Welterweights Alexis Rocha (25-2-1, 16 KOs) and Raul Curiel (15-0-1, 13 KOs) fought to a 12-round majority draw in their main event fight on Saturday night at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.
Rocha started slowly in the first half but came on strong in the last part of the fight and appeared to have done enough to deserve the win. However, the judges saw it differently, scoring it:
– 116-112 – Rocha
– 114-114
– 114-114
Golden Boy Promotions should avoid a rematch for this fight because the fighters are too evenly matched to risk a second match.
Undercard Results.
– Junior middleweight contender Charles Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) knocked out previously unbeaten Argentinian Gerardo Luis Vergara (21-1, 13 KOs) in the seventh round of a scheduled ten-round fight. Conwell hurt Vergara, 30, with a left hook high on the head in round seven.
The 27-year-old Conwell then backed Vergara against the ropes and hit him with six consecutive left hooks, promoting referee Thomas Taylor to step in and halt the fight. The time was at 2:51 of round seven.
Vergara landed a lot of shots but lacked the power to hurt Conwell. He’d obviously been well-vetted by Conwell’s promoters. If this guy had the kind of power of some of the other fighters in the 154-lb division, Conwell would have problems because he was getting hit a lot. Conwell is not an explosive puncher, and he’s going to have to be matched carefully to keep him from getting stopped.
– Super flyweight contender John ‘Scrappy’ Ramirez (14-1, 9 KOs) defeated Ephraim Bui (10-1, 8 KOs) by a 10-round unanimous decision. The scores were 97-93, 97-93 and 97-93.
The performance by Scrappy Ramirez gets him back in the win column after he was beaten by David Jimenez by a 10-round unanimous decision earlier this year on April 20th on the undercard of Ryan Garcia vs. Devin Haney at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Tonight, Scrappy didn’t have to worry about the skills or the power of Bui, because he wasn’t on his level.
– Former WBC and WBO World flyweight female champion Marlen Esparza (15-2, 1 KOs) defeated Arely Mucino (32-5-2, 11 KOs) by a 10-round unanimous decision.
The scores were 98-92, 97-93 and 98-92. Neither fighter hadn’t much defense, with them throwing hard punches and getting hit a lot. In the end, Esparza, 35, had a better work rate and engine than Muncina.
The loss for the former IBF world flyweight champion Mucina was her second straight. Gabriela Fundora knocked her out in five rounds on October 21, 2023. Esparza got back on the winning track after losing her WBC and WBO flyweight titles to Gabriela Celeste Alaniz by a 10-round split decision earlier this year on April 27th.
