedraza, sending Beltran back into the ropes in the closing seconds of the round. Although Beltran avoided going down there was no question that Pedraza had pulled off another round and many local fans began to worry about the direction of the fight.

Beltran closed the gap in round four, having his best round of the fight up to that point, but Pedraza returned to his jab in round five and six. By the midway point of the fight it looked as if Pedraza was cruising to a decision victory but either due to fatigue or due to the pressure of Beltran, the Boricua warrior started to slow down considerably in round seven. Pedraza began to show signs of wilting under the pressure of the champion and resorted to clinching whenever Beltran came close, prompting boos from the local crowd.

Beltran continued to pressure the seemingly tiring Puerto Rican in round eight and by the start of round nine the once effective jab of Pedraza became almost non-existent. However, Pedraza nonetheless did enough to win round nine, and although Beltran’s pressure continued to bother Pedraza in round ten it would ultimately prove to be the Mexican champion’s last hurrah. In the final minute of the round Pedraza found his second wind and never let up. A hard hook caught the champion coming in at 2:45, a shot that visibly bothered Beltran and energized Pedraza.

In press row the whispers emerged at the start of round eleven that Beltran would need to win the final two rounds in dominant fashion in order to salvage a draw, but it was Pedraza who punctuated the night with a strong finish. With chants of “Beso!” from the local crowd during a clinch, Pedraza fired a hard jab followed by a picture perfect left uppercut that dropped Beltran and officially put the fight out of reach. Beltran was able to get up and survive the round, but by then it was clear that he needed a knockout to win.

At the end the knockout would not come as Pedraza boxed well in round twelve to cruise to the final bell.

All three judges had the fight for the Puerto Rican by comfortable margins with Lisa Giampa and Robert Hoyle scoring the fight 117-110 while Rubin Taylor scored the fight 115-112. Fightnews scores the fight 116-111 for Pedraza, who improves to 25-1, 12 KOs. Beltran sees his record slip to 35-8-1, 21 KOs.

“I thought it was a good, close fight.” Beltran said after the fight. “The knockdown made the difference. I got caught with a really good shot.”

In the co-main event Isaac “Royal Storm” Dogboe made a strong argument that he is boxing’s next superstar as he annihilated 37-year old Hidenori Otake of Japan in a WBO junior featherweight world title fight. Dogboe won the title back in April when he stopped Jessie Magdaleno back in eleven rounds. Although Otake was seen as a prohibitive underdog he was still regarded as a gritty and durable fighter who was expected to give the Ghanaian champion some rounds.

But if there was one lesson to be learned from Otake’s performance against Dogboe it was this: anyone who stands in front of Isaac Dogboe runs the risk of getting blown out regardless of how tough or durable he is. Otake came out strong, throwing heavy punches early as Dogboe remained patient, looking for his perfect opening. It came within a minute when Dogboe caught Otake with a picture perfect left hook to the chin that sent Otake to the canvas. Otake was visibly hurt when he got up and was quickly dropped a second time when he was forced to a knee by a Dogboe assault. As Dogboe unloaded on the Japanese brawler referee Chris Flores wisely waved the fight off at 2:18. With the win Dogboe improves to 20-0, 14 KOs while Otake falls to 31-3-3, 14 KOs.

“This was a great performance. I’m glad I got to showcase my skills on ESPN,” Dogboe said. “I’m very thankful for the opportunity. I have a lot of respect for Otake for standing up after getting dropped. When I hit him with that powerful hook and dropped him the first time I felt the holy spirit.”

Dogboe also made no secret of who he wanted to fight next.

“Now, I want to face all the champs. Let’s do this. I’m ready to unify all the titles.”

In a walkout bout after the main event undefeated super lightweight Arnold Barboza Jr., 141.6, dominated Luis Solis, 142, before the ringside physician stopped the fight in the corner after round five due to the severe swelling around the right eye of Solis. Barboza dominated the fight with his jab and had the eye closing early and by round four it was clear that Solis was on borrowed time as the eye rapidly swelled shut. With the win, Barboza improves to 19-0, 7 KOs while Solis falls to 23-10-4, 20 KOs.

Undefeated female super featherweight Mikaela Mayer, 129.4, dominated Hungarian Edina Kiss, 128.6, scoring a stoppage at the beginning of round four when Kiss told her cornerman she couldn’t continue after the end of round three. Kiss never could get inside the reach of Mayer, who dominated the fight from the opening bell. Using her reach and size advantage Mayer dropped Kiss in the opening seconds of the first round and finished the round with a solid right hand that rattled the Hungarian a second time. Mayer continued to pick apart Kiss from the outside in round two and had Kiss backing up for much of the third as the American applied relentless pressure. With the win Mayer improves to 7-0, 4 KOs while Kiss falls to 15-8, 9 KOs.

Undefeated super featherweight prospect Robson Conceicao, 129.8, dominated Edgar Cantu, 129, of Laredo Texas over eight rounds. Conceicao, a 2016 Olympic gold medalist, showed tremendous skill during the course of the eight round fight but did seem to coast at times. Conceicao wisely utilized his height and reach advantage early on, peppering the Texan with right hands and punishing the body of Cantu whenever Cantu managed to get inside. By round three it seemed clear that the body attack was already starting to pay dividends as Cantu stopped throwing shots and seemed content to just follow the Brazilian around the ring. By round four the body attack seemed to turn the tide and although Conceicao was earned for a low blow the fight seemed to be entering the next stage before a stoppage. A viscous right hand dropped Cantu in round six and the Brazilian seemed poised to up the ante and stop the Texan, but he eased up in round seven and eight, electing to easily slip Cantu’s punches and pepper him with eight hands.

All three judges scored the fight 80-71 for the Olympian, who improves to 9-0, 5 KOs. Edgar Cantu now sees his record fall to 7-5-2, 1 KO.

Undefeated Carlos Castro, 121.4, of PhoenixArizona won a lopsided decision over Diuhl Olguin, 121.2, of Guadalajara Mexico over eight rounds. Olguin was never able to find an answer for the speed of Castro, who picked the Mexican brawler apart over eight rounds. Scores were 80-72, 79-73 and a somewhat surprising 77-75. With the win Castro improves to 21-0, 9 KOs while Olguin drops to 12-12-2, 9 KOs.

Phoenix Arizona’s Francisco De Vaca, 124.4, scored a workmanlike eight round decision over Nogales Mexico’s Jesus Serrano, 126.8. Serrano tried to apply pressure against the undefeated Arizonan but although he had his moments he was simply unable to cope with the speed of De Vaca, who often responded with every Serrano flurry with one of his own. Judges Dennis O’Connell and Chris Wilson scored the fight 78-73 while Judge Glenn Feldman scored the fight 79-72. The referee was Tony Zaino. With the win De Vaca improves to 19-0, 6 KOs while Serrano falls to 17-7-2, 12 KOs.

In what can only be considered something of a minor upset lightweight contender Antonio Lozada Jr., 137, of Tijuana was held to an eight round draw by Ensenada Mexico’s Hector Ambriz, 136.6. There were no knockdowns but Ambriz came out strong and had Lozada backing up for much of the first four rounds before fading in the second half of the fight. Judges at ringside had it scored 79-73 for Ambriz (Lisa Giampa), 78-74 for Lozada (Dennis O’Connell) and 76-76 from Craig Harmon. The referee was a Richard Soto. Ambriz now sees his record stand at 12-7-2, 6 KOs while Lozada sees his record now stand at 40-2-1, 34 KOs.

Undefeated light heavyweight prospect Trevor McCumby, 172.4, of Phoenix destroyed veteran Jessie Nicklow, 169.8, of Baltimore in front of his home town crowd by way of third round TKO. McCumby looked solid from the opening bell and badly hurt Nicklow with a right hand in the opening minute of round three. Referee Tony Zaino waved off the fight at 0:40 of the round. Although Nicklow complained about the stoppage there were few ringsiders who ageeed with him as the fight appeared to be stopped at the appropriate time by Zaino. With the win McCumby improved to 24-0-1, 19 KOs while Nicklow drops to 27-9-3, 9 KOs.

In the opening fight of the afternoon undefeated super welterweight prospect Sagadat Rakhmankul, 150, of Oxnard, California by way of Kazakhstan won a lopsided decision over Christian Aguirre, 151.2, of West Valley Utah. Aguirre was at times wild and about as far from polished as you could get in a prize fighter. But what he lacked in finesse he made up for with grit and unrelenting pressure. Unfortunately for him the Kazak remained calm, collected, and possessed an impressive arsenal of counterpunches that included a picture perfect overhand right that rattled Aguirre in round five and landed with regularity throughout the fight. There were no knockdowns and all three judges had Rakhmankul winning by a comfortable margin (59-55 on two cards and 60-54 on the third card). With the win Rakhmankul improves to 3-0, 1 KO.

Undefeated rookie Breenan Macias of Goodyear, Arizona, 116.8, impressed the hometown crowd with an impressive second round TKO over journwyman Philip Adyaka, 118.4. Adyaka was a seasoned veteran with 18 pro fights, and although his record was hardly impressive there were still some fans wondering if Macias would be tested by the St. Paul, Minnesota native. But Macias came out swing for the fences from the opening bell and dropped Adyaka with a picture perfect overhand right in the closing seconds of round two, prompting referee Tony Weeks to wave the fight off at 3:00 of the second round. With the win Macias improves to 3-0, 2 KOs while Adyaka drops to 7-12, 4 KOs.