/13/2018- Los Angeles, I guess it wouldn’t be fair to expect outstanding action every weekend, though that WOULD be nice. I started out Friday the 13^th which should’ve been an omen, watching the Golden Boy Card on ESPN. Weak is the word that comes to mind. It may be Oscar’s budget. Maybe he spent too much on Canelo’s  issues. He supposedly paid a lotta’ extra scratch to finally get the rematch with GGG underway. Anyway, this card had two women’s fights that were aired and neither SHOULD’VE been. No wonder my boy Henry Ramirez hates women’s boxing.

In the first ‘fight’ a girl named Samantha Pill ( I NEEDED a pill after this thing), 3-0 was completely outta’ her orbit when she was trounced by Maricela Cornejo (11-2-4K) It was a sham and Pill was left a crying wreck after being beaten around the ring by the aggressive Cornejo. Mercifully, the end came at :43 seconds of the second round. The next one was even worse ( if that was possible) as Seniesa Estrada (13-0-6K) from East LA had a day at the beach against hapless, helpless Jhosep Vizcaino (6-6-3K) who supposedly traveled all the way from Peru, alone without a trainer. Well, as it turned out, Oscar saved a few bucks by hiring some local yokels to man the corner. It was a total farce as this Peruvian couldn’t fight at all and was battered around the ring by the talented Estrada, finally succumbing to a body shot in the second round. I’m sure the crowd was wondering what else was going on downtown tonight.

The main event, featuring local favorite Joet Gonzalez (19-0-11K) from Glendora faced vet Rafael Rivera from Tijuana. Everybody KNEW what Raf (25-1-2D-16K) had to do just to get a DRAW. Especially since homie had sold over a hundred ducats. This was a pretty entertaining ten rounder between two little guys that were in excellent shape. Both guys stayed busy the entire ten, each giving as good as they got. There wasn’t much power involved, nothing close to a knockdown, just a busy fight with not a lot to choose from. Actually it was so close the crowd was nervous when one judge gave it to the visitor. Restoring sanity, though, the other two officials scored it for Gonzo. Commentating at ringside (and doing a good job) was once beaten Jo-Jo Diaz who had given Rivera his first loss.

7/14/2018-NOLA-  The most impressive guy I saw tonight was the brash, cocky AND talented Teofirmo Lopez (9-0-7K) facing the dangerous William Silva (25-1-14). This to me, seemed like risky business for Lopez, just 20 years old and in his first ten rounder after just 9 fights. I wonder what’s the hurry with some of these people. Turns out, Lopez can handle himself. He, along with Devin Haney and Ryan  Garcia, all young and unbeaten are the future of tha’ game. After seeing how Lopez pretty much made Silva his honey, stopping him in six rounds, I’d say he’s ahead of the rest. He dropped Silva with a sizzling left hook in the opening round and from that point on, he had no problems. Lopez started clowning in the third, knowing what he had in front of him, showing great reflexes and defensive skills. He said he was “something different” and he wasn’t far off. He stepped it up in the fifth dropping all sorts of shit on the vet, showing ZERO respect. He proved to be a good finisher as well, when after dropping Silva at the end of round five, came out in the sixth to close the show and did just that, trapping Silva in a corner and terrorizing him with big shots, dropping him with a left to the body, closing the show. I don’t know what the weight difference is between him and the mouthy Haney, but they need to fight. It would be interesting, all the pre fight b.s. that would take place.  If Haney fights Lopez the way he fought that last lead footed dude, he’ll get chased outta’ the ring. Lopez is fast and punches hard and has that killer attitude.

In the main event, explosive, hard punching Regis Prograis (21-0-18K), ranked number one at Jr. welter, patiently stalked and disassembled what was supposed to  be a test, Juan Jose Velasco (20-0-12K). This was no contest, as Regis, with his herky-jerky upper body movement seemed to be more interested in punishing Juan than knocking him out. The southpaw Prograis KNEW he had a gimmie and treated it more like a sparring session, trying to prove he could “go rounds”. His people need to remind him the pay’s the same whether he wins in one round or twelve. After marching through whatever little resistance Velasco offered, Regis finally landed a vicious body shot that ended matters in the fifth. Afterwards, he called out everybody, including Mikey Garcia, who seems to be on everybody’s bucket list. For sure, he’d get shutout by Garcia if he works at the same rate he did tonight. He should’ve gotten this guy outta’ there sooner. There’s a TON of action for this guy in the ‘40’s. He reminds me of Tank Davis who he might face in the future. So far, he seems to fight to the level of his compitition, that will have to change.

Didn’t order the Paquiao-Matthyesse fight but I think Manny’s done and he may have picked the wrong guy in the heavy handed Argentine. I see Manny beaten badly and possibly stopped late.

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