Saturday’s a good night for fighting tonight at the Gold Country Casino Resort in Oroville, CA. Upper Cut Promotions’ “Saturday Night Fights” took place here, containing seven competitive bouts featuring up-and-coming fighters from Northern California.
The main event featured two Northern California super middleweights in a six-round bout.
Ceres, CA’s undefeated Kenny Lopez took on Yuba City, CA’s Tony “Pretty Boy” Hernandez, who came into the bout on a four-fight winning streak.
Coming into this bout, neither man had gone past the fourth round in their career.
Hernandez had a good first round, using his deceptively fast hands and accurate punching to land several clean shots on Lopez.
Lopez stayed on his gameplan, committing to aggression, punch volume, and a body attack.
These efforts, coupled with Lopez’ superior conditioning, gave Lopez the edge, which seemed to grow wider as the rounds progressed.
The bout went to the scorecards, and there were no knockdowns, with both men going the six-round distance the first time in their careers. The official scores were 60-54, 58-56, and 58-56, all for Lopez, the winner by unanimous decision.
The Fight Photos scored the bout 59-55 Lopez.
Lopez improves to 8-0 (3). Hernandez’ record is now 5-3 (4).
The semi-main event of Upper Cut Promotions’ “Saturday Night Fights” was a compelling match-up.
Undefeated Malikai “Machine Gun” Johnson of Sacramento, CA took on tough veteran Diuhl “Elegante” Olguin of Guadalajara, Mexico.
Just two months ago, Olguin traveled to Sacramento and fought to a draw with the undefeated William Villa.
Johnson used his foot movement and accurate punching to body and head to control the first three rounds, including this uppercut in the third round.
Olguin had has best round of the fight in the forth. A good portion of the round was fought on the inside, where Olguin was able to land effective blows with both hands.
Johnson re-established himself in fifth, and continued to have the advantage in the sixth.
The bout went to the scorecards, and there were no knockdowns. Johnson was the winner by unanimous decision.
The Fight Photos scored the bout 59-55 Johnson.
Johnson remains unbeaten, now 10-0-1 (6). Olguin’s record is 15-32-6 (10).
Cristian Ruben “Piedrita” Mino traveled 6,500 miles from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Oroville, CA in order to fight. Mino’s opponent was Stockton, CA’s Manuel Jaimes.
Jaimes was sharp tonight. A left hook in the first, followed by a grazing left uppercut, put Mino down on his knees. Referee Michael Margado reached the count of ten, making Jaimes the winner by knockout at 1:26 of the first round.
The stoppage improves Jaimes’ record to 14-1-1 (11). Mino’s record is now 23-8-4
After a year away, Mark Salgado of San Jose, CA returned to the ring this evening. Salgado took on Carson City, NV’s Christian Avalos in a four-round lightweight bout.
In the fight-of-the-night, these lanky lightweights threw head-snapping power punches for all four rounds.
Salgado had a good first round, including a head-popping left hook.
After two rounds, the bout seemed even. Salgado seemed to control most of the third, with the fighters getting into an intense exchange at the end of the round, including a moment where both men landed right hands with Salgado’s head snapping back and Avalos’s mouthpiece sent flying.
In the fourth, Avalos had several good moments, including the right hand in the third picture.
The bout went to the scorecards, and there were no knockdowns. The official scores were 40-36 Salgado, 39-37 Avalos, and 38-38, resulting in a split decision draw. In the fourth picture, referee David Hartman raises both fighters’ hands.
The Fight Photos scored the bout 39-37 Avalos.
With the draw, Salgado’s record is now 1-2- (1). Avalos’ record is 0-1-1
Fresno battled San Jose in the boxing ring tonight at the Gold Country Casino Resort. Fresno’s David Reyes made his pro debut this evening, against San Jose’s Pedro “Fierro” Angel Cruz in a four-round lightweight bout.
It was a competitive first round for the first two minutes, when Cruz took over by putting Reyes down. Reyes beat the count and finished the round.
The remaining rounds were competitive, with Reyes game and throwing punches, but often being out-gunned by Cruz.
The bout went to the scorecards. The official scores were 40-35, 39-36, and 38-37, all for Cruz.
The Fight Photos scored the bout 39-36 Cruz.
The decision improves Cruz’ record is now 3-2 (2). Reyes’ record is 0-1.
Two Northern California fighters made their professional debuts this evening against each other. Richmond’s Evert Antonio Vallecillo Velasquez took on Sacramento’s Edgar Perez.
While Velasquez was game and applied pressure, Perez used movement and accurate punching to control the bout.
During the third round, with Velasquez taking punishment in the neutral corner, referee David Hartman stopped the bout at 1:18 of the third round, resulting in Perez winning by knockout.
Perez’ record is now 1-0 (1) while Velasquez’ record is 0-1.
The opening bout of the evening was a four-round welterweight bout which featured the pro debut of Richmond, CA’s Ebert “The Richmond Rifle” Diaz. Diaz faced Sacramento, CA’s Milton Ramirez. It was an eventful first round, with Diaz the more active fighter, while the the most effective punches were straight lefts from the southpaw Ramirez.
Ramirez landed another good straight left at the first minute of the second round. Diaz weathered it well, and from that point, took control of the fight, out-throwing and out-landing Ramirez. Diaz landed a left hook with Ramirez on the ropes. Ramirez survived the round but referee Michael Margado decided to stop the bout before the start of the third round. The official result was Diaz by knockout at 3:00 of the second round.
With the stoppage, Diaz wins his debut, his record now 1-0 (1) Ramirez is now 1-2.
Recap and photo by David Algranati