By Miguel Maravilla at ringside
Photos: Sumio Yamada
Cuba’s Yordenis Ugas (21-3, 10 KOs) stopped Philadelphia’s Ray Robinson (24-3, 12 KOs) in an IBF welterweight eliminator. An overhand right by Ugas in the opening round sent Robinson to the canvas as he got up both fighters finished the round trading away. Things got wild at the end of round four as Robinson and Ugas traded, Robinson hit Ugas clearly after the bell knocking him down. Referee Robert Bryd deducted a point. In the seventh round, Ugas dropped Robinson for the second time as he got up but Ugas continued to attack referee Robert Byrd waived the bout at 1:05 of the seventh.
“I felt like I was the stronger fighter by far and he didn’t hurt me,” said Ugas. “He lost a point for hitting me after the bell sounded, and knocked me down, but even that didn’t hurt me. He was very awkward and his style threw off my timing.
“Luckily I was able to land body shots that I knew were hurting him. I was able to dictate the pace and we never in trouble.
“I want Errol Spence next. Everyone wants Errol.”
Light heavyweights Edwin Rodriguez (30-2, 20 KOs) of Boston and Lionell Thompson (19-5, 11 KOs) of Buffalo, New York squared off and went the distance in a scheduled ten round bout. Rodriguez stalked and chased throughout the fight as Thompson boxed keeping his distance. In the later rounds Rodriguez began to chop down Thompson cornering him and landing big punches. Scores were 97-93, 97-93, and 96-94 as Rodriguez wins a unanimous decision.
Las Vegas’s lightweight Ladarius Miller (14-1, 5 KOs) scored a second round knockout over Carlos Padilla (16-6-1, 10 KOs) of Columbia. A straight left by Miller dropped Padilla as he got up referee Russell Mora waived the bout at 2:04.
Lightweight Andres Cortes of Las Vegas (7-0, 4 KOs) won a unanimous decision over Fatiou Fassinou (8-9, 4 KOs) of Benin. Cortes was dominant in his performance and stayed busy on top of Fassinou as he circled the ring throughout the fight. All three judges scored the bout 60-54.
Sulaiman Segawa (9-0, 3 KOs) of Uganda and Brian Gallegos (6-1, 5 KOs) squared off and went the distance in a scheduled six round super featherweight bout. In what was a non fan friendly fight Gallegos and Segawa attempted to outbox each other for six rounds. Judges scored the bout 58-56, Gallegos, 58-56 Segawa, and 58-56 as Segawa pulls off the split decision.
Middleweight Jonathan Esquivel (7-0, 6 KOs) of Anaheim, California stopped Cameron Burroughs (4-3, 3 KOs) in two rounds. Esquivel attacked an unresponsive Burroughs as a barrage of punches forced referee Robert Byrd to stop the fight at 1:58 of the second.
In the opening bout from the Mandalay Bay Events Center junior middleweight Joe Spencer (1-0, 1 KO) of Grand Rapids, Michigan made his pro debut with a stoppage over Uriel Gonzalez (1-3-1, 1 KO) of Sonora, Mexico. Spencer dropped Gonzalez in the closing seconds of the opening round. In round two Spencer continued to have his way as Gonzalez’s corner threw in the towel referee Benji Estevez 2:12 of the second.
