By Miguel Maravilla at ringside
Photos: Tom Hogan-Hoganphotos/Golden Boy
Lightweight Ryan Garcia (19-0, 16 KOs) of Victorville, California made a statement in scoring a first round knockout over”Ruthless” Romero Duno (21-2, 16 KOs) of the Philippines in the co-feature bout on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The Filipino Duno came out aggressive but a left hook to the temple by Garcia did it as he dropped Duno hard. Duno floundered on the canvas forcing the referee Tony Weeks to stop the fight after just 1:38.
The ladies settled their grudge as Seniesa “Superbad” Estrada (18-0, 7 KOs) of East Los Angeles, California and Marlen Esparza (7-1, 1 KOs) of Houston, Texas clashed for the vacant Interim WBA Flyweight Title. Off to a fast start Estrada and Esparza went right at each other letting their hands go. Trading in the center in round two Esparza landed some big shots as Estrada countered and use her hand speed. Esparza kept her punches compact in round three as Esparza continued to counter and use her hand speed. Estrada countered effectively in the fourth as it appeared that Esparza was tiring. The 2016 U.S. Olympian, Esparza suffered a nasty cut on her hairline in the fifth from a clash of heads as Estrada boxed and kept her distance.
Halfway through the in the sixth Estrada continued to box and landed some good punches as the cut on Esparza continued to bleed. Continuing to bleed from her forehead in the seventh, Esparza seemed fatigued as Estrada kept her rhythm and boxed well. Estrada was the fresher of the two in the eighth landing good shots and countering as Esparza could not get going and seemed very sluggish. It was all Estrada in the later rounds as she boxed confidently. Estrada did not make it to the final bell as the cut was too much and the fight was stopped at the end of the ninth. After completing nine rounds they went to the scorecards as the judges scored the bout 90-80, 89-82, and 88-83 as Senisia pulls off a technical decision.
Up and coming welterweight prospect Blair “The Flair” Cobbs (13-0-1, 9 KOs) of Las Vegas stopped Carlos Ortiz (11-5, 11 KOs) of Torreon, Mexico. Flashing away off to a fast start Cobbs was busy until a short hook to the head staggered Cobbs causing his glove to touch the canvas as he was down. Ortiz stalked in the second round as Cobbs kept his distance pawing the jab. In round three Ortiz continued to stalk as Cobbs began to settle in. Working the jab in the fourth, Cobbs followed up letting his hands go on the tough Ortiz who kept coming forward. Letting his hands go in the fifth, Cobb s began to outwork Ortiz as he appeared to be tired.
Past the halfway point in the sixth, Cobbs returned the favor and sent Ortiz to the canvas.Ortiz finished the round but could not continue as the referee waved off the bout at the end of six.
Super welterweight Evan Holyfield (1-0, 1 KO), the son of legendary Hall of Famer and former world champion Evander “Real Deal” Holyfield, made his professional debut a quick study, scoring a 16 second knockout over Nick Winstead (0-2)
Russian junior middleweight prospect Bakhram Murtazaliev (17-0, 13 KOs) won a unanimous decision over Jorge Fortea (20-2-1, 6 KOs) of Spain in an IBF eliminator bout. It was a slow paced opening round as Murtazaliev and Fortea jabbed feeling each other out. Fortea suffered a slight cut on the eye in round two as Murtazaliev attacked. Applying pressure in round three, Murtazaliev stalked Fortea and targeted the cut. The cut appeared to be sustained in the fourth as Fortea fought on.
The fifth round saw the Russian backing Fortea. In the sixth, Fortea held his ground as he stood and traded with Murtazaliev. Past the halfway point in the seventh Murtazaliev boxed as Fortea attacked looking to get inside. Working the jab and fighting from a distance in the eighth, Murtazaliev was in control as Fortea looked desperate.
Late in the fight, Murtazaliev worked the jab and then connected with a hard left hook to the head that staggered Fortea. The championship rounds, Murtazaliev fought conservative as Fortea pressed sensing the urgency.
Scores were 120-108, 119-109, 118-110.
Cruiserweight prospect Tristan Kalkreuth (3-0, 2 KOs) of Duncanville, Texas won a unanimous decision over Twon Smith (3-4, 2 KOs) of Oklahoma. Kalkreuth applied the pressure early as he connected solidly in the opening round, backing Smith to the ropes. The tall and rangy, Kalkreuth kept his distance landing the straight right hand multiple times. Working the jab and keeping his distance Kalkreuth controlled the pace but Smith got his shot in the third. The fourth and final round saw Kalkreuth mix it up and work inside as Smith exchanged with him and connected. Judges scores were 40-36, 40-36, and 39-37.
In the opening bout from MGM Grand in Las Vegas Kazakh middleweight Meiirim Nursultanov (13-0, 8 KOs) pitched a shutout in winning a unanimous decision over Cristian Olivas (16-6, 13 KOs) of Mexicali, Mexico. The Kazakh boxed and applied the pressure as Nursultanov was patient in taking it to the tough Mexican Olivas. Continuing to do his thing Nursultanov tagged Olivas with power shots halfway through the fight. Late in the fight, Nursultanov dominated as he was well on his way to victory but credit to Olivas for hanging in fighting in going the distance. All three judges scored the bout 100-90
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I think the ref in the Evan Holyfield fight did an A+++ JOB !!
We don’t need any more Patrick Day tragedies. This was a total mismatch. 16 seconds was more than enough. I stand by the ref. GREAT JOB !!
What time is the cat fight?
Let’s talk about the cat fight.
Estrada was the better boxer. However, her choice of music was terrible. Jay Z & his prize bag of trash (Beyonce) are terrible people.
Esparza just had a kid. Too bad the dad won’t be a part of it. I would never sell my sperm for a billion dollars. Women need our sperm. And once they get it, we “The Men Of The World” have paternity rights. Guys, just pay the child support, and be a man. Raise your kids.
Jo-nathan: Covering sports and social issues on news at 6 tonight:)
do you have ADHD?
Jonathan, I wish you would just shut up man. You are a moron.
You apologize to Jonathan this instant!!!
You about to catch Croswell’s left bro.. ive seen it. You wont wake up for at least 4 or 5 days. Aint that right Croswell…
Second time i see cobbs. He keeps winning but in each fight I see he keeps getting caught. He overcomes and wins, but makes me wonder what would happen when he steps up to a higher level.
Time for the Kingry haters to go into hiding for a week or two.
On the Kingry fight, i’m not the type to say didn’t I tell ya’ but didn’t I tell ya!!
Duno fight is a legit win. All these ‘haters’ want to see is this kid fight these kind of fights rather than talk himself into relevance. If Ryan Garcia is the deal he don’t need the Bieber gimmick. Maybe that’s what sells these days but I’ll pay attention to his fights and not his instagram or his groupies
Throw that cocky attitude in with 5′-5″ gervonta davis and see if that lanky frame can hold up.
Joe, he’ll get ok’d. He’s not ready. Which is why he isn’t being paid millions like his training buddy.
Where are all the haters ?! Kingry is better than what a lot of people think..
I didnt even see a punch land.
Neither did Duno until he woke up from the KO and saw the replay in slow motion lmao
Let’s build this guy up by feeding him walking heavy bags, two belts, all this adulation and his trainers says he’s not ready for the good guys in his division, that’s a joke, ppv and he’s not ready. If not now when?
Ryan just put a hugely talented fighter to sleep man.
Total flop Duno didn’t barley got Hit