In a clash between undefeated junior welterweight contenders, WBO #8, WBC #11 Arnold Barboza Jr. (27-0, 10 KOs) scored a ten round unanimous decision over WBO #10 Danielito Zorrilla (16-1, 12 KOs) on Friday night in front of a sold-out crowd of 2,836 at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California. Barboza outworked Zorilla in a tough, gritty fight and survived getting rocked in the final stanza to win 98-92, 97-93, 97-93.
“I was a little rusty,” said Barboza afterward. “It’s been awhile. I’m not going to be inactive like that no more, man. I’m going to be fighting constantly. I was more off balance {in the 10th round}. I was right there. Once you saw me off balance, I was right back to my thing. Shout out to my conditioning. My conditioning was on point. My manager knows, if we can’t get a title shot, you know who it is. We want Teofimo. It’s either a title shot or him.”
Unbeaten lightweight Raymond “Danger” Muratalla (15-0, 12 KOs) scored an eight round unanimous decision over game Jair Valtierra (16-2, 8 KOs). Muratalla dropped Valtierra in round four and almost had him out of there, but Valtierra toughed it out the rest of the way. Scores were 80-71 3x.
U.S. Olympic super heavyweight silver medalist Richard Torrez Jr. (2-0, 2 KOs) got a quick stoppage against Roberto Zavala Jr. (2-2-1, 2 KOs). A couple of clean shots prompted the ref to wave it off after 58 seconds to save Zavala from a certain beating.
Unbeaten heavyweight Stephan “Big Shot” Shaw (17-0, 13 KOs) scored a first round KO over Bernardo Marquez (14-6-1, 10 KOs). Marquez down three times. Time was 2:35.
Unbeaten junior featherweight prospect Floyd “Cashflow” Diaz (6-0, 2 KOs) scored a third round TKO against Pedro Salome (3-1-1, 1 KO). Diaz dropped Salome in round three and got the stoppage moments later. Time was 1:17.
Welterweights Adrian Yung (28-7-2, 22 KOs) and Jorge Marrone (20-3-1, 7 KOs battled to a six round majority draw. Scores were 59-55 Yung, 57-57, 57-57.
Unbeaten featherweight Austin Brooks (7-0, 2 KOs) outscored Victor Saravia (1-3, 1 KO) over four rounds by scores of 40-36 3x.
Muratalla is kinda mechanical and not the fastest you’ll ever see, but he has a lovely offensive game. Solid punch and super accurate tonight.
That last round was awesome! Zorrilla’s going to feel bad when he watches the fight. He just didn’t move his hands enough but you saw what was possible when he did. I don’t think Barboza will ever be champion, he’s too easy to hit, but he’s going to continue to be very fun to watch.
And I would add, Barboza lacks the big punch to fend off an aggressive onslaught.
They want to make him a champion.. all night they talk about all of the 140 pounders and rarely mention the real destroyer.. Subriel Matias.. I wonder why! jijiji
WOW, what a great fight.