FAIRFIELD, CALIFORNIA – Local favorite Alan Sanchez kept his record at home unblemished with a well-fought technical stoppage victory over Clint Coronel before his supportive fan base, capping an entertaining night of action at the Fairfield Sports Center on Friday night.
Sanchez (8-2-1, 3 KOs) of Fairfield just had too much height and length and too many dimensions for the crude slugger Coronel (4-3-2, 1 KO) of San Jose, California. To no great surprise, Coronel, 149, opened the fight moving forward, while Sanchez, 147, remained on the outside, using his footwork and his getting behind his jab. Coronel placed a clean overhand right early, but had trouble getting set to land anything clean for the most part.
By the end of the second, Coronel was already bleeding pretty well from his left eye, which prompted Coronel’s corner to ask referee Dan Stell to watch for the headbutts in between rounds. In any event, Coronel was down two rounds and now had a bloody eye for a target, which Sanchez nailed to start the third.
The third was another clear Sanchez round, but Coronel did manage to get in some clean blows in the fourth as the Fairfield resident stayed more stationary than in previous rounds. Coronel was deducted a point in the fifth for a bad low blow which caused a time out. Though it was low, it seemed to be mostly a side effect of Coronel’s swinging punching style more than an intentional foul. Moments later, the referee had both ringside doctors examine Coronel’s right eye, which was bleeding profusely by the end of the round.
Just seconds into the sixth, Stell brought Coronel over to the ringside doctor again, which would make one believe that the referee was leaning towards a stoppage at that point. However, the fight continued, with Sanchez now fighting more on the inside and rubbing against Coronel’s shredded face.
Stell and the doctor took another close look before the seventh, but allowed the fight to resume. To his credit, Coronel remained determined despite the vision and skill disadvantages. Before much of the seventh round had got underway, Stell brought Coronel over to the doctor and this time got the ok for the stoppage he had been looking for in rounds prior. Stell motioned to the commission table that the blood was spurting from Coronel’s face shortly after the bout’s conclusion.
Manuel “Tino” Avila (5-0, 2 KOs) of Fairfield kept his unbeaten record in tact with a measured four-round decision win over the aggressive Salvador Cifuentes (1-2) of Chula Vista, California in the night’s co-main event.
Cifuentes, 124, came out looking to pressure Avila, 123, but the prospect managed to place some pinpoint shots upstairs against his onrushing opponent. Cifuentes found more success in the second half, as he caught Avila, who employed little head movement, numerous times with clean shots to the cranium. Avila remained composed and managed to weather Cifuentes’ flurries before countering with his own more precision style attack.
Midway through the fourth round, a clash of heads opened up a bad cut over Cifuentes’ left eye. Referee Jon Schorle nearly waved off the fight in the corner, but appeared to be talked into allowing the fight to continue by Cifuentes, who came out swinging when action resumed.
In the end, all three judges failed to give Cifuentes any credit for his second half surge, scoring the bout a shutout, 40-36 across the board.
Super featherweight prospect Guy Robb (5-0, 2 KOs) of Sacramento, California did what he was supposed to do against a novice opponent, score a quick knockout. Despite all the talk of his camp at the weigh-in Thursday, Tyshawn Sherman (0-1) of Hesperia, California presented no challenge for Robb.
Sherman, 128, came out running and moving in a very unorthodox manner, which gave Robb, 128, reason to pause and assess the situation for a brief moment in the opening moments of the fight. Once he realized what he had in front of him, Robb stalked his fleet of foot opponent before landing a left hook that got Sherman on his bicycle even more than before.
Moments later, Robb landed a two punch combination that put Sherman into a corner. With Sherman folding over and almost turning away, Robb unloaded with both hands before referee Dan Stell leaped in to protect the amateurish Sherman from any harm. Time of the stoppage was 1:28 of round one.
Former amateur standout-turned mixed martial arts prospect Mike Ortega (2-0, 1 KO) of Sacramento made his return to the sweet science a successful one as he scored a fourth-round stoppage of dangerous Michael Alexander (1-5-3) of Antioch, California.
Ortega, 152, stunned the taller Alexander, 154, early in the bout with two lefts and a hard right. Ortega, who also mixed in his shots well to the body, scored with an overhand right that rocked Alexander for the second time in the round. Ortega continued to press the action before landing a short counter left hand in the closing seconds of the first which backed Alexander into the ropes. Ortega flurried, but Alexander’s cause was aided by the ring of the bell.
Alexander regained his footing by the start of the second, but was still getting outfought by Ortega. The Sacramento native continued to control the action in the third, backing Alexander up with a one-two and placing his other shots well to the body and head.
Alexander got on his toes to start the fourth, eventually landing a stiff jab that got Ortega to take a step back. Just as Alexander landed one of his better shots in the fight, Ortega came back with a four-punch combination that began with a right, followed by a solid left hook and two overhand rights. The last right put Alexander all the way down and prompted referee Dan Stell to wave off the bout without a count. Time of the stoppage was 1:50 of round four.
Local product Omar Sanchez (0-2) of Fairfield came to the Fairfield Sports Center in search of his first pro victory, having fought two legitimate prospects to begin his career in losing efforts, but came away with neither a win nor a loss.
Debuting Jhonnathan Zamudio of San Francisco, California by way of Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico scored a knockdown in the first but had to settle for a no contest when a Sanchez cut was ruled to come from a heabutt.
Zamudio, 139, put Sanchez, 134, down in an exchange of left hooks early in the first, but it appeared to be mostly a flash knockdown. Zamudio began the second well, landing two solid counter left hands against the forward-moving Sanchez. The Fairfield product began to get a bit reckless later in the round, which may have been when the headbutt took place. The now bloodied Sanchez did stun Zamudio with a combination, but the Mexican import fired right back.
What looked to be a solid scrap heading into the second half was cut short when referee Jon Schorle took Sanchez over to the ringside doctor in the third round. After getting advice from the physician, Schorle stopped the fight, resulting in a no contest due to the few rounds completed. Zamudio plans to return to the ring September 2nd in Salinas, California.
Jonathan Chicas (2-0, 1 KO) of San Francisco spoiled the professional debut of former amateur standout Michael Islas (0-1) of Madera, California via decisive four-round unanimous decision in the night’s opening contest.
Chicas, 142, countered the attack of Islas, 139, well and outworked the Madera native over the four-rounds. Islas seemed hesitant to unload his artillery and simply waited for openings too often. Chicas attempted to make his own openings, and usually found Islas best with the third or fourth punch of his combinations. In the end all three judges had Chicas the winner. Scores read 40-36 and 39-37 twice.
Photos by Stephanie Trapp/[email protected]
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected].
