Sólo Boxeo Recap: Perez Upsets Escalante, Avila KO’s Gutierrez in Fairfield By Ryan Maquiñana at ringside, MaxBoxing (March 27, 2011) Special to Doghouse Boxing
FAIRFIELD, CA – Friday night’s edition of Telefutura’s “Solo Boxeo” was punctuated by Alejandro Perez’s stunning first round stoppage of former featherweight contender Antonio Escalante. In the other televised bouts at the Fairfield Sports Center, light middleweight Clint Coronel defeated Carlos Musquez by split decision and hometown hero Manuel Avila impressively knocked out fellow super bantamweight Frank Gutierrez in two.
ALEJANDRO PEREZ KO1 ANTONIO ESCALANTE
The battle began at the weigh-in, when Escalante came in at two pounds over the reported agreement of 130. While “Tony” and his team maintained that the contract was for 131 pounds, Team Perez indicated that their man, a lifetime super bantamweight who came in at 130, was already moving up in weight to fight. As a result, Escalante put in the extra work and finally appeased the scale on his third try.
The fight started off unassumingly. Both fighters had early issues with footing, hitting the deck in separate moments. However, both were ruled slips by referee Ed Collantes and rightfully so. Escalante landed a digging left hook to the body and Perez looked to pump his jab.
Then it happened.
In front of the neutral corner, with Escalante’s hands down, the orthodox Perez threw a left jab and followed it up with an overhand right that exploded on the unsuspecting Texan’s chin. Escalante stumbled onto the canvas, hitting his head in the process. Collantes counted him out at 2:57.
“Once he hit his head, I wanted to keep his safety in mind,” said referee Ed Collantes. “I waved it off once I got to six.”
“I wasn’t expecting it so soon,” said Perez, a regular at Hollywood’s Wild Card Gym who had last fought in November of 2009. “I really didn’t think I’d have the power to knock him out then but maybe in the later rounds.”
Featured this week by Steve Kim on this very site (MaxBoxing), Perez looked to shed almost 17 months of inactivity and a label of being a gym fighter. Originally slated to fight Ronny Rios one week before at the Orange County Fairgrounds, the fight fell through and he was thrust into the opportunity of a lifetime.
“I spent over a year in the gym training,” added Perez. “I kept having fights getting canceled but now it was nice to prove myself. I only took this fight at 130 because of the fight last week with Ronny Rios but when that didn’t happen, I was ready to take advantage of the situation. I’ll be staying at 126 pounds after this.”
After a devastating third-round knockout loss to Daniel Ponce de Leon last September snapped a ten-bout winning streak, Escalante was hoping to take the first step on the comeback trail.
Instead, it’s back to the drawing board, as the native of El Paso, Tex., moves to 24-4 (15), while Perez, a native of Salinas, Calif., climbs to 15-2-1 (10).
MANUEL AVILA TKO2 FRANK GUTIERREZ
18-year-old Avila, 121, continued his winning ways with an eye-opening second-round technical knockout of Gutierrez, 120.
Fighting in front of his hometown fans on national TV for the second time in three pro bouts, “Tino” picked Gutierrez apart, employing a variety of offensive skills to stop his foe.
In the first, Avila backed Gutierrez into the ropes and unleashed a flurry highlighted by a straight right and left hook that had his foe’s gloves touching the canvas. While Avila awaited the end of the count in the neutral corner, trainer Al LaGardo implored Avila to go to the body. However, Gutierrez was saved by the bell.
The second frame would bring the final act of this play, as Avila floored his opponent with his favorite finisher, the left hook. While Gutierrez braved the count once more and rose to his feet, the end was near and it was emphatic.
Avila closed the show in exciting fashion, crushing Gutierrez’s jaw with a straight right hand in which he was able to fully turn over. Referee Ray Balewicz called the bout then and there.
The official time was 0:59.
“In the first round, I hit him with the right hand and he was eventually going down,” said Avila, a Golden Boy Promotions prospect. “With the second knockdown, he was coming after me, so I took a step back and threw a left hook to knock him down. And the last one, I just finished him off with the straight right and the ref stopped it.”
Avila ascends to 3-0 (2), while Gutierrez drops to 2-9-2 (1).
The Fairfield fighter’s next bout is tentatively penciled in for either San Francisco’s Longshoremen’s Hall on April 15 or in Southern California around the same date.
“I’m ready for whatever’s next,” said Avila. “My manager Cameron Dunkin plans my fights and I’ll just keep training until then.”
CLINT CORONEL SD6 CARLOS MUSQUEZ
Much like the main event, the confirmation of the co-feature was briefly delayed when Coronel had to weigh in a second time to make the contracted agreement of 150 pounds. Musquez weighed in at 149.5.
Once the bell rang, neither found the other difficult to locate, as the two combatants hadn’t broken a bead of sweat before slugging away. However, while both fighters were willing to exchange, a lethargic pace trademarked the first four rounds. In the fifth and sixth, a fight began to break out, with Coronel having success with a looping overhand right and Musquez throwing right hands of his own out of the pocket.
Scores were announced as 58-56 for Musquez and 58-56 and 59-56 for Coronel.
“Business as usual. It was another close one,” said Coronel, a former MMA protégé of Frank Shamrock. “[Musquez] gave me a battle but I pulled it out.”
Coronel, of San Jose, now stands at 4-1-2 (1), while Sacramento resident Musquez drops to 3-5-3 (3).
GUY ROBB MAJ. DEC. 4 MANUEL MORALES
In an absolute war to close the night before an appreciative crowd, Sacramento’s Robb, 131, defeated Manuel Morales, 136, by majority decision.
Morales, who made the trip north from Orosi and was making his pro debut, came in overweight and forfeited ten percent of his purse. Nevertheless, he would atone for his misdeed at the scale with a performance that combined with Robb’s guile, would send the fans home with a smile.
From the outset, the bout occurred in a phone booth, as Robb’s murderous body attack was met with a powerful overhand right from Morales in return that found its mark several times. The crowd was definitively split and voiced their support for their respective fighters from the get-go.
The flame became a roaring blaze in the second, as both fighters looked for openings to strike; both were successful and had their respective moments but Robb edged the second with a three-punch combination that ended upstairs and momentarily wobbled Morales before the bell.
In the third, Morales bullied Robb into the ropes and landed a left hook that collided with such force that it could be heard in the parking lot. Robb then turned the tables, working his way inside and throwing four-punch combinations to the head to grab his share of the highlights.
The final round began with Morales landing a left hook flush on Robb’s jaw. Robb seemed undeterred and ripped an overhand right that found its mark. Morales then jumped on Robb and jabbed his way inside, landing a left hook to the body and a right uppercut that scored effectively. It was now Robb’s turn to shine. He feinted his way into an opening and threw a one-two that ended with a left hook that just missed its target. With both fighters in a crouch and completely winded, Morales threw to the body and Robb landed two snappy uppercuts that might have given him the round. The final bell elicited wails of approval from the fans.
Scores were 38-38, and 40-36 twice for Robb. While the ultimate outcome was correct, this writer does not see how Morales failed to win at least one round.
“It was fun. I could hear the crowd and we put on a show but I wish I had listened to my trainer more and thrown my jab,” said Robb, who is trained by Ray Woods, the stepfather of late future Hall-of-Famer Diego Corrales. “The dude was tough and wouldn’t go down. If I had thrown my combinations a little more sharp and crisp, maybe he would’ve went down but he just kept taking them.”
“Robb is a hard hitter,” said Morales, who can take solace in numerous world champs who lost their debuts such as Bernard Hopkins. “I might have been a little nervous and my shoulders got a little tight. I wish I had thrown more but what can you do except train harder for the next fight.”
Robb, the 2008 Ringside amateur world champion at featherweight, jumps to 3-0 (1), while Morales lost his pro debut.
ROMAN MORALES UD4 DANNY PANTOJA
Morales, 123, traveled up the coast from San Ardo into hostile territory and bested Fairfield’s Pantoja, 125, by unanimous decision.
The newly-signed member of Gary Shaw’s promotional stable showed a diversified attack, reeling off different patterns of combinations and switching to southpaw intermittently in hopes of opening up his opponent. Pantoja, on the other hand, battled illness all week but seemed energized by the locals’ vocal support.
Although outgunned, the gusty Pantoja traded when cornered. In the end, however, Morales’ lead straight left hand out of the southpaw stance was the difference, as it landed often and cleanly.
Scores were 40-36 on all three cards for Morales.
“I was trying to change it up a little bit and set him up,” said Morales, who finally got to fight after having a bout in Nebraska fall through last month. “I just stuck to the plan and it worked.”
Morales, a former amateur standout, goes to 2-0 (1), while Pantoja is still looking for that first victory at 0-4-2.
TREVOR MCCUMBY TKO1 NATHAN ORTIZ
In the opener, McCumby, 182, of Glendale, Ariz., just needed one round to stop Ortiz, 183, of Crystal River, Fla.
The Golden Boy-promoted “T-Rev,” dropped Ortiz early in the first with a crashing left hook to the chin after a series of straight rights and left hooks damaged the midsection of Ortiz. Soon after, an uncontested triple left hook caused referee Ray Balewicz to call a halt to the bout at 1:13.
“I’ve been training hard with Kenny Adams for two months now,” said McCumby, who is also managed by Cameron Dunkin. “I see a lot of things I have to improve on but I feel happy with my performance.”
McCumby, another 18-year-old who will finish high school in Las Vegas this summer, notched his second pro win and second knockout in as many bouts. Ortiz has now lost his first two fights.
