Herrera back in the win column

Herrera back in the win column!

Mark E. Ortega

FightFanNation.com

April 23, 2010

On the eve of Chris Arreola against Tomasz Adamek, just a few blocks away at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, California, Mauricio Herrera [14-1, 7 KOs] of Riverside, California rebounded from his recent controversial defeat to Mike Anchondo by stopping Efren Hinojosa [30-8-1, 17 KOs] of Lakeside, California on a corner stoppage in the fifth round of a pretty close fight.

Herrera was hit far too often but he applied pressure for a majority of the bout and wore his opponent down. At the end of the fifth round, Hinojosa's corner called a halt to the bout. Herrera wasn't particularly impressive, but was the much more accurate fighter. Herrera languished against the ropes a bit too much and that could be trouble against a puncher at 140, which Hinojosa is not. Herrera is looking for a rematch with Anchondo later in the year.

Abraham Lopez [11-0, 9 KOs] of La Puente, California needed less than a round to dispose of Jason Rorie [5-7-2, 2 KOs] of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Official time of the stoppage was 2:18 of the very first round. Lopez unleashed a furious flurry against the ropes that prompted the referee to stop the fight.

In a less than scintillating performance, Patrick Lopez [19-2, 11 KOs] of Londonderry, New Hampshire continued his rebound from a close loss to Josesito Lopez last April by winning an uneventful eight-round unanimous decision against battle-tested yet faded Cristian Favela [27-25-6, 9 KOs] of Los Mochis, Mexico. Lopez seemed hesitant to pull the trigger against a well passed it opponent but easily won each round in this slow moving junior welterweight scrap. Official scores were

In an entertaining four-round featherweight bout, Efrain Esquivias, Jr. [8-0, 5 KOs] of Carson, California kept his perfect record intact with a unanimous decision over game but outgunned Danny Pantoja [0-3-2] of Fairfield, California. Esquivias came out firing in the first and won the round on activity. Pantoja fought back well in the second round as the two exchanged heavy fire in the center of the ring for much of the round. In the third, Esquivias nearly had his man out but was unable to land that last flurry that would prompt the referee to stop it. In the fourth, Esquivias seemed content with taking a decision and Pantoja was able to see the final bell. All three scores were in favor of Esquivias, 40-36.

In the first fight of the evening, Enrique Lobatos [1-0-1] of Bell, California earned his first victory as a professional over Charles Tucker of Lakeside, California in an entertaining yet untechnical four-round heavyweight bout that featured a fair amount of action. In the first, Tucker dominated the round, mainly behind a triple right hook that he threw against Lobatos near the ropes. It seemed that Tucker shot his load, though, as every round after that Tucker mostly held up his gloves and was outworked by the heavier Lobatos. The scores were unanimous for Lobatos, 40-36 and 39-37 twice.

Among those in attendance were tomorrow night's big star Chris Arreola, who took pictures with fans for at least a half an hour, and Jonathan Arrellano, an undefeated bantamweight prospect. The next card being promoted by Thompson Boxing will be May 14^th on ESPN Friday Night Fights in an intriguing 140-pound bout between newest Thompson signee Julio Diaz and former 140-pound title challenger Herman Ngoudjo. The bout will take place at Buffalo Bill's Resort Casino in Primm, Nevada.