By: Simon Ruvalcaba
It was a capacity crowd Saturday night at Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln, California as Nasser Niavaroni’s Upper Cut Promotions featured a stacked ten bout card featuring mainly young local area talent from Sacramento and the Bay Area, proving that the West Coast will have quality representation in the coming years.
In the Main Event, Sacramento, CA Cruiserweight Blake ‘The Beast’ McKernan won his third straight fight following shoulder surgery and a life threatening ailment post surgery. The Army Iraqi War Veteran adjusted to a short notice opponent and earned a 5th round TKO over Jefferson City, MO’s Jermain McDonald. The scouting report on McDonald was that he had a strong overhand right McKernan did a fine job of keeping alert to the right hands and keeping his guard up. After a strong first round for McKernan, McDonald had his best round in the second but the third round saw Blake seize momentum of the contest. McKernan, in workmanlike fashion, picked up the pace each round over the seemingly tiring McDonald. After a dominant 5th round, the Referee waived off the bout in between rounds and McKernan improved to 16-2 (9) while McDonald falls to 8-8 (3).
Santa Clara, CA (by way of Russia) Middleweight Islam Abdusamadov got all he could handle from Whittier, CA’s Josias Gonzalez. The pesky Gonzalez was able to work his way inside and land his share of punches. Islam’s sharper combos made the difference, however, and he remains unbeaten, improving to 5-0 (2) with the game Gonzalez falling to 2-5-1 by scores of 39-37, 38-37 and 39-36. Gonzalez was dropped by a right hand towards the end of round 2 in a round that he otherwise won but the knockdown swung the round in Abdusamadov’s favor.
San Ramon, CA ‘s Kyle Lacanlale had a huge turnout of support and he pleased his many fans with a shutout Unanimous four round decision in a Featherweight contest over Brandon Badillo. The fast handed Lacanlale was just two steps ahead of Badillo as he improves to 4-0 (2) while Lancaster, SC’s Badillo falls to 0-4-1.
In a four round Flyweight bout, Nicaragua’s Evert Velasquez won the crowd but Jesse Guerrero, Nephew of former World Champion Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero, was justified in earning a majority decision. Velasquez pressed the action and landed loud shots, one at a time, however, as Guerrero was the most active and landed punches in bunches. In the end it came down to which style you liked best and Guerrero got the nod with scores of 38-38 and 39-37 (twice). to improve to 5-0-3 (4) while Velasquez drops to 0-2 in a game effort.
If Jr. Welterweights Braulio Ceja-Navarro and David Minter walked into a bar, you would want Minter on your side if a brawl broke out. Boxing wise, however, Ceja-Navarro dominated the action that counts inside the ring as he used fast combos and fast feet to outbox Minter and win a shutout four round decision and improve to 5-0 (2) while dropping Minter to 4-7 (3).
In a 6 round Lightweight clash, Carson City, NV’s Christian Avalos appeared to be the more skilled of the two fighters over Richmond, CA’s Ebert Diaz and through the first round and a half, Avalos kept the distance and was in control. Diaz, However, decided late in round 2 that he was going to grind his teeth and let his hands go as much as possible while coming forward. The strategy worked and Diaz out-hustled Avalos over the last 4 rounds to take a majority decision by scores of 57-57 and 58-56 (twice) improving to 3-2-1 (1) while Avalos falls to 3-2-2.
Sacramento, CA ‘s Sergio Gonzalez was successful and impressive in his Pro Debut over Fresno, CA’s Miguel Soto-Garcia. Gonzalez was poised in round one and his dazzling combination punching outclassed the awkward Soto-Garcia. Gonzalez picked up his fast pace in round 2 and dropped Soto-Garcia twice. Miguel survived the round but his corner had seen enough and ended the contest in the corner between rounds. Soto-Garcia falls to 1-5.
In a Heavyweight contest Oroville, CA’s Herman Hodnett was defensively cautious early in his second pro bout after having been stopped in just 30 seconds in his pro debut. Hayward, CA’s Vikash Deol did jump on Hadnett quickly with a relentless attack, however, Hodnett weathered the storm and by mid second round Deol was exhausted. The bout would see several awkward exchanges the final two rounds. A point deduction from Hodnett for holding in the fourth round made the difference between what would’ve been a majority draw and instead turned out to be a unanimous nod i n Deol’s favor 38-37 (twice) and 39-36 improving Deol’s record to 2-0 (1).
Eddie Croft protegee and Stanford University Grad Dante ‘Inferno’ Kirkman continued his rise and improved to 4-0 (2) showing a calm and poised killer instinct en route to a first round stoppage of El Monte, CA’s Jose Cruz. A right hand from Kirkman set up the first knockdown and then a left hook from Kirkman dropped Cruz for a second time and the bout was waived off at 2:32 of the opening stanza. Cruz falls to 2-7.
In the opening bout San Jose, CA’s Pedro Angel Cruz improved to 4-6 (2) with a workmanlike 6 round unanimous decision over Stockton, CA’s Luciano Ramos in a Jr. Welterweight bout. Good action throughout but Cruz was a little busier down the stretch to pull away on the scorecards, 58-56 (twice) and 59-55. The game Ramos falls to 2-9.