It was a night of knock outs at a sold out Belasco Theater in downtown Los Angeles as a series of jaw-dropping matches kept the crowd at the edge of their seats. The spectacle had special guests, including Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy Promotions Oscar De La Hoya, NABA Super Featherweight Champion Carlos “The Solution” Morales, Ronny Rios, Jason “El Animal” Quigley, Antonio “La Joya” Gutierrez, Christian “Chimpa” Gonzalez, Oscar “Jaguar” Negreje, Roy “Pitbull” Tapia, Emilio Sanchez, Vergil Ortiz, Jr. and Niko “Baby Face” Valdes.
(Photo Credit: Lina Baker/ See You Ringside Photography)
The main event, airing live nationally on Estrella TV’s Boxeo Estelar and live streamed by the Ring TV, featured Vyacheslav “Lion Heart-Chigonsky” Shabranskyy (17-0, 14 KOs) taking on Laredo, Texas fighter Oscar “El Monstruo” Riojas (10-6-1, 3 KOs) for a scheduled eight-round light heavyweight bout. In the first round, Shabranskyy was clearly feeling out his opponent, entering the ring calm and steady as he threw a couple of jabs, with Riojas responding. At the one minute and 43 second mark in the third round, Shabranskyy landed a straight right punch to the chin that made Riojas fall to the boxing mat. As Riojas got back up to continue the fight, “Chingonsky” released power punches that Riojas could not handle, making the referee stop the fight. Shabranskyy’s ultimately retained his undefeated status with a technical knockout victory.
“In the first round, I wanted to feel him out, find out what he had as a fighter,” said Shabranskyy. “By the second round I started to expose his weaknesses and knew that I could finish the fight early, and that was what my corner was telling me to do. I try to make sure I listen to my corner as they can see things that I can’t. Luckily we were able to finish the fight early, and I am looking forward to the next fight.”
“I feel really disappointed, this fight was not how I expected it to go,” said Riojas. “The knockout caught me by surprise and there was nothing I could do. I feel really disappointed about how this ended but everyone can definitely expect me back in the ring soon again.”
In the co-main feature also broadcast live on Estrella TV’s Boxeo Estellar, undefeated super featherweight prospect Ivan “Striker” Delgado (10-0-1, 3 KOs) took on Alejandro Ochoa (7-12-2, 1 KO) in an eight-round event. The first rounds featured equally matched fighters, both landing impressive power punches. The heated exchanges of packed punches featured the warriors’ heated exchanges that wore down Ochoa. It was in the seventh round where the “Striker” saw his opportunity at the one minute and 46 second mark, where he landed three left hooks in a row that sent Ochoa straight to mat. The knock out gave yet another victory to the undefeated Delgado.
“I kept going really hard throughout all the rounds, and I knew I would eventually get the knockout because I hurt him early on by knocking him down,” said Delgado. “I never got frustrated because I knew I had to keep my cool and land my punches so I didn’t get sloppy-that’s how I was able to successfully capture the knockout.”
Opening up the televised portion of the night, Alexis Rocha (4-0, 3 KOs) of Santa Ana, Calif. faced Israel “Isra” Villela (4-3, 1 KO) in a four-round welterweight bout. Rocha entered the ring taking clear control of the fight, releasing his flurry of punches onto Villela. Rocha landed massive combination of blows to the body, with a left hook to the face that sent Villela straight to the mat. Villela valiantly rose up again, only to be given another heavy dose of combination punches to the face, leading the referee to stop the fight, and giving Rocha the technical knock out victory to maintain his undefeated record.
“I always prepare for every fight with the same intensity and this fight was not the exception,” said Rocha. “I thought he was going to rush me in the first round so I made sure to stay focused and aggressive. Once I had him down I knew I had to apply smart pressure to win this fight. I am glad I was able to finish it early and secure another victory.”
In a scheduled six-round lightweight fight, Oscar Duarte (6-0-1, 3 KOs) of Parral, Mexico faced Omar Garcia (5-4, 1 KO) of Monterrey, Mexico. It only took 58 seconds into the first round for Duarte to dominate Garcia, knocking him down to the canvas via a devastating left hook, winning the fight via knockout.
“I feel so blessed to have another victory under my belt,” said Duarte. “My game plan was to enter the ring calmly, and relaxed. I knew I could get the knock out when I felt like I hurt him with my body punch. I am going to keep up the discipline that I have, and turn that into more results like this.”
Kicking off the RingTVLive.com, live stream portion of the night, David Mijares (3-0, 2 KO) of Santa Monica, California took on Jorrell Sparenberg (0-2) from Houston, Texas in a scheduled four-round super lightweight bout. Mijares dominated the first round, cornering Sparenburg various times throughout the round landing various combinations to the body. It was during the second round that Mijares took advantage of Sparenberg’s inability to keep his hands up, landing various blows to the head and prompting the referee to wave off the fight on the 1:36 mark. Mijares was awarded his third victory and second technical knockout to add to his record.
“It feels so great to have a dramatic victory in front of my hometown crowd,” said Mijares. “I feel like I put on a great show for all the fans supporting me tonight. There are still some things I need to work on, particularly taking my time and exercising my patience in the ring, but I am just very excited about my victory tonight. I am ready for the next fight.”
Vyacheslav Shabranskyy vs. Oscar Riojas was presented by Golden Boy Promotions and sponsored by Cerveza Tecate, BORN BOLD, Casa Mexico Tequila and Carmelita Chorizo. Doors opened at 5:00 p.m. and the first bout began at 5:30 p.m. The Estrella TV Boxeo Estelar broadcast aired live on Friday, Aug. 19 at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT and streamed live simultaneously on estrellaTV.com and on YouTube via LBI Media’s Fenomeno Studios: youtube.com/FenomenoStudios. The Ring TV live stream began at 5:30 p.m. PT through 7:00 p.m.
