Hovhannisyan Moves Past Acosta on Shobox

SANTA YNEZ, CALIFORNIA — In by far his toughest test to date, lightweight prospect Art Hovhannisyan remained unbeaten with a ten-round split decision over former titleholder Miguel Acosta in the Showtime-televised main event emanating from the Chumash Casino Resort on Friday night.

Hovhannisyan (15-0-2, 8 KOs) of Glendale, California by way of Gyumri, Armenia got off to a strong start, and it looked as though he may make it a short night. Near the end of the first round, Hovhannisyan, 132, caught Acosta, 134, with a clean right hand to score a knockdown. Acosta (29-6-2, 23 KOs) of Santiago de Leon de Caraca, Miranda, Venezuela appeared to be in trouble, but lucky for the former champion the bell sounded before Hovhannisyan could really capitalize.

Though Hovhannisyan maintained in control for the next few rounds, Acosta got his legs under him and slowly worked his way back into the fight. In the fifth, Acosta countered Hovhannisyan with a right hand, dropping the Armenian to a knee for a knockdown of his own. It appeared to be a flash knockdown, but may have been motivation for Acosta to believe a decision was still possible.

Acosta carried some momentum into the final two rounds, but it was apparent he was running low on gas. Hovhannisyan closed stronger, though both fighters had some great moments in action-packed tenth-round. When the final bell sounded, both fighters found themselves on the shoulders of their team members.

In the end, it was Acosta’s team that would be disappointed. Scores read 95-93 twice for Hovhannisyan, with the lone dissenting judge having 96-92 for Acosta. With the victory, Hovhannisyan will likely find himself ranked in the top fifteen by one or more of the major sanctioning organizations.

“I’m very happy to get the win,” said Hovhannisyan. “Acosta can still fight. I think my conditioning played a great role in my performance, but at this level you need to be good in all facets. This fight was definitely a great learning experience for me.”

In the televised co-feature, Roman Morales (11-0, 6 KOs) of San Ardo, California used his size and skill advantages to move past tough Alexis Santiago (11-3-1, 5 KOs) of Phoenix, Arizona via eight-round unanimous decision.

It was apparent from the early going that Morales, 122, was not going to be much affected by the punches Santiago, 122, landed. Morales, who normally displays stellar defense, was more willing to take one in order to landed his three or four-punch combinations. Though outgunned, Santiago made it a fight and stood up to some hard shots. Only one was able to put him down, as a picture-perfect left uppercut from the southpaw stance dropped Santiago in the third.

By the final two rounds, it looked as though Santiago may not make it to the final bell. Towards the end of the final round, Santiago showed his grit again as he fired and traded with the still strong Morales. It turned out to be a treat for the fans despite the lopsided scores of 80-71, 80-72 and 79-72.

“I thought this was a good performance,” said Morales. “I’m glad I could go eight hard rounds because that is what I expected. I got a little tired, but I knew I had to keep working. I’ll be back in the gym soon and I’ll be ready to fight whoever my team wants me to.” Next up for Morales is tough Jonathan Alcantara on August 24th at the Tulare County Fairgrounds in Tulare, California.

Jonathan Maicelo (17-0, 10 KOs) of North Bergen, New Jersey by way of Callao, Peru demolished normally durable, but aging former title challenger Daniel Attah (26-12-1, 9 KOs) of Washington, District of Columbia by way of Calabar, Nigeria inside of three rounds.

Maicelo, 135, pressed the action, landing with power shots in regularity from the opening bell. By the third, Attah, 135, was on the way out. Maicelo landed a straight right upstairs to score a knockdown moments into the round. The veteran Attah returned to his feet, only to take more punishment from Maicelo, who closed the show with a right hook-left hook combination. Referee Lou Moret called a halt at 2:45 of the third.

Longtime local favorite Rufino Serrano (13-4) of Santa Maria, California by way of Morelia, Michoacan de Ocampo, Mexico did what he does and boxed his way to a six-round unanimous decision over Rob Diezel (8-5, 3 KOs) of Seattle, Washington.

Diezel, 125 ½, attempted to match boxing skills with the adept Serrano, 125 ½, from the early going. While Diezel did well in the opening stages, Serrano’s class took over as the rounds progressed. However, Diezel was never in any trouble, unless you count a cut he suffered from an accidental head clash. Serrano took all three cards 59-55.

In a fight where somebody’s ‘0’ had to go, nobody’s did as winless Edgar Alvarado (0-1-1) of Riverside, California and winless Erick Prado (0-2-1) of nearby Santa Maria battled to a draw in a slugfest. From the opening stanza, Alvarado, 157 ½, and Prado, 161, fought their hearts out much to the delight of the packed house. Prado landed the cleaner shots in the early rounds, but Alvarado often closed better by landing his own telling blows. By the look of things, Alvarado needed to take the final round and he did so in impressive fashion. Scores read 40-36 for Alvarado, 39-37 for Prado and 38-38 to force the draw. The only unfortunate result is neither fighter gets their deserved first victory.

Tureano Johnson (10-0, 7 KOs) of Atlanta, Georgia by way of Nassau, Bahamas made short work as was expected against inactive journeyman Arturo Rodriguez (12-12, 8 KOs) of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Johnson, 160, outworked Rodriguez, 159, by applying pressure with punishing shots to the body and head. Finally, Johnson dropped Rodriguez with a clean uppercut, which ended matters. Referee Marcos Rosales called a halt at the 1:49 mark of round one.

Johnson’s next bout was already scheduled, as he will take on DonYil Livingston (8-1-1, 4 KOs) of Palmdale, California in an eight-rounder on August 10th ESPN2 undercard at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in Morongo, California.

In the walkout bout, which was reduced from eight rounds to six, Francisco Santana (13-3-1, 6 KOs) of Santa Barbara, California cruised to a unanimous decision over journeyman Larry Smith (10-12, 7 KOs) of Dallas, Texas.

Smith, 150, looked to stay at range with his long wingspan from the outset. However, it was the onrushing Santana, 148, that dictated the fight. Santana, a recent Manny Pacquiao sparring partner, threw combination with short hooks and chopping shots from over the top.

Halfway through the fight, Smith began to concentrate more on posturing and mugging for the crowd than attempting to win the fight. In the end, Smith managed to duck and dodge enough to last the distance. Scores unsurprisingly read for Santana, 60-54 and 59-55 twice.

For the first time in his illustrious career, world renowned ring announcer “Generous” Joe Antonacci handled those duties for a West Coast event, in addition to conducting post-fight interviews for the off-TV fights.

Boxing returns to the Chumash Casino Resort on September 21st for another Gary Shaw Productions-promoted edition of Shobox: The New Generation.

Photos by Dwight McCann/Chumash Casino Resort

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rounds.com.