By Rocky Morales at ringside

Unbeaten welterweight Gor Yeritsyan (11-0, 10 KOs) made his U.S.A. debut a successful one with a sixth round stoppage over Derion Chapman (3-5-1, 2 KOs) on Friday night at the Burbank Marriott, in Burbank, CA. Yeritsyan, a 24-year-old hailing from Yerevan, Armenia, had all his previous fights in Russia but was in good company for his American debut with each Freddy Roach and former U.S. Olympian, Vanes Martirosyan, working his corner.

In Russia, Yeritsyan had been facing higher level opponents than Chapman, including former world title challenger Ali Funeka, and was originally scheduled to face Amir Khan conqueror Breidis Prescott, but the fight fell through days ago requiring the last minute replacement of Chapman.

Yeritsyan was all business from the opening bell, ignoring the taunts and clowning around of Chapman. With a chant of “Gor, Gor, Gor!!!” from his fans in attendance, Yeritsyan was the hunter and Chapman was the prey. Chapman was able to make it through the first three rounds without heavy damage but Yeritsyan was in command of the fight. In the fourth round, however, Yeritsyan would drop Chapman and he’d drop him again in the fifth round of the scheduled six round fight.

Between the fifth and sixth round, Chapman’s corner informed the referee that their fighter had seen enough and the bout was waved off making Yeritsyan the knockout winner at 3:00 of the sixth round. Yeritsyan clearly established himself as a welterweight with a lot of promise. He will likely be back to a much higher caliber opponent next time around and has the potential to become a very welcome addition to the American fight scene. With Roach and Martirosyan on his team, the sky is the limit for the very talented Yeritsyan.

In semi-main event action, Jessy Martínez (13-0, 8 KOs) was the unanimous decision winner over Chilean fighter Luis Norambuena (3-4-1) in a six round super welterweight bout. Norambuena proved pesky and made Martínez, from nearby Woodland Hills, CA, work hard for 18 minutes for a unanimous decision victory. Judges scored it 60-54, 59-55 and 59-55 all in favor of Martínez. Norambuena, meanwhile, drops his fourth straight fight.

In a four round light heavyweight bout, 42-year-old Eddie Jackson (1-0) made a successful boxing debut with a unanimous decision victory over Zlatko Ledic (2-5-1, 1 KO). It was not a pretty fight as the muscular Jackson primitively bulled his way to a victory over the smoother boxing but lighter punching Ledic. Jackson’s victory was loudly cheered by his many fans in attendance. Judges scored the bout 39-37, 40-36 and 39-37, all in favor of Jackson.

In a six round super lightweight attraction, Ruben Rodriguez (8-0, 3 KOs) beat Argentinian, Gonzalo Dallera (5-5, 4 KOs) by way of a fourth-round knockout. Dallera aggressively pressed the action with wide looping power shots but then again, those shots mostly missed the mark as Rodriguez, with top trainer Robert Garcia, in his corner, patiently boxed and used Dallera’s own aggression against him. Rodriguez dropped Dallera twice in the second round but was unable to get the knockout victory quite yet. The third and fourth rounds were somewhat frustrating as Dallera seemed ready to go but Rodriguez was unable to take advantage. Finally, an illegal kidney punch from Rodriguez prompted the referee to stop the bout, not by disqualification, but by knockout victory for Rodriguez. Dallera protested briefly and half-heartedly but then seemed relieved the fight was over. Time of the stoppage was 1:57 of the fourth round.

In a four round lightweight bout, Ikeem Abdullah (2-0-1) and Gerardo Alvarez (1-1-2) fought to a four round majority draw. Abdullah seemed the more talented boxer but simply was outhustled by the hardnosed Alvarez so a draw seemed the correct outcome.

In opening action, a four round welterweight bout, David Morales (4-3-2, 1 KO) overcame a bad cut over his eye caused by a headbutt, to win a unanimous decision victory over the determined but limited Anthony Zender (1-3). All of the judges saw it the same with 40-36 in favor of Morales.

“Valley Fight Night” was presented by Bash Boxing, Ground Zero Promotions, Lights Out Promotions and PR Sports and hosted by the Burbank Marriott, in Burbank, CA. The next installment of Valley Fight Night to be announced soon.