WOODLAND, CALIFORNIA – With a world title opportunity potentially looming right around the corner, Vicente Escobedo thrilled his hometown crowd by scoring three first-round knockdowns en route to a stoppage over Lonnie Smith at the Woodland Community & Senior Center in the Telefutura Solo Boxeo main event on Saturday night.
Smith (14-3-2, 10 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nevada started out strong, backing Escobedo to the ropes and placing a couple strong body shots. The fight quickly turned midway through the first round, as Escobedo (24-4, 15 KOs) of Woodland found a home for two right hands and walked through Smith’s retort.
Escobedo, 129, soon backed Smith, 130, into the blue corner with a one-two and dropped “El Negro Mexicano” with the jab-right hand combination that followed. Smith got up smiling, but was soon deposited on the canvas with a right from over the top. This time Smith got up without a smile. Escobedo rushed in when the action resumed, catching Smith with a right hand. Smith caught himself on the middle ropes, but was quickly flurried to the mat again as referee Dan Stell leaped in to stop the fight. Official time of the stoppage was 2:20 of round one.
With the win, Escobedo, who entered the ring as the WBO #10 ranked lightweight and IBF #10 ranked 130-pounder, claimed the vacant WBO NABO Super Featherweight title, his first as a professional. “By now I thought I would have had about two world titles, but better late than never,” said Escobedo just after his win. “That is the way I look at it. I think it is just my time. I was a late bloomer, but now that I have had the experience of fighting the top fighters, the best out there, I have learned a lot and that showed tonight.”
Escobedo had fought in nearby Sacramento before, lastly in 2009, but never in his hometown of Woodland. “It was a good homecoming,” said Escobedo. “I wanted to give the people that. I think this is the best gift I could have given Woodland. To actually come to Woodland, in front of my friends and family and the people that have never been able to see me live, that was really special for me.”
Escobedo’s name has been mentioned as a possible opponent for reigning WBO Super Featherweight titleholder Adrien Broner, who is likely to see action on the May 19th Lamont Peterson-Amir Khan card in Las Vegas. Escobedo’s manager Rolando Arrellano acknowledged there have been talks in regards to Broner, but nothing is set regarding his fighter’s next move.
In a rematch, Manuel Avila (7-0, 2 KOs) of Fairfield, California remained unbeaten with a six-round unanimous decision over a fleet-of-foot David Reyes (2-2) of Montebello, California.
Throughout the fight, Avila, 118, played the role of counter-puncher, even as his trainer Al LaGardo implored him to press the action from ringside. In the end, his clean counter shots were more than enough to win the rounds over the unorthodox Reyes, 120, but it is likely Avila could have been more impressive had he put his corner’s advice to use.
While his offense came in short bursts, Reyes’ conditioning could not be questioned as any time Avila landed anything of significance, the Montebello resident would be well out of range by the time the young prospect attempted a follow-up attack. One of the more heated two-way exchanges came just before the final bell, as Reyes was cornered against the ropes.
In the end, two judges had the shutout for Avila, 60-54, while the third found a round for Reyes, 59-55. In their initial October meeting on the Bernard Hopkins-Chad Dawson undercard in Los Angeles, California, Avila downed Reyes in the third round, but had to settle for a four-round split decision victory.
In an entertaining six-round affair, Paul Mendez (7-2-1, 2 KOs) of Delano, California and Dmitry Chudinov (6-0-1, 3 KOs) of Los Angeles, California by way Serpukhov, Moscow Oblast, Russia fought to a majority draw.
Chudinov, 159 ½, found Mendez, 166, first, with a couple solid left hooks in the opening round. The taller Mendez began the fight in close, but opted to get on his toes late in the first round. Mendez tried to keep Chudinov at distance again in the second, but the Russian continued to set the tone with a higher output and level of aggression.
Mendez had a better third round, as he began to place his jab to greater effect and connected with a cracking left hook that drew a reaction from the crowd. Still the most telling blow of the round was thrown by Chudinov, who rocked Mendez with a left hook late in the frame. Mendez, a bit wobbled, covered up well, as Chudinov failed to land anything punishing in his follow-up.
Each fighter had their moments in the fourth, as Chudinov scored well early, but Mendez came on late with a nice series of combinations. Chudinov came out strong in the fifth, but Mendez weathered the onrush and controlled the action over the second half of the round. Chudinov continued to press forward in the sixth, but Mendez out landed him for stretches and kept the fight at his distance for much of the round. In the end, one judge had the fight 58-56 for Chudinov, but was overruled by the other two official scorers, 57-57.
Jonathan Chicas (5-0, 3 KOs) of San Francisco, California kept his unbeaten record in tact with a four-round majority decision over an undersized, but extremely determined Ephraim Martinez (4-2, 1 KO) of Buttonwillow, California.
Chicas’ natural size advantage was readily apparent in the early going, as the San Francisco resident fired rights and walked through the returns from Martinez, 137, a super bantamweight moving way up the scale. However, Martinez, who took the fight on short notice, made it clear he was in the fight for the long haul, as he came back with a solid right late in the round.
To the surprise of many seated ringside, it was Martinez that pressed the fight in the second, forcing Chicas, 140, to backpedal for much of the round. Chicas’ corner must have said something to wake him up in between rounds, as he came out blazing in the third. However, after a strong first half, Chicas was giving ground again to close the round.
Chicas started the fourth well, before Martinez caught him in close and backed him up with combinations. When Martinez punched himself out for a moment, Chicas regained control of the round late. After withstanding Chicas’ attack, Martinez called his opponent in and fired back to end the fight. One judge had the fight even, 38-38, with the other wo judges scoring it 39-37 for Chicas.
In the opening bout of the night, Harry Gopaul (1-2, 1 KO) of Sacramento, California moved into the win column while spoiling the professional debut of former amateur standout Payton Boyea (0-1) also of Sacramento via second-round stoppage.
Action was frantic at the outset, as Gopaul, 174 ½, and Boyea, 172, exchanged shots at close range in the first round. Gopaul got the worst of it in the early going and was soon dropped by a right hand. Gopaul managed to regain his footing in short order and charged back at Boyea, who did well to catch his adversary on his way inside.
The Sacramento natives came right out at each other to start the second, but this time it would be Gopaul that landed hardest, as he backed Boyea against the ropes with a one-two. With Boyea leaning back on the upper stands, Gopaul connected with a sweeping left hook that put his opponent in trouble. With Gopaul unloading his arsenal against the ropes, Boyea would fall out of the ring onto a ringside table from an apparent right hand. However, referee Edward Collantes waved off the knockdown and signaled it was a push.
Shortly after making it back into the ring, the shaky-legged Boyea was in trouble taking shots along the ropes. The unanswered series of blows that followed gave Gopaul his first official knockdown of the night. When Boyea returned to his feet, Collantes took a look and waved off the fight at the 2:02 mark of the second.
Photos by Erik Killin
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.
