lpinoy
09-19-2010, 01:46 AM
C/P
By Dan Rafael
Featherweight Daniel Ponce De Leon (40-2, 33 KOs) scored a massive third-round knockout of Antonio Escalante (23-3, 15 KOs) in a title eliminator.
Ponce De Leon, a former junior featherweight titleholder from Mexico, won his sixth in a row since losing that belt on a first-round knockout to Juan Manuel Lopez in 2008. And now, with the win, Ponce De Leon, 30, is the mandatory challenger for Lopez, who now owns a featherweight belt.
That rematch could happen if Lopez retains his title against Rafael Marquez in their Nov. 6 fight.
Escalante was fighting Ponce De Leon on even terms through the first two rounds, but Ponce De Leon is known for concussive power and showed it in the third. He cracked Escalante, 25, of El Paso, Texas, with a left and followed with a flush right to the jaw that dropped Escalante hard and flat on his back. Referee Tony Crebs called off the fight without a count at 2 minutes, 40 seconds.
"My timing was off [at first], but I loosened up and got into my groove," Ponce De Leon said. "I didn't feel his punch at all. So my game plan worked perfectly. I want to fight for a world title again. I want to be a world champion again."
It was a bitterly disappointing loss for Escalante, who had been involved in some excellent action fights -- including his points win against Miguel Roman in February on ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights" -- and was closing in on his first title opportunity.
"He's an experienced fighter," Escalante said. "He's very powerful and strong. He deserved to win the fight."
• East Los Angeles junior welterweight Frankie Gomez (6-0, 6 KOs), one of Golden Boy Promotions' prized prospects, scored two knockdowns en route to a dominant third-round knockout of Las Vegas' Ricardo Calzada (2-3, 1 KOs).
Gomez, just 18, turned pro in April after a standout amateur career in which he was the 2009 U.S. national champion at 141 pounds and claimed a silver medal at the AIBA World Boxing Championships in Milan, Italy -- the only American to reach the finals -- in his first open tournament.
He had no problem with Calzada, whom he dropped and badly hurt with a left uppercut in the third round. Another flush left hand dropped Calzada during the follow-up attack, prompting referee Pat Russell to call it off without a count at 1 minute, 6 seconds.
• Junior middleweight prospect Keith Thurman (14-0, 13 KOs), who went down on the first punch of the fight, rallied to stop Quandray Robertson (15-10, 10 KOs) in the third round in a bit of a wild fight.
In the eventful first round, Robertson dropped Thurman hard with a left hook on the chin with the first punch, and, in the final seconds of the round, Thurman put together a combination that dropped Robertson, who was so upset about being knocked down that he pounded the canvas three times in disgust before beating the count.
A left hand put Robertson down again the second round, which Thurman dominated. As Thurman continued to pound Robertson, he taunted Thurman to hit him again. That's just what he did.
Thurman, a who just missed making the 2008 U.S. Olympic team, dominated the third round, too, until he finished the fight with a right uppercut that dropped Robertson, and referee Russell called it off without a count at 2 minutes, 40 seconds.
• Lightweight Sharif Bogere (17-0, 11 KOs), a five-time national amateur champion in his native Uganda before relocating to Henderson, Nev., stopped Mexico's Julian Rodriguez (17-20-4, 11 KOs) at 1:43 of the second round. The 21-year-old Bogere, who signed last week with Golden Boy, dropped Rodriguez, who was unsteady when he got to his feet and referee Raul Caiz Sr. called it off.
• Oxnard, Calif., lightweight David Rodela (15-3-4, 6 KOs) and Mexico's Juan Manuel Montiel (6-3-2, 1 KO) battled to a six-round majority draw. One judge had it for Rodela, 59-55. The other two had it 57-57.
• Kaliesha "Wild Wild" West (13-1-2, 4 KOs) of Moreno Valley, Calif., stopped Angel Gladney (6-3-1, 5 KOs) of Columbia, S.C., at 59 seconds of the seventh round to win a vacant women's bantamweight title.
By Dan Rafael
Featherweight Daniel Ponce De Leon (40-2, 33 KOs) scored a massive third-round knockout of Antonio Escalante (23-3, 15 KOs) in a title eliminator.
Ponce De Leon, a former junior featherweight titleholder from Mexico, won his sixth in a row since losing that belt on a first-round knockout to Juan Manuel Lopez in 2008. And now, with the win, Ponce De Leon, 30, is the mandatory challenger for Lopez, who now owns a featherweight belt.
That rematch could happen if Lopez retains his title against Rafael Marquez in their Nov. 6 fight.
Escalante was fighting Ponce De Leon on even terms through the first two rounds, but Ponce De Leon is known for concussive power and showed it in the third. He cracked Escalante, 25, of El Paso, Texas, with a left and followed with a flush right to the jaw that dropped Escalante hard and flat on his back. Referee Tony Crebs called off the fight without a count at 2 minutes, 40 seconds.
"My timing was off [at first], but I loosened up and got into my groove," Ponce De Leon said. "I didn't feel his punch at all. So my game plan worked perfectly. I want to fight for a world title again. I want to be a world champion again."
It was a bitterly disappointing loss for Escalante, who had been involved in some excellent action fights -- including his points win against Miguel Roman in February on ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights" -- and was closing in on his first title opportunity.
"He's an experienced fighter," Escalante said. "He's very powerful and strong. He deserved to win the fight."
• East Los Angeles junior welterweight Frankie Gomez (6-0, 6 KOs), one of Golden Boy Promotions' prized prospects, scored two knockdowns en route to a dominant third-round knockout of Las Vegas' Ricardo Calzada (2-3, 1 KOs).
Gomez, just 18, turned pro in April after a standout amateur career in which he was the 2009 U.S. national champion at 141 pounds and claimed a silver medal at the AIBA World Boxing Championships in Milan, Italy -- the only American to reach the finals -- in his first open tournament.
He had no problem with Calzada, whom he dropped and badly hurt with a left uppercut in the third round. Another flush left hand dropped Calzada during the follow-up attack, prompting referee Pat Russell to call it off without a count at 1 minute, 6 seconds.
• Junior middleweight prospect Keith Thurman (14-0, 13 KOs), who went down on the first punch of the fight, rallied to stop Quandray Robertson (15-10, 10 KOs) in the third round in a bit of a wild fight.
In the eventful first round, Robertson dropped Thurman hard with a left hook on the chin with the first punch, and, in the final seconds of the round, Thurman put together a combination that dropped Robertson, who was so upset about being knocked down that he pounded the canvas three times in disgust before beating the count.
A left hand put Robertson down again the second round, which Thurman dominated. As Thurman continued to pound Robertson, he taunted Thurman to hit him again. That's just what he did.
Thurman, a who just missed making the 2008 U.S. Olympic team, dominated the third round, too, until he finished the fight with a right uppercut that dropped Robertson, and referee Russell called it off without a count at 2 minutes, 40 seconds.
• Lightweight Sharif Bogere (17-0, 11 KOs), a five-time national amateur champion in his native Uganda before relocating to Henderson, Nev., stopped Mexico's Julian Rodriguez (17-20-4, 11 KOs) at 1:43 of the second round. The 21-year-old Bogere, who signed last week with Golden Boy, dropped Rodriguez, who was unsteady when he got to his feet and referee Raul Caiz Sr. called it off.
• Oxnard, Calif., lightweight David Rodela (15-3-4, 6 KOs) and Mexico's Juan Manuel Montiel (6-3-2, 1 KO) battled to a six-round majority draw. One judge had it for Rodela, 59-55. The other two had it 57-57.
• Kaliesha "Wild Wild" West (13-1-2, 4 KOs) of Moreno Valley, Calif., stopped Angel Gladney (6-3-1, 5 KOs) of Columbia, S.C., at 59 seconds of the seventh round to win a vacant women's bantamweight title.