CARSON, Calif. – They collided like a couple of weather fronts. One from Argentina. The other from Riverside, Calif. Only one would be left standing. That was the only safe prediction.
In the end, the sudden storm belonged to Marcos Maidana, another force of nature from Argentina.
Maidana got up from one knockdown in the fourth round to score one in the sixth for what led to a technical knockout of Josesito Lopez in a dramatic welterweight fight at the StubHub Center.
Maidana (34-3, 31KOs) landed an overhand right that put Lopez on one knee early in the sixth. Stunned yet resilient, Lopez (30-6, 18 KOs) got up amid huge cheers for the Southern California fighter nicknamed The Riverside Rocky. But the loud crowd of 8,629 at the former Home Depot Center couldn’t protect the hometown favorite from Maidana’s next assault. The Argentine winged successive punches at Lopez at a whirlwind rate. Referee Lou Morett interceded with a stoppage at 1:18 of the round.
“My guts got me this victory,’’ said Maidana, whose inexhaustible power puts him alongside fellow Argentine Lucas Matthysse.
In the fourth, Lopez dropped Maidana with some head-rocking power of his own. Lopez’ delivered it with a right that looked as if it might prove to be the fight’s decisive weapon. By then, however, Maidana had felt enough to know he could survive it with smarts and poise.
“In the second round, he hit me in my head and it was like I was paralyzed,’’ said Maidana, who would have been happy if Morett had let the fight continue.
Lopez was unhappy at the stoppage.
“I felt like it was premature,’’ said Lopez, who led by one point on each of two scorecards. “I was stunned, but I was not down for the count. He landed a couple of good punches, but not good enough to end the fight.’’
With the victory, stays in a welterweight race led by Floyd Mayweather Jr.
“I just want to fight the best,’’ Maidana said after prevailing in a wild fight with one of them.
In a super-welterweight bout, Alfredo Angulo (22-3, 18 KOs) looked tough, stubborn and on his way to a surprising victory over ErislandyLara (17-1-2, 12 KOs), who was down twice – once in the fourth and again in the ninth. Just as it looked as if Angulo would be the winner, however, he was the loser.
A sudden left-right combination from Lara in the tenth ended the super-welterweight bout abruptly. Angulo turned around and took one step toward his corner. He was finished. Referee Raul Caiz, Sr., ended it at 1:50 of the tenth.
Seconds after the stoppage, a huge welt appeared above Angulo’s left eye. Before Angulo was taken to a nearby hospital, the grotesque swelling was believed to have been caused by either a fracture to the orbital bone or by injury to the back of the eye. Angulo complained that Lara had thumbed him.
Despite suffering two knockdowns, Lara led, 85-84, on scorecards held by judges Max DeLuca and Hoyle cards. Marty Denkinhad Angulo leading, 86-83.
ON THE UNDERCARD
THE BEST: Dublin junior welterweight JamieKavanagh (14-0-1, 6 KOs) had green shamrocks on his black socks and power hidden beneath the gloves he wore. That power didn’t stay hidden for long. Through two rounds, Kavanagh rocked Adolfo Landeros (21-32-2, 10 KOs) of Calexico, Calif., with a stinging succession of body shots punctuated by a head-rocking left hook. Landero’s corner threw in the towel between the second and third rounds.
THE GOOD: Johan Perez (17-1-1, 12 KOs) of Caracas, Venezuela allowed Yoshihiro Kamegi (22-1-1, 19 KOs) to walk into his punches for a unanimous decision over the previously-unbeaten welterweight from Sapporo, Japan; junior-lightweight Ronny Rios (21-0 10 KOs) kept his credentials as a prospect intact with sixth-round TKO of Mexican Leonilo Miranda (32-6, 30KOs); Los Angeles bantamweight Edgar Valerio (3-0, 2 KOs) left David Reyes (2-3-1), also of Los Angeles, bloodied and, in the end, beaten by split decision after four rounds of work in the card’s first bout on a warm afternoon under the Southern California sun.
THE FORGETTABLE: Junior-featherweight Manuel Avila ofFairfield, Calif., remained unbeaten (12-0, 4 KOs) with a unanimous decision over Jamal Parram (6-8-1, 4 KOs) of St. Louis; featherweight Joseph Diaz Jr. (6-1, 3 KOs) scored a third-round TKO of Rigoberto Casillas (8-11-1, 6 KOs) and Los Angeles heavyweight Gerald Washington heard boos from a gathering crowd for a unanimous decision over Sherman Williams (35-13-2, 19 KOs) in a fight about as exciting as an afternoon nap.
