September 19'th, 2008 Buffalo Bill's Star Arena   

VegasBoxingNews was ringside for the fights September 19'th, 2008 at the Star Arenas, promoted by Top Rank Boxing.  The card consisted of 7 action packed bouts.

     1) In the Main Event scheduled for 10 rounds, Kid Diamond 136 lbs (27-1-1) defeated veteran, Javier Jauregui 136 lbs (53-16-2) via majority decision.  Jauragui, the 20 year veteran, proved to be a challenge for Diamond, as Javier won the early rounds, by landing frequently, but lacking power.  Diamond was cut on his left eye in the 4'th round, but it never became an issue.  Towards, the later rounds, Diamond was able to outwork, and outland Jauregui.  Diamond had success with his combos.  This was an entertaining fight throughout and the decision would go to the judges.  Judge Dick Houck had it a draw at 95-95, Judge Jerry Roth had it 96-94 for Diamond, and Judge Duane Ford, saw it as 97-93, for Diamond, the winner by majority decision.  The referee was Robert Byrd.

   2) Vanes Martirosyan, 154 1/2 lbs (21-0) defeated Michael Medina 153 1/2 lbs, (18-1-2) via unanimous decision in a 10 round fight.  Vanes put in a solid performance against the previously undefeated Medina.  Medina was strong in the early going and showed a high work rate.  As the fight went on Vanes was just a little quicker to the punch and able to land 2 punches for every punch Medina was able to land.  Neither fighter was hurt in this one.  It turned out to be a good workmanlike performance for Vanes who continues to rise in the rankings.  Judge Adalaide Byrd scored 100-90, Judge Al Lefkowitz had it 97-93, and Judge Paul Smith saw it 98-92, all for Vanes Martirosyan.  The referee was Tony Weeks.
  
   3) Diego Magdaleno, 131 lbs (6-0) defeated Jorge Ruiz, 131 lbs, (5-7-1) via TKO at 1:16 of the 5'th round.  Ruiz put in a good first round, but it was all downhill from there.  Diego controlled the fight, and put Ruiz down in the 5'th.  Ruiz corner through in the towel and referee Toby Gibson stopped it at 1:16 of the 5'th.  

   4) Khadaphi Proctor, 134 1/2 lbs (3-2-1) defeated Javier Garcia, 135 lbs, (3-2-1) via majority decision in a 4 round fight.  Proctor came out the aggressor in this one, and was warned for pushing Garcia down twice by referee Toby Gibson.  This was a good fight with both fighters throwing a lot of punches.  Garcia appeared to tire at the end though.  Judge Dick Houck had it a draw at 38-38, Judge Ricardo Ocasio saw it 39-37 for Proctor, and Judge Paul Smith agreed 39-37 Proctor.  

   5) Leo Santa Cruz, 116 lbs (7-0-1) defeated Adrian Aleman, 116 lbs, (6-4-3) via unanimous decision in a 6 round fight.  This fight almost ended in the first, as Santa Cruz was able to land at will to Aleman's head.  Aleman was stunned a few times, but was able to survive.  Luckily for Aleman, it appears that Santa Cruz lacks power.  After the first, every round appeared to be the same,  not a lot of defense or power from either fighter.  Santa Cruz proved to be too much though as he was a little more accurate in his punches.  Judges Adalaide Byrd, Duane Ford, and Al Lefkowitz all scored it 59-55 for Santa Cruz.  The referee was Tony Weeks. 

   6) Anthony Lenk, 141 lbs (4-0) defeated Jeremy Marts, 140 lbs, (4-4) via 2nd round TKO.  Marts appeared to be intimidated and over matched as he was very cautious and consistently backing up in the first.  Lenk found the mark with a hard overhand right to the head that put Marts down.  In the 2'nd, it was more of the same.  First, Lenk caught Marts with a right to the body that sent Marts slumping to the canvas.  Marts beat the count, but was floored again by a left uppercut to the head.  Referee Robert Byrd saw enough and waived this one off at 1:32 of the 2'nd round.

   7) Bogere Sharif, 136 lbs (3-0) defeated Alejandro Lopez, 136 lbs, (1-2) via unanimous decision in a 4 round fight.  We were very impressed by Sharif, who is trained by Mike McCallum.  Sharif came out punching.  He is a very quick, entertaining and active fighter.  Lopez was definitely over matched.  At times it appeared that Sharif was just having fun, toying with Lopez.  Judge Al Lefkowitz scored 40-35, and Judges Paul Smith and Dick Houck had it 40-36, all for Sharif.  Lee Samuels from Top Rank, mentioned that Sharif would be fighting again soon at The Hard Rock Hotel.  Come out and see him, as he is very entertaining.





August 15'th, 2008 Orleans Casino   

VegasBoxingNews was ringside for the fights August 15'th, 2008 at the Orleans Casino, promoted by Crown Boxing.  The card consisted of 6 bouts with the main event featuring Layla McCarter winning the vacant GBU Women's Lightweight Championship.  It was a packed house at The Orleans. 

     1) In the Main Event scheduled for 10 rounds, Layla McCarter (31-13-5) defeated Loli Munoz (8-5-1) via unanimous decision.  Layla picked up the vacant GBU Lightweight belt with the win.  Munoz has an unorthodox style and seems to push most of her punches, she also had a lack of speed.  It took McCarter a few rounds to figure Munoz out, but McCarter was able to land consistently.  Through the mid rounds there were a lot of clinching and wild missing punches by both fighters.

     Munoz was able to land a nice right cross in the 9'th, and may have picked a few rounds early, but never managed to continually hit McCarter.  Layla proved to be too much, as she was able to land some right hands to the head in most of the later rounds.  Neither boxer was ever really hurt and this one went to the judges.  Judge Jerry Roth scored 98-92, Duane Ford had it 97-93, and Judge Dave Moretti scored it 100-90, all for the winner by unanimous decision, Layla McCarter.  The referee was Joe Cortez.

     2) In the fight of the night, Patrick Liles 199 lbs (7-0-1) and Mike Alderete 199 lbs (6-3-1) fought to a 6 round draw.  It looked like an easy night for the previously undefeated Liles as he dominated the action in Round 1, but at the end of the round Alderete landed a hard looping left hook that sent Liles to the canvas.  Patrick beat referee Jay Nady's count, but was obviously stunned.  The rest of the fight was action packed, with Liles seemingly able to land at will and Alderete firing back with power shots.

     The crowd gave these fighters standing ovations after most of the rounds.  As the fight wore on, each round was similar, Liles would land at will with rights and lefts to the head, but Alderete refusing to go down and answering with left hand bombs of his own.  Liles landed more shots, but Alderete was able too land the harder punches.  Another ovation as this one ended.  Judge Ricardo Ocasio scored it 57-56 for Alderete, Judge Al Lefkowitz had it 58-56 for Liles, and Judge Dick Houck scored it 57-57, a draw.     

     3) In a scheduled 4 round heavyweight fight, Eric Bozan 248 lbs (1-0), won in his debut by defeating Charles Presnell 218 lbs (0-2), via a first round TKO.  This one didn't last long, only 20 seconds, as Presnell was obviously over matched.  Bozan swarmed in and fired away power shot after power shot.  Presnell tried to turn away, but to no avail as referee Joe Cortez stopped this one only 20 seconds in.       

     4) In a 6 round fight, previously undefeated Johnny Taunton 131 lbs (6-1-1) suffered his first loss by unanimous decision to Rodrigo Aranda 129 lbs (8-7-2).  This fight featured some nice infighting by both fighters, but Aranda seemed to outwork Taunton throughout and definitely landed the cleaner harder punches.  Taunton seemed perplexed as the fight wore on, and could never truly figure Aranda out.

Aranda was able to land more punches that Taunton throughout the fight. Neither fighter went down and referee Jay Nady sent this one to the judges for a decision.  Judge Ricardo Ocasio had it 60-54, Dick Houck saw 59-55, and Jerry Roth scored 58-56, all for Aranda.    

     5) In a 4 round fight, Rodrigo Aguiar 165 lbs (5-3) defeated Simon Ruvalcaba 164 lbs (4-10-2) by a unanimous decision.  The referee was Joe Cortez.  Aguiar dominated this one from the beginning of the fight.  Aguiar landed punch after punch to Ruvalcaba's head and opened up a cut over Simon's left eye in round 1.  As the fight went on, each round was the same.  Aguiar dominated each round by connecting to Simon's head over and over.  Ruvalcaba showed some toughness by not getting knocked out.  Mercifully, this one reached the end of round four and went to the judges.  

     Judge Al Lefkowitz scored it 40-36, Judge Jerry Roth had 40-35, and Judge Dave Moretti saw it 40-36, all for Rodrigo Aguiar.  
      
     6) In a scheduled 4 round fight of fighters making their pro debut, Raul Gonzales 149 lbs (1-0) defeated Jerry Granados 149 lbs (0-1) via second round TKO.  The first round was fairly close with nice action by both fighters, but Gonzales landing the harder punches.  In the 2'nd, Gonzales landed a nice right, left hook combo that sent Granados to the floor.  Jerry was able to beat referee Jay Nady's count and the fight continued.  Gonzales moved in for the kill and was able to land at will, culminating with a hard left hook.  Referee Nady moved in and called it off at 46 seconds of round 2. 




July 8, 2008 Las Vegas Hilton   

VegasBoxingNews was ringside for the fights July 8'th, 2008 at the Las Vegas Hilton, promoted by Sterling Promotions.  The card consisted of 4 bouts with the main event featuring Kevin Kelley. 

     1) In the Main Event scheduled for 10 rounds, Kevin Kelley (60-8-2) defeated Jaime Palma (13-12-1) via unanimous decision.  Through the first round, both fighters were feeling each other out with Palma pushing most of the action, and Kelley doing a good job of counter punching.  As the round ended, Kelley landed a nice left hook.

     Kelley displayed more counter punching skills in the 2'nd round as Palma tried to land a big shot.  In the 3'rd, Kelley began to open it up a little more and successfully landed a double right to Palma's head.  Palma answered with a flurry of his own, and was able to connect as the round ended. the 4'th round saw Kelley connect with a straight right, followed by some dancing footwork from Palma.  Kelley was not impressed, as he landed a blistering left hook, followed by a left uppercut.  Palma answered with a hard left hook and Kelly let out a loud yell, in essence, saying "bring it on".

     The action slowed a little in the 5'th as neither fighter was able to land much.  As the round ended, Kelley connected as he nicely stepped back and launched a straight left jab.  The 6'th and 7'th saw both fighters being able to land their jabs, with Palma landing a hard left hook flush on Kelley's head.  It appeared that Kelley was having trouble getting his punches off during these rounds.  The 8'th round featured mostly back and fourth action.  Palma did appear to be the more aggressive fighter at this point, although Kelley did land a nice right, left, right combo.
    
     Palma was still displaying some nice footwork to start the 9'th.  The fighters started to grab and clinch more in this round.  Palma than unleashed a barrage of hard punches that had Kelley backed against the ropes.  Kelley answered with straight right and left hands.  Good back and fourth action again to start the 10'th, as Kelley was able to score with numerous jabs and straight rights.  Palma landed a hard right as Kelley was against the ropes.  As the round ended, big punches were thrown by both fighters.  After 10 rounds this one went to the judges.

     Judge Adalaide Byrd scored 99-91, Judge Patricia Morse Jarman had 97-93, and Judge Glenn Trowbridge scored it 98-92, all for the winner by unanimous decision, Kevin Kelley.  The referee was Kenny Bayless.





July 5, 2008 Planet Hollywood Casino   

VegasBoxingNews was ringside for the fights July 5'th, 2008 at Planet Hollywood Casino, promoted by Top Rank and televised on Shobox.  The card consisted of 9 bouts with the main event for the WBO Junior Welterweight title, featuring Kendall Holt vs Ricardo Torres.  The co-feature was headlined by Lamont Peterson.  Spotted in the crowd were running back Brandon Jacobs, boxers Mike Tyson and Julio Caeser Chavez, and Paris Hilton. 

     1) In the Main Event scheduled for 12 rounds, Kendall Holt 139 lbs(24-2) defeated Ricardo Torres 139 lbs (32-2) via 1'st round knockout, to become the new WBO Jr. Welterweight Champ.  This was truly one of the most action packed rounds of the year.  Both fighters came out throwing hard shots.  Torres caught Holt with an overhand right and Holt stumbled to the canvas.  He got up quickly however and both fighters began to swing wildly.  Holt was caught with a flush left hook and went down again.  It began to look that Torres would win the fight easily.  
     
     The fighters went at it again and Holt was able to get Torres against the ropes.  Holt launched a vicious right hand that Torres attempted to block with his left arm.  Torres arm got caught in the ropes though, and he was hit flush by Holt's thunderous right.  Torres was out on the floor being held up by the ropes.  Referee Jay Nady waived it off right away and the doctors rushed into the ring.  The official decision was a victory for Kendall Holt via TKO at 1:01 of the first round.  A truly action packed round and fight.

     2) In the co-main event Lamont Peterson (25-0) defeated Rogelio Castaneda (24-14-3) via 9'th round TKO.  In the first round, Castaneda was mostly jabbing, feeling Peterson out, Lamont displayed a nice right left body combination that connected.  Peterson showed increased confidence in round 2 and began to open it up.  Lamont landed with a left uppercut and was really digging his body shots. 

     In the 3'rd, Peterson began to really put on a show.  He landed a Right Left hook combo to Castaneda's head, followed by a straight left jab and a straight right to Rogelio's head.  Castaneda answered with a left hook that connected.  Peterson than  stepped back and unleashed a crisp left hook that landed flush on Castaneda's head.  A beautiful punch that drew cheers from the crowd.  The 4'th round saw some clinching and again, Lamont began to dig his body punches.  Lamont really started to dominate in the 4'th and 5'th.  Peterson landed a 5 punch combo, followed by a 3 punch combo that had Castaneda back on his heels.  Rogelio deserves some credit for not going down or quitting.

     The 6'th was Castaneda's best round.  Rogelio landed a hard right left combo, but was met with a counter left by Peterson.  As the round ended, Castaneda landed a hard left hook.  In the 7'th and 8'th, Lamont was really showcasing his boxing skills.  He landed some nice uppercuts and a real nice left to the body followed by a right and left hook to the head.  Lamont then launched a nice double jab to the head and was scoring at will.

     To begin the 9'th, Castaneda was hit with a clean left uppercut to the head.  Peterson was really hitting Castaneda with hard shots and landed a hard right hook flush to the head that sent Rogelio to the canvas.  Castaneda got up and continued to take more punishment.  His corner saw enough and threw in the towel.  Referee Russell Mora waived it off at 2:50 of the 9'th round.


      For the results of the other bouts, go to the Fight Results Page:   




June 26'th, 2008 Orleans Arena   

VegasBoxingNews was ringside for the fights June 28th, 2008 at the Orleans Arena, promoted by Top Rank and televised on Vs.  The card consisted of 7 bouts with the main event for the NABF Interim Lightweight title, featuring Anthony Peterson.  The co-feature is headlined by Vanes Martirosyan. 

     1) In the Main Event scheduled for 12 rounds, Anthony Peterson 133 lbs(27-0) defeated Fernando Trejo 132 lbs (19-13-4) via unanimous decision.  Trejo, from Pachuca, Mexico has previously faced some stiff competition such as,Darling Jimenez,Ebo Elder,Urbano Antillon,and Bobby Pacquiao.

     Trejo pushed the action in the first round, but Peterson countered well with his left hand.  As the round ended, Trejo was able to score with a variety of shots to the head and body, but these punches lacked power.  Peterson began to open up in the 2'nd and 3'rd rounds.  Peterson began to land beautiful double lefts to the head and body and some real hard left hooks as the bell ended in both the 2'nd and 3'rd.

    In the 4'th Peterson began to utilize the jab more.  As the round continued Trejo tried to counter but was caught with a nice right left combo to the head.  Trejo began the 5'th more active, but Peterson answered with two separate 5 punch combos that found the mark.  To end the 5'th, Peterson landed a hard right hand to the bell.

     The 6'th and 7'th again saw Peterson feature some nice jabs and a nice double left uppercut that landed hard to Trejo's head.  In the 8'th Peterson showed off his skills with a powerful Left, Left, Right combo that easily landed.  As the round ended, Peterson landed a right uppercut followed by a right to the head as the bell rang.

     Trejo was more active in the 9'th round, but again, Peterson was able to connect with a four punch left hand combo.  The 10'th was a close round to score as both fighters were active, with Peterson again landing his jab, and Trejo scoring, but lacking power.

     The 11'th round saw Peterson chase Trejo around the ring and inflict some punishment to the head and body.  Peterson tried to end it, but give Trejo credit for absorbing some real punishment.  In the final round, Peterson was just as active as in the early rounds.  Trejo did catch Peterson with a nice left hook, but Peterson answered with a thundering overhand right as the fight ended.

     Judges Jerry Roth and Burt Clements both scored 120-108, while Patricia Morce-Jarmin had it 119-109, all for NABF Interim Lightweight Champ, Anthony Peterson.

     After the fight, Peterson said, "I should have gotten Trejo out of there", and that he was "disappointed with his performance".  Peterson is a very well conditioned fighter with a very bright future.  

     2) In the Co-Main Event scheduled for 10 rounds, Vanes Martirosyan 154 lbs (20-0) defeated veteran Angel Hernandez 155 lbs (28-7) via unanimous decision.  Hernandez has been in the ring with such notables as Winky Wright, Raymond Joval, Kassim Ouma, and Frankie Randall.  This would be considered a step up in opponent for Vanes.

     The first round saw Vanes come out strong.  He landed a hard right uppercut that sent Hernandez to the canvas.  Vanes continued to control the round by landing hard right hands at will, later Martirosyan connected with another uppercut.  This time with the left.  In the 2'nd Hernandez attempted to land some hard shots, but it was obvious that he lacks speed.  Hernandez was able to land a hard looping overhand right as the round ended.

     In the 3'rd, Vanes began to land his jab and also landed a hard counter left hand.  The action picked up in the 4'th as Vanes landed a hard right uppercut.  Both fighters were able to connect with some hard punches to the head.  As the round wore on, Hernandez began to clown around and dance.  Vanes answered though, by landing some hard shots and Hernandez began to bleed from the nose.  To begin the 5'th, Hernandez landed a hard right hand as well as some crisp rights and lefts and began to smile at Vanes.  Martirosyan landed a hard right hand to the head and the round ended with Vanes landing another crisp right to the head as the bell rang.

     The 6'th round saw Vanes land some nice combos and hard rights.  It appeared that Hernandez began to get frustrated as he lifted Vanes up off the mat and then began to clown around again as the bell rang.  In the 7'th and 8'th, Hernandez tried to land one big punch to end it.  Vanes landed with counter lefts and rights.  As the 8'th ended, Vanes was able to land a nice two punch combo.

     The 9'th round saw Vanes connect with a hard left right combo.  As the round drew to a close, Hernandez landed a hard right to the head that may have stunned Vanes.  In the 10'th and final round, both fighters came out throwing.  Great action to start the round.  Vanes landed two thundering right uppercuts.  As the round ended, Vanes was able to connect with another hard right hook to the head.  

     The three judges, Bill Graham, Ricardo Ocasio, and Dave Moretti, all scored it 100-89 for Vanes Martirosyan.  Vanes best punch was his uppercut, and I felt that he should have thrown more.  Vanes had a good reason for not throwing it as he apparently hurt his hand.

     After the fight Vanes spoke to the media and mentioned that he hurt his left hand early in the fight. (He was later taken to the hospital for X-Rays).  Vanes stated that he too Hernandez's clowning around "as a weakness" and that it helped Vanes to stay focused.  Vanes will most certainly be fighting for a title in the near future.             






May 9'th, 2008 Orleans Casino