More than three thousand boxing fans witnessed Tijuana super bantamweight Alejandro “Alex” Lopez make good in his predictions of not only winning but looking great doing it as he boxed his way to a unanimous decision over Colombian Jose Palma in the main event bout of Zanfer Promotions’ first fight card of 2012 held at the Tijuana Municipal Auditorium Saturday night.
Lopez Attacks to the body Photo Rafael Soto Gil
Lopez (23-2, 7KOs) showed his technique inside the ring, not only in attacking but in defense. When he attacked, he was able to vary his punches, scoring well from the outside and repeated what worked, landing punches from different angles. When he was on defense, he would disappear when Palma would try to score and because of his mobility, Lopez never found himself in trouble.
As far as Palma (15-5-2, 10KOs), he was never able to find his distance or rhythm in the contest. When he wanted to box, he was easily bested. When he wanted to brawl, he was not able to find his target and when he tried to stalk his opponent, he wasn’t able to cut off the ring. Lopez was in full control and confident enough to feint around the ring and even stand in front of his opponent with his hands at his sides.
After ten very similar rounds, the judges saw it a resounding 100-89, 99-90 and 96-93, all for the hometown fighter who might be soon looking to challenge for a world title.
Orucuta Stop Castañeda
With varied boxing style coupled with speed an precision, Felipe “Gallo” Orucuta took Roberto “Azabache” Castañeda’s unblemished record when he stopped him at the 2:42 mark of the fifth round of a scheduled bantamweight ten after dropping Castañeda once before in a fight that proved dramatic and full of action.
"Gallo" Orucuta Scores with a hard right hand Photo Rafael Soto Gil
Mexico City’s Orucuta (23-1, 19KOs) dominated both the short and long game as he punished Castañeda (18-1, 13KOs) of Mexicali round after round. Castañeda had his moments, event hurting Orucuta at one point but “Gallo” always had an answer and was able to escape with any major damage.
Most of Orucuta’s strategy laid in attacking the body of his opponent which resulted in Castañeda losing his legs and slowing down. In the fifth round, Orucuta scored with a series of precise and effective punches while Castañeda’s back was to ropes which ultimately sent the Mexicali fighter to the canvas. Castañeda was able to beat the count but Orucuta was able to finish him off, again trapping him against the ropes, and showed no mercy as he finished his night early. Referee Juan Jose Ramirez had not choice but to halt the action once it was evident that Castañeda was not able to defend himself.
Quintanilla Finishes Early
Rodolfo Quintanilla of Nayarit proved that he has power in both fists as he stayed undefeated by stopping Tijuana’s Jose “Pelon” Ramos twenty-seven seconds into the second round in a super lightweight contest.
Quintanilla (11-0, 10KOs) varied his attack and was able to land quite easily versus Ramos (11-12, 10KOs) who looked to counter punch as well as punish Quintanilla’s body in war although short, was full of action.
A hard left hand landed on the Ramos’ temple in the opening seconds of the second round and despite getting up at the count of eight, Ramos was not able to continue. Referee Juan Morales Lee did not get a response to his question which forced him to stop the bout.
Other Results:
Gregorio Ronquillo (1-0-1, 1KO) and Reynaldo Russell (3-1-1, 3KOs), both of Tijuana, fought to a four round draw in a bantamweight contest. The official scores were 39-37 for Ronquillo while Russell received similar scores in his favor. The third judge saw it an even 38-38.
Middleweight Jose “Bolivita” Uzcategui (9-0, 7KOs) of Venezuela but living in Tijuana, earned a tough unanimous decision over Francisco “Paco” Villanueva (11-26-2, 8KOs) of Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico, in a six round fight. This was only the second time that Uscategui was taken to a decision. Official scores were 59-53 twice and 57-54 for the south American.
Teenage amateur stand out Rafael “Rafa” Guzman (4-0, 4KOs) of Ensenada remained perfect when he stopped Tijuana’s Jesus Montenegro (2-3, 1KO) at the 2:24 mark of the first round. Montenegro was not able to withstand the body attack of Guzman and after suffering a blow to the mouth of the stomach, listened to referee Juan Morales Lee reach the count of ten. The bout was scheduled for four rounds in the super lightweight division.
Jonas Salvatierra (3-0) of Ensenada earned a unanimous decision over Artemio “Norteño” Garcia (2-2) of Tijuana in a super flyweight four rounder.
Ensenada’s Ezequiel Aviles (3-0, 2KOs) had no trouble with Jorge Sillas (2-4, 1KO) of Tijuana as he stopped him in the first round of scheduled lightweight four. Official time was 2:24.
In their first fight as professional, Juan Sandoval and Enrique Flores of Tijuana will have to do it again as the fought to a majority four round featherweight draw. Two judges had 38-38 while the third scored it 39-37 for Sandoval.
