SANTA YNEZ, CALIFORNIA–In a high stakes pairing of former world champions, Kendall Holt put himself in line for a meaningful fight with a devastating third-round knockout of Julio Diaz on Friday night at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California.
The jury is still out on whether Holt (27-4, 15 KOs) of Patterson, New Jersey is still the same fighter he was during his title reign, but one thing is for sure: he can still punch. That is what Diaz (38-7, 27 KOs) of Coachella, California found out in their ESPN2 Friday Night Fights main event.
Holt, the WBO #8/WBC #8/WBA #10/IBF #15 ranked light welterweight, was the naturally bigger and stronger fighter and fully exploited that advantage in the less than three rounds of action. Holt quickly landed two solid right hands in the first round, before Diaz, the IBF #9 ranked 140-pounder, came right back, throwing his left. Before the end of the round, Diaz would be cut above his left eye from an apparent headbutt.
Out-muscled for a stretch in the first, Diaz, 141 ½, had a determined start to the second. Diaz threw several combinations, but Holt, 142, did well enough covering up. Several times in the round, Holt would wait for Diaz to finish throwing before looking for a haymaker counter. On a few occasions, Holt just missed landing one of the wild swings. Diaz was the busier fighter in the round, as it was obvious Holt was looking for one knockout punch.
The third round featured excellent two-way action before the fight’s sudden end. Holt came out quick with a good right hand which briefly upset Diaz’ rhythm. In an exchange in which Diaz landed a left and Holt a right, the former belt holders clashed heads again. Soon after action resumed, Diaz opened up and landed a nice combination that gave Holt reason to take a step back. Diaz followed Holt, perhaps thinking he had hurt the New Jersey resident. Instead, Holt gave himself the room to land a left to the body that brought down Diaz’ guard and left him susceptible to the ensuing left hook upstairs. Diaz went down hard, but somehow managed to make it to his feet. With Diaz in no condition to continue, referee Marcos Rosales waved off the fight. Time of the stoppage was 2:37 of the third.
The Diaz victory alone – compounded by its shocking conclusion – instantly makes Holt a viable opponent for one of the money players at 140-pounds. After the fight, talk was that the Holt camp is considering an offer to fight IBF Light Welterweight titleholder Zab Judah. The match-up would be a turf war of sorts, with Holt hailing from New Jersey and Judah, New York. The fight will have to simmer should it come to pass; as an arm injury Holt suffered earlier in the bout gave the California State Athletic Commission reason enough to tag him with a 180-day medical suspension.
For Diaz, Friday’s stoppage may have been the knockout blow to his career and at the very least drops him from contender to opponent status. Should his career be over, Diaz should take solace in the fact that for a bunch of years he was one of the best in the sport. Counted out more than once his career, Diaz always battled back and brought himself back into the upper echelon. Diaz twice claimed the IBF Lightweight title and twice dropped the belt to elite fighters, Jose Luis Castillo and Juan Diaz. This time however, it is hard to envision the now 31-year-old “Kidd” Diaz working his way back to a title opportunity.
In the spirited co-feature, Jonathan Gonzalez (13-0, 13 KOs) of San Juan, Puerto Rico turned back the challenge of a game Rudy Cisneros (12-3, 11 KOs) of Chicago, Illinois, scoring a seventh-round stoppage. Cisneros, 152 ½, gave Gonzalez, 154, some trouble, especially in the early going, with his constant pressure. Eventually class showed through, as Gonzalez, the WBA #11 ranked light middleweight, took charge in the second half.
Cisneros took some solid shots through four, but handled them well outside of some bad swelling around his left eye. However, by the fifth, Gonzalez’ power began to have a showing effect on Cisneros. Most notably a short right forced the Chicago native to stutter step. Still determined, Cisneros managed to return the favor and rock Gonzalez late in the round.
The fight took a complete turn in favor of the 2008 Puerto Rican Olympian in round six, as Gonzalez unloaded with Cisneros against the ropes late in the round. Cisneros refused to cave in and fired back when possible, but with not much behind his shots. Gonzalez jumped back on Cisneros early in the seventh, eventually forcing him to the ropes for an unanswered barrage. Cisneros’ corner attempted to throw in the towel, but their toss fell short and got caught on the rope. Finally the inspector in their corner signaled referee Ray Corona to stop the bout. The official time came at 1:50 of round seven.
Gonzalez will be back after a quick turnaround as he is scheduled to compete in an eight-rounder against an opponent to be named on a special Saturday edition of Showtime’s Shobox: The New Generation on June 11th emanating from the Roseland Ballroom in New York, New York.
In a rematch of a thriller, undefeated Kurtiss Colvin (5-0, 4 KOs) of Austin, Texas made a statement with a second-round knockout of Cameron Allen (3-7, 1 KO) of Battle Creek, Michigan. Colvin, 159, jumped on Allen, 158 ½, early and often, rocking him early in round one with a combination.
Allen managed to withstand Colvin’s attack and make it into the second round, but may wish he had not. Colvin dropped Allen with a left, but the Battle Creek resident got up to take more punishment. Eventually, Colvin forced Allen against the ropes for a pounding before a right to the body set up a two-punch combination upstairs which downed Allen a second time. Referee Ray Corona waved off the fight without a count at 2:52 of the second round.
In their first meeting, which took place in February, the well regarded Colvin survived a knockdown and a standing eight-count to drop the tenacious Allen in the third en route a four-round majority decision. Colvin will likely return to the ring on June 10th back at the Chumash Casino Resort.
In an excellent fight, unbeaten prospect Julian Williams (6-0-1, 4 KOs) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania failed to notch a win for the first time in his pro career as Francisco Santana (12-2-1, 6 KOs) of Santa Barbara, California came on strong in the second half of the fight to force a unanimous draw.
Williams, 153, got off to a solid start, outboxing Santana, 153 ½, in rounds one and two. Santana was competitive in the early going, but Williams seemed to be taking the rounds with a composed and measured performance. Santana looked to turn the fight in round four, as he just threw and threw, keeping Williams on the defensive. Eventually Santana tired, which enabled Williams to pick him off at range as the round closed.
In the second half of the fight, Santana seemed to understand he had little chance fighting on the outside, and made it an inside fight whenever possible. At times he would smother his shots, but it was still more effective than anything he had done at a distance, where Williams’ boxing skill made a big difference.
Santana had his best round when he needed it most, the fifth. The Santa Barbara native caught Williams with a leaping left counter, rocking the Philly prospect. Late in the round, Santana landed clean with a combination and flurried Williams until the bell. Had there been another minute in the round, it looked as though Williams may fall.
One would have had to figure Williams was up on the cards entering the sixth, and it would be in his best interest to keep the fight at range if not get outright on his bicycle. However, Williams was apparently too tired to run which made for an exciting final round. Both had their moments in some heated exchanges to close out the fight, which received a standing ovation from the crowd on hand. Justly perhaps, no fighter left with an ‘L’ as all three judges had the fight 57-57.
Rufino Serrano (9-3) of Santa Maria, California did enough to edge journeyman Ramon Flores (3-12-2, 3 KOs) of Wilmington, California by way of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico in a six-rounder. Flores, 129, did have more than his fair share of moments in the contest. After getting outboxed from the opening bell, Flores managed to drop Serrano, 126 ¾, with a right hand before the end of the first round. It was clearly a flash knockdown, but still not the way Serrano wanted to end the first round.
The fight was mostly Serrano’s from there on out however. Serrano, who fights and dresses in a style similar to former champion Paul Malignaggi, scored a knockdown late in the fight, but when Flores kneeled down, the local favorite continued to swing away at him. Nothing really damaging seemed to land and referee Marcos Rosales chose to issue a warning to Serrano, rather than take a point. In the end, Serrano was a unanimous victor by scores of 58-55, 58-56 and 57-56.
Anthony Dirrell (21-0, 18 KOs) of Flint, Michigan continued to bolster his stats with a third-round knockout of a completely outclassed Alberto Mercedes (14-18-1, 10 KOs) of West Allis, Wisconsin.
Dirrell, 170, was superior in every way and it was very clear from the first bell. Mercedes, 171, came to earn his paycheck however, and did not fold at the first opportunity as one might have expected him to. Watching the fight, you got the sense Dirrell, the WBC #8 ranked super middleweight, could end it at any instance if he really wanted to, but he opted to toy with Mercedes instead.
Apparently deciding he had put in enough time, Dirrell opted to throw and land the left to the body that had been available all night. Having taken some stiff head shots, Mercedes gave in to the body blow and dropped to a knee. Having seen enough, Mercedes’ corner threw in the towel to signal for the stoppage which came officially at 2:48 of the third round. According to his team, Anthony Dirrell is pegged to fight in his home of Flint, Michigan for the first time in almost five years on July 2nd.
Former amateur champion Seniesa Estrada (1-0) of East Los Angeles, California flashed some of the skills that made her one of the top amateurs in female boxing over the last few years en route to a shutout unanimous decision over Maria Ruiz (0-3-2) of Houston, Texas.
Estrada, 111 ½, switched seamlessly from orthodox to southpaw, showed great hand speed and solid technique over the four rounds. Ruiz, 112 ½, was rocked by a left hook in the early going and had no answer for Estrada at any time in the fight. Estrada may have been a bit too relaxed and cautious considering the level of her opponent. At range Estrada looked like a world class veteran, but she did look uncomfortable in spots on the inside. In the end all three judges had the fight and every round for Estrada, 40-36.
In an exciting swing bout, Daniel Roman (2-0-1, 1 KO) of Garden Grove, California scored a four-round unanimous decision over a gritty Alfredo Madrigal (1-1) of Bakersfield, California. Roman and Madrigal went toe-to-toe from the outset. In the first, it seemed every time one of them landed solid; the other would return the favor right away.
The action remained pretty even until a left hook from Roman, 118, dropped Madrigal, 118, in the second round. Roman began to find Madrigal’s body repeatedly in the third round. By the middle of the round, it was clear that Madrigal’s right side was pretty tender. Roman had loaded up on lefts to his body all round before the final bell sounded. When Madrigal made it back to his corner, his trainer placed him gently on the stool and the Bakersfield native still winced in pain. Roman took the fourth, most notably landing a solid one-two against the ropes and went on to win by the score of 40-35 three times.
In the opening bout of the night, Jhon Ortega (5-0, 5 KOs) of Londonderry, New Hampshire scored a devastating fourth-round knockout of Marcus Thompkins (5-4-1, 2 KOs) of Michigan City, Indiana. After controlling the action for three plus rounds, Ortega, 144 ½, landed a picture perfect one-two to drop Thompkins, 145 ¼, who went down hard and did not require even the start of a count from referee Ray Corona. Official time was 27 seconds of round four.
Joel Diaz (3-0, 2 KOs) of Palmdale, California made short work of Dionicio Alvarez (1-3) of Fresno, California in the final bout of the evening. After a clean body shot, Diaz, 128, flurried Alvarez, 126 ¼, into a corner before referee Ray Corona stopped the bout. The stoppage came at 2:08 of the first round.
Photos by Mark Ortega
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected].
