LOS ANGELES, CA) September 12 – Undefeated junior welterweight Ty Barnett stayed that way when the Washington, D.C. native improved his record to 15-0-1, with 11 KOs by stopping former Olympian Jose Cruz (12-4-2, 8 KOs) at 2:50 of the sixth round. Said the talented up-and-comer, “I feel better and better each fight and my knockout power seems to be doing the same..”
Barnett, 25, who is now ranked #24 in the WBC super lightweight division, started by focusing on the jab against the veteran Cruz, ultimately utilizing his powerful body shots to set up the KO blows. Round six-spelled doom for Cruz, when Barnett landed a right-upper cut followed up by a perfect left hook causing the bout to be called.
In the semi-main event, super bantamweight sensation, Rico Ramos (6-0, 4 KOs) continued his undefeated path by technical knockout win over Alvaro Muro (6-9, 5 KOs), 1:42 in the third round.
Welterweight Eric Garcia (2-0-1, 2 KOs) won by TKO over Marco Arauz (3-6-2, 1 KO). And super middleweight and San Francisco native, Jason Peterson (2-1, 1 KO) suffered his first loss against Gabriel Gil (4-1, 1 KO) who won by TKO in the fourth round.
EPIFANIO “EL DIAMANTE” MENDOZA GETS NEW TEAM!
Nearly two months after a disappointing close loss to Jeff Lacy – Epifanio “El Diamante” Mendoza makes some major changes to his entire team. The 32-year old hard-hitting Super Middleweight Colombian has signed with Manager Karla Guadamuz-Castillo and is being trained by the legendary Howard Davis Jr.
Mendoza, (W 28/KO 24/L 6/Draw 1), is back from his home country and is training in South Florida as he gears up for another fight. “I’m happy to have people around me that will take me to the next level and I’m confident that I have that team now,” said Mendoza.
His new manager is well known for her sponsorship efforts with Olympic Cuban Gold Medalist Yuriorkis Gamboa and veteran Joel “El Cepillo” Casamayor. She also manages Cuban Elieser Castillo and up and coming Light Heavyweight Rowland Bryant. “Mendoza has the talent to be world champ and I’ll do whatever I can to help him realize his dream, “ said Guadamuz-Castillo. “I truly care about my fighters and I’m going to do what I have to do to make sure that he has the tools to succeed.” About his training Howard Davis Jr. had this to say: “He has heart, he can hit hard and now I’m just refining his skills.”
Talks are underway for a major fight before the end of year after Mendoza’s close loss on ESPN.
DaVarryl Williamson Returns For Last Run
Denver, CO — DaVarryl “Touch of Sleep” Williamson (24-5, 20 KO) will risk his World Boxing Association #13 rating when he steps into the ring on September 18 vs. Domonic Jenkins (13-9-1, 6) in Panama City, Panama as part of the World Boxing Association’s annual “KO Drugs” festival.
“People are going to ask why I am continuing my career, and the simple answer is that I still think I can be a factor in this division. I’m a young 40-years-old and my power has not abandoned me, this division still has little separation between tier 1 and tier 2 fighters, and a win on September 18th can give me one last bite at the apple.” says Williamson. “Lose this one, and its over for me.”
Williamson is coming off of a KO loss vs. Kali Meehan (35-3, 29) back in October 2007; a fight that he was winning on the scorecards. “I got cocky, lazy, sloppy and I got caught flush by Kali. I don’t want to take anything away from him because he saw his opening and took it, but that was all on me, that was my fault getting caught like that. This is boxing, and when the big boys bring the heat, anything can happen.” Williamson stated. “My plan here is to box smart and get the win vs. Jenkins. Win this one and move on to the next one. I know Don [King] is planning an event in China in November and I want to be a part of it. I want one of three fights. Give me Valuev, or a Meehan rematch or Golota. Any of those guys will work and that’s who I am targeting.