At the MGM Grand Ballroom “Bubble” Thursday night in Las Vegas, NV, over ESPN Bob Arum’s Top Rank Boxing featured former WBO World Super Bantamweight champion Jesse Magdaleno won by DQ against Yenifel “The Lightning” Vicente in a foul filled fight in the main event. The co-feature was a “war” with Adam Lopez seemingly getting a “gift” majority win over 10 rounds with Louie Coria.
In the Main Event former WBO World Super Bantamweight champion Jesse Magdaleno, 28-1 (18), #127 3/4, out of Las Vegas, NV, won by DQ over Dominican Yenifel “The Lightning” Vicente, 36-5-2 (28), #126 1/4, out of Miami, FL, in the tenth at 1:38 of the round. Magdaleno had scored several knockdowns in the fight .
In the first round it was southpaw Magdaleno rushing out landing a combination to the head of Vicente. Vicente then went on the offense chasing down Magdaleno. Magdaleno landed a counter left after a Vicente miss followed by a right on the chin of Vicente who went down taking an 8-count from referee Robert Byrd. The fighters then stayed in the center of the ring exchanging nothing more than jabs.
In the second round it was Vicente taking the lead. Magdaleno backed into a corner with Vicente only using a weak jab without throwing his right looking gun shy after being knocked down in the previous fight. Magdaleno moved out of the corner and outworked Vicente in a very uninspiring round the rest of the way by both fighters with Magdaleno landing a bit more.
In the third round the lack of action continued in a “replay” of the previous round with Vicente using a jab with no follow-up right and Magdaleno landing countering punches off a jab. The best punch of the round was a left hook from Vicente on the chin of Magdaleno.
In the fourth round a low right from Vicente hurt Magdaleno. Referee Byrd instead of moving in with a warning backed up. Then Vicente landed a solid right on the chin and down went Magdaleno with the usual slow reacting Byrd finally coming in. Referee Byrd took away two points after a five minute rest for Magdaleno claiming the the punch was low. Then why did Byrd back up instead of moving in with a warning?
In the fifth round Vicente was warned for a low blow by referee Byrd right at the start of the round. Vicente went right after a retreating but countering by Magdaleno. Vicente had Magdaleno in a corner and got clocked with a right jab on the chin by Magdaleno and down went Vicente for an 8-count by referee Byrd. Vicente was coming forward throwing lead rights looking to get back in the fight as Magdaleno countered with left hooks.
In the sixth round Vicente came out looking to land a bomb with his right but Magdaleno was countering in a slow round. In the seventh round Magdeleno backed into a corner allowing Vicente to come in with feeling out lefts with a right and Magdaleno pulling him into a clinch. Vicente was fighting like a man desperate to catch up being well behind.
In the eighth round Magdaleno landed a solid lead left to the mid-section of Vicente in the first thirty seconds. By the end of the final thirty seconds it was Vicente landing right uppercuts to the body and forcing Magdaleno on the defense. Vicente won his first round of the fight.
In the ninth round Vicente moved Magdaleno into a corner throwing rights to the head getting countered by Magdaleno. Vicente in the second half of the round landed three left hooks to the body of Magdaleno in the corner. Vicente in the final seconds of the round landed a pair of rights to the head of Magdaleno. Looked like another round for Vicente.
In the tenth and final round a low right from Vicente and down went Magdaleno. It was the third time he landed a low punch which could have disqualified him but referee only took away a point. Byrd not controlling the fight as both were fighting suddenly grabbed Vicente disqualifying him. Horrible officiating by Byrd.
“First and formost I want to thank God and Top Rank for the opportunity. He was a dirty fighter. He was a tough veteran and he knew what he was doing. I knew I was too smart of a fighter catching him when he came in. I want all of the champs,” said Magdaleno. This writer feels against Gary Russell or Shakur Stevenson he is asking for more than he can bring for a win.
In the co-feature Featherweight Adam “Bluenose” Lopez, 14-2 (6), #125.8, out of Glendale, CA, seemed to be lucky to get a majority win over Louis “Louie” Coria, 12-3 (7), #125.8, out of Moreno Valley, CA, for the vacant NABF Featherweight title, 10 rounds.
In the first round Coria fired out backing Lopez against the ropes. Both fighters worked the body well. It was nothing but action the entire 3 minutes with Coria having a slight edge. Coria made the usual boxer Lopez fight his fight. In the second round both fighters were doing more head hunting in another non-stop slugfest even closer but Coria may have had an edge. Trainer Buddy McGirt had Lopez using his jab more.
In the third round Coria had Lopez on the run pressing him non-stop with punches through the first half of the round. Trainer Robert Garcia yelled to Coria “you are giving him too much distance!” Another good yet less landed punching round. Close round going to Lopez using an effective jab.
In the fourth round Lopez using double and triple jabs having Coria coming to him. Easy winning the round by Lopez. In the fifth round Lopez wasn’t boxing but fighting inside not doing well so he got on his bike. He did much better then turned southpaw and rocked Coria with a combination to the head. The rest of the round was won by Lopez.
In the sixth round Lopez was on his bike with Coria getting the better when he catches up to him. Halfway through the round Lopez started firing back. In the final ten seconds Lopez was throwing twice as many and landing until the final punch landed by Coria. Another Lopez round.
In the seventh round Lopez kept moving and controlling with his jab landing three to one left hook by Coria for the most part. Another round going either way with Coria finishing better. In the eighth round Lopez slowed down a bit with Coria getting the better inside with both landing uppercuts to the chin. Lopez showed swelling around both eyes by the end of the round. A good round for Coria.
In the ninth round both went back to inside slugging with Coria getting a slight edge. Lopez got in some lead rights to the head but Coria was wearing Lopez down and taking the round. The swelling continued getting worse around both eyes on Lopez. In the tenth and final round fighting inside it is Coria. As Lopez moved away he did better boxing. What a fight! Lopez’s eyes close to closing at the end of the fight. Coria takes another round. Referee was Kenny Bayless.
Scores were Cheatam 95-95, while Moretti and Weisfeld 96-94 for Lopez. This writer had it 96-94 Coria. Another Las Vegas strange scoring bout? Lopez looked like a loser with his face all swollen as Coria was unmarked and smiling until the scores were announced. Seemed Coria took the first two rounds and the last four from this writers point of view.
“My head hurts, my eyes hurt. It was my toughest fight. I was hurting my hand with landing so many jabs to the head. This was not my best fight giving myself a C,” said Lopez. That seemed to wrap it up to this writer he lost.
Lightweight Eric Mondragon, 3-0-1 (2), #133, of Maywood, CA, and southpaw Mike Sanchez, 6-0-1 (2), #132.3, of Culton, CA, battled to a majority draw with both fighters scoring first round knockdowns over 4 rounds in a good fight.
In the first round Sanchez and Mondragon were mixing it up when southpaw Sanchez landed a left uppercut on the chin and down went Mondragon who took the 8-count from referee Kenny Bayliss. Shortly later it was Mondragon landing a right on the chin of Sanchez and down he went for the 8-count from referee Bayliss.
In the second round Sanchez was using countering lead left’s as Mondragon kept the pressure on landing several lead rights to the chin. Mondragon had the edge. In the third round Mondragon seemed to ourwork Sanchez through the first half of the round with good lead rights against the southpaw. Sanchez came back taking the second half in a close round.
In the fourth and final round Mondragon continued pressing more with both fighters doing well inside with their exchanges. In the final thirty seconds a solid left from Sanchez on the chin of Mondragon kept the latter on the defense the rest of the way giving Sanchez the round.
Scores were Byrd and Cheatam 38-38 with Weisfeld 39-37 for Mondragon. This writer had it 39-38 Sanchez.
Bantamweight Gabriel Muratalla, 3-0 (3), #118.3, of Fontana, CA, impressed in stopping by TKO over Fernando Robles, 2-3 (0), #118, of Pearland, TX, at 2:30 of the first of a scheduled 4 rounds.
In the first round Muratalla kept chasing down Robles landing good left hooks to the body until one went low getting a warning from referee Robert Byrd. Muratalla kept after Robles who was overwhelmed landing a pair of rights to the head followed by a left hook to the body dropping Robles. Referee Byrd waved it off.
“It’s wild. What an experience (said the counsellor for pre-school kids) this has been,” said Muratalla. His first two fights were in Mexico.