Thompson Boxing Promotions hosted their first monthly installment of Professional Boxing, for the 2019 season, at the Ontario Doubletree Hotel, on February 8. Billed as “New Blood”, a total of 5 bouts of differing weight classes, were presented, that varied in their intensity, to a nearly full house, that included some very lively boisterous fight fans. The show also featured the “return” of well-known Boxing writer and Commentator, Doug Fischer, to the live stream of the boxing action on the Thompson Boxing Facebook production. All who attended were in store for a “Knockout” night of boxing.
The show opened with a scheduled 4 Round Junior Middleweight contest between Leo Ruiz (151.6 lbs., San Bernardino, CA, 3-0, 1 KO) and Adan “Cangrejo” Ahumada (154.4 lbs., Matamoros, Mexico, 3-6-2, 2 KOs). From the opening bell, it was target practice for Ruiz, and this continued to the end of Round 1, despite a game effort by Ahumada. Every punch that Ruiz threw, landed with authority. This continued until :49 of the second round, when the Referee, Raul Caiz, Jr. had seen enough, and called a halt to the contest. Ruiz won by KO, improving his record to 4-0.
Next on the program was another scheduled 4 Round Junior Middleweight battle between Richard “Cool Breeze” Brewart, Jr. (151.7 lbs., Rancho Cucamonga, CA, 3-0, 1 KO) and Abel “Dinamita” Reyes (151 lbs., Reynosa, Mexico, 4-2, 4 KOs). From the opening bell of Round 1, it was all Brewart. Reyes gave a game effort, but he was dominated by Brewart. During the round, Reyes claimed to have been hit illegally, went to his knees, and took a 8 count, but was able to continue until the end of the round. The two combatants picked up where they left off as Round 2 opened, and Reyes even rallied for a brief moment, but at 1:28 of the round, a crushing right hand from Brewart put Reyes to the canvas for the count. Brewart won by KO, keeping his undefeated record intact.
Next on the card was a 4 Round Lightweight contest between George “Yuyu” Acosta (134.2 lbs., South Whittier, CA, 6-0, 1 KO) and Guadalupe “Beach Boy” Arroyo (136.1 lbs., Huntington Beach, CA, 3-14). The 1st Round of this contest was open season for Acosta, as he hit Arroyo, at will. At about the 2:00 mark, Arroyo was warned for turning his back (after committing this offence for the third time). Arroyo gave a better effort in Round 2, but Acosta continued his domination, and he continued to dominate in the 3rd Round. By the 4th Round, in this writer’s opinion, the Referee could have stopped at any point in the round. To no one’s surprise, all three Judges scored the bout 40-36, in favor of Acosta, the winner by a Unanimous Decision.
It was time for the Co-Main Event of the evening, which was a scheduled 4 Round Junior Welterweight battle between “Ace” Ruben Torres (136.8 lbs., South Central LA, CA, 7-0, 6 KOs) and Elliot Brown (137.7 lbs., Erie, PA, 2-6, 2 KOs). Brown put forth a good effort from the opening bell, but Torres dominated the action, definitely landing the better shots. Torrez continued to dominate in the second round as well, in spite of the good effort by Brown. Between the 2nd & 3rd rounds, the Referee called a halt to the contest, as Brown was unable to continue. Torres was the winner by TKO.
It was time for the Main Event of the evening. Scheduled for 8 Rounds was a Super Bantamweight battle between Mario “El Gallito” Hernandez (118.3 lbs., Santa Ana, CA, 8-0-1, 3 KOs) and Luis “Siete Barrios” Saavedra (118.9 lbs., San Luis Potosi, Mexico, 7-6, 3 KOs). In the opening round, Hernandez took a trip to the canvas, the Referee called it a knockdown, so it most likely cost him the 1st round. Both had their moments in the 2nd Round, making that a hard round to score. Early in the 3rd Round, Hernandez’ legs looked a bit shaky due to a hard shot, but he recovered, as the round progressed, and the contest became a “toe-to-toe” battle for the remainder of the 3rd Round, and also the 4th & 5th Rounds. The pace of the fight slowed somewhat in the 6th Round. In the 7th Round, it had become a seesaw battle, with each fighter having their moments. By Round 8, the wear began to show on both contestants, but it was still a fight to the finish. The Judges scores were 79-72, 78-73, and78-73, all in favor of Saavedra, the winner by a Unanimous Decision
And one more evening of exciting boxing action came to a conclusion.
The next Thompson show at the Ontario Doubletree will be on April 19.