Veteran lightweight Petr “Zar” Petrov emerged victorious over Michael “The Artist” Perez in an elimination fight to earn a shot at WBA Lightweight Champion Jorge Linares. The main event capped an action-packed, sold out Golden Boy Promotions card at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, Calif. on Friday night.
Broadcast live on Estrella TV and streaming live simultaneously on Ring TV, estrellaTV.com and on YouTube via Fenomeno Studios, Petrov (38-4-2, 18 KOs) used a relentless attack to knock Perez (24-2-2, 11 KOs) down in the second round, cut him over both eyes and eventually lead Perez’ trainer Robert Garcia to stop the fight at the end of the sixth.
“During this fight, I followed what my trainer told me to do-which was watch him closely and break him down,” Petrov said. “I did exactly that, and everyone was able to see the result.”
“Obviously, I’m disappointed. I came in to this fight expecting something different, but it happens,” said Michael Perez. “From here it’s back to the drawing board and I’ll definitely be returning to the ring again soon.”
In the co-main event San Diego-based Genaro “El Conde” Gamez (3-0, 3 KOs) was looking to add to his impressive early run of victories against Durham, North Carolina’s Vernon Alston (9-7-1, 7 KOs) in a six-round super featherweight event. Gamez set a familiar tone for the night, dominating his opponent from the opening moments. Gamez knocked Alston down in the early part of the first round with a sizzling combination before knocking Alston out – and out of the ring – towards the end of the round.
“During the fight, I was looking for some openings and once I found one, the knockout just happened,” Gamez said. “It feels great to put on an exciting fights. I want what every boxer wants next-a world title shot.”
Opening up the televised portion of the night on Estrella TV, Santa Ana, CA sensation Alexis Rocha (5-0, 4 KOs) quickly got to work in his six-round welterweight bout, firing numerous shots at Colbert “The Pitbull” Lozoya (7-14) to start the fight. Half way through the first round, Rocha unloaded a combination to the head and body that dropped and knocked out Lozoya.
“My plan is to always go in there and hurt my opponent,” Rocha said. “I want to make sure they don’t get confidence so they know I am the better fighter in the ring.”
In the second of two fights featuring local fan favorites making their pro debuts, super bantamweight prospect and Indio native Luis Coria (1-0, 1 KO) took on Noe Munoz (2-4) in a scheduled four-round fight. The fighters took their measure of one another through the first round, but in the second, Coria began to assert himself and ended the bout with a thunderous left hook that left Munoz dazed for minutes after he was counted out.
Javier Padilla (1-0, 1 KO), another local Indio fighter projected to do some damage in the sport, dominated from the opening bell, landing savage body and head shots at will against Richard Morales (0-3). Padilla, a super bantamweight, knocked Morales down twice in the second round before the referee stepped in and stopped the action before the end of the round, giving Padilla a big victory in his first professional bout.
A fan favorite at the Belasco Theater’s LA FIGHT CLUB, East LA native Jonathan “Thunder” Navarro (7-0, 5 KOs) travelled 120 miles east to square off against Farkhad “Crazy Russian” Sharipov (4-9, 1 KO) in a super lightweight clash. In a back-and-forth matchup the featured rapid combinations and solid defense, Navarro emerged with a unanimous decision to keep his undefeated record intact.
In the opening fight of the night, rising super middleweight Bastie Samir (15-0-1, 14 KOs) took on Sijoula “Siju/Juice” Ade Shabazz (6-2, 5 KOs) in a six-round affair. Samir came out aggressively from the opening bell, knocking Shabazz down with a vicious combination near the end of round one. Shabazz easily beat the count as the bell rang signifying the end of the opening stanza. For the remainder of the fight, Shabazz took on the role of the boxer. Though Samir and Shabazz both managed to land some heavy leather throughout, the fight went the distance, with Samir winning a unanimous decision and keeping his undefeated record.
Michael Perez vs. Petr Petrov was a 12-round fight for the WBA Lightweight World Title Eliminator presented by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Banner Promotions and sponsored by “Cerveza Tecate, BORN BOLD.”
