Unbeaten WBO #3, IBF #5, WBC #6, WBA #8 super middleweight Diego Pacheco (20-0, 17 KOs) scored a spectacular ninth round knockout against Marcelo Coceres (32-6-1, 18 KOs) on Saturday night at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California. Coceres gave Pacheco professional resistance for eight rounds, but in round nine Pacheco connected with a brutal uppercut that put Coceres down for the count. Time was 2:53.
Female super bantamweight Erika Cruz (17-2, 3 KOs) outworked and dethroned WBA champion Mayerlin Rivas (17-5-3, 11 KOs) over ten rounds by majority decision. Scores were 95-95, 98-92, 97-93.
Unheralded bantamweight Jonathan Rodriguez (17-1-1, 7 KOs) scored a shock first round TKO over former world champion Kal Yafai (27-3, 15 KOs) to claim the vacant WBA Intercontinental title. Rodriguez dropped Yafai twice and then got a referee’s stoppage. Time was 2:17.
In his first ten-rounder, unbeaten lightweight Marc Castro (11-0, 8 KOs) punished Gonzalo Fuenzalida (12-3, 3 KOs) for seven rounds. A barrage of punches prompted a referee’s stoppage. Time was 2:31.
Unbeaten jr lightweight Jalan Walker (12-0-1, 10 KOs) stopped Jorge Villegas (14-2, 13 KOs) in round two. A barrage of punches prompted a referee’s stoppage at 2:55.
Super lightweight Criztec Bazaldua (3-0, 1 KO) halted Pedro Angel Cruz (3-4, 2 KOs) in the fourth round. Time was :46.
Nice ‘stoppage’ by Castro… apparently (and according to Chris Mannix) you don’t need to land anything clean to get a KO, just throw enough punches.
Fuenzalida wasn’t hurt at all and still throwing. Different rules for the A and B side again…
Josh…Fuenzalida was saved to fight another day….though I thought that Fuenzalida was not getting hit with clean shots…you could see that his fighting spirit was being broken…Fuenzalida was losing hope and a knockout was coming…Ref saved the fighter….agree with the stoppage…
I thought that would be a tough fight for Yafai, especially after a year off but I didn’t think THAT would happen. Probably the end of the line for him now.
Yafai needs to retire. Zero punch resistance sadly
Rivas was robbed.
Cruz barely landed anything the whole fight. Just rushed forward and threw punches that missed, then got countered.
Total BS for the house fighter again… Rivas even waited for an interview and they said no.
Made my point once again. Women fights are a waste of time. HORRIBLE. They should have them fight at the beginning of the show and 1 minute rounds.
Good win awsome ko for Pacheco. However he needs a bit more polish, he pulled staight back several times and got cought a few times. Someone with more experiance can capitalize on that. Get back in the gym you got plenty of time young man.
Agree USS Haze …Pacheco has issues with distance….predictable…needs to incorporate angles….maybe not his style but that Coceres was able to stay in the fight… Coceres made an in fight adjustment….BUT Pacheco showed an upside…a champions heart…. Pacheco took the fight to Coceres.. increased the short combination punches on the inside. important cause Pacheco was getting timed and taking punishment…..to Pacheco’s credit … Pacheco showed heart….growth .”.during the fight..”.get back in the gym…good young prospect….Great win …Both fighters were professional…came to entertain.
I wonder if Berlanga takes the Pacheco fight now. He was going for Munguia but I heard Munguia is fighting John Ryder in January. This fight would be very easy to make since they have the same promoter and Pacheco is ranked higher than Berlanga by every single organization and he even has a Ring top ten, so there’s definitely something in it for Berlanga.