Perez starches Escalante in one!

Perez starches Escalante in one!

Mark E. Ortega

Leave-it-in-the-ring.com

March 25, 2011

In a shocking upset, Alejandro Perez [15-2-1, 10 KOs] scored an emphatic one round knockout of former contender Antonio Escalante [24-4, 15 KOs], whose career is now in doubt following the starching.

It's not so much the result that was shocking, but the way the fight finished. Most people that pegged Perez as a danger to Escalante figured he would box his way to a victory over Escalante. Instead, with less than thirty seconds in the first round, Perez stuck a jab in the stomach of Escalante and followed it up with a huge overhand right that crushed the favorite and bounced his head off the canvas.

“I like to work the body a lot and I was working that jab and I said, 'If I throw this jab to the body what will he do with his hands?' so I tried it once and I saw his hands coming down so I said 'This is where the bread is',” said a beaming Perez in the dressing room following the win. “So I threw that jab to the stomach and I came up with the right overhand and it landed.”

A loss would have probably relegated Perez to opponent status, but instead he now has a signature victory to hang his career on moving forward. Following the win, Perez said he plans on moving back to 126 pounds following the win and campaigning there.

Hopefully tonight's result doesn't force Golden Boy to reexamine putting their fighters in tougher on these Telefutura cards and go back to the way things were in February, where the headlining bouts featured disgusting mismatches misrepresented as competitive bouts.

UNDERCARD

In what may be the four round Fight of the Year, Guy Robb [3-0, KO] of Sacramento, California won a majority decision over debuting Manuel Morales [0-1] of Chino, California in a back and forth war that had the crowd on its feet for the duration. Morales threw at a higher clip while Robb wound up and threw more home run shots and both fighters proved their mettle and chin in the process. Morales, who weighed in heavy for the bout, was able to put Robb on the ropes numerous times over the course of the bout. Robb would fight off the ropes and then move out and try and bring the bout to center ring. At the end of both of the first two rounds, Robb buckled Morales' legs with lefts inside. The official scores read 38-38 even and two scores 40-36 in favor of Robb, which do not properly reflect the closeness of the bout. Unfortunately for fans watching at home, this bout was blacked out in favor of less competitive contests.

New Golden Boy Promotions signee Manuel Avila [3-0, 2 KOs] of Vacaville, California scored a second round stoppage of an experienced but outgunned Franklin Gutierrez [2-9-2, KO] in a four round junior featherweight bout. Avila dropped Gutierrez once in the first and then folded him up twice in the second before the referee waved it off.

In a six round bout over the welterweight limit, Clint Coronel [4-1-2, KO] of San Jose, California did just enough to edge a split decision victory over trial horse Carlos Musquez [3-5, 3 KOs] of Sacramento, California. The bout was waged at an incredibly slow pace with Coronel playing the role of aggressor while Musquez seemed content with counter punching. The official scores were 58-56 in favor of Musquez while two judges sided with Coronel by scores of 59-56 and 58-56. LIITR scored the bout 58-56 for Musquez.

Bantamweight prospect Roman Morales [2-0, KO] of San Ardo, California turned in an impressive performance against the better than his record Danny Pantoja [0-4-2], a local Fairfield kid, winning a four round unanimous decision. Morales allowed his opponent to fight on close to even terms with him in the first until he opened up his offense late in the round, landing some eye catching flurries against Pantoja when he had him trapped near the ropes. It all started with a lead right hook that landed clean which built Morales' confidence high enough to unleash an endless array of power punches to win the round clearly. Morales worked the body well in round two, drilling hooks to the midsection of his game opponent who threw back often but landed little of worth. The handspeed edge shined through more in the third round as it was clear that Morales' class was more than a notch above. He often landed three punches within the span of Pantoja throwing one wide shot. Pantoja, to his credit, never stopped coming forward. Morales landed at will in the fourth but Pantoja took most of his firepower with ease as Morales landed an array of well placed body shots that opened up his uppercut more. All three judges scored the bout 40-36 in favor of Morales.

Glendale, Arizona's Trevor McCumby [2-0, 2 KOs] made quick work of Nathan Ortiz [0-2] of Cristal River, Florida, stopping his overmatched opponent at just 1:13 of the first round. McCumby started things off by popping the much shorter opponent with his jab, controlling the distance before he unleashed his aggression. McCumby hurt Ortiz with his first flash of power and dropped him with a left hook that had his opponent badly hurt. Ortiz arose from the canvas with glazed eyes and the fight should have probably been stopped, but referee Ray Balewicz gave him an opportunity to fight back. Ortiz took more punishment in the corner before members of Ortiz' team waved the white flag and threw in the towel.