LINCOLN, CALIFORNIA – In a highly competitive affair, Alan Sanchez managed to edge out an eight-round majority decision over Salvador Briceño in a battle of two hard-nosed veteran warriors in the main event of a well-matched ten-bout card at the Thunder Valley Casino Resort on Saturday night.
Both Sanchez (24-6-1, 10 KOs) of Fairfield, California by way of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico and Briceño (18-9-1, 11 KOs) of Roseville, California also by way of Guadalajara entered the evening looking for a win after hard-fought decision defeats in their last bouts. Instead of taking on easy get-back opponents, the two Guadalajara-born and locally-based welterweights opted to take on one another with the hopes of jumping back into bigger opportunities with a victory.
After a feeling-out opening round, Briceño, 146, did well to control the action in round two behind his jab. Sanchez, 146.3, was a bit slower on the draw in the opening rounds, but stayed disciplined on his defense, which made it difficult for Briceño to land clean coming off of his left hand.
The action picked-up in round three, as Sanchez began to open up a bit more, but Briceño stuck with him, ready to counter. Both fighters had their moments in a high output round four. The Guadalajarans also began to show some bravado. Whenever their opponent would land something clean, the recipient would get out of range and then shake their head or hold their forearms out apathetically to signal no damage had been done.
Briceño was the busier fighter in rounds five and six, mostly with the jab, but with some well-timed right hands as well. Sanchez did not attempt as many punches, but landed a few eye-catching power shots that would end up swaying the judges.
Sanchez took control in the last quarter of the fight, having his best round to date in the seventh. Sanchez landed several power punches in the last minute that made it one of the easier rounds to score in the fight. Briceño packed his jab away in the eighth, which gave Sanchez free entry in close, where the Fairfield resident let his hands go, unlike early in the fight.
With his strong close to the bout, Sanchez wound up a majority decision winner, as judge Michael Margado’s 76-76 card was overruled. Judge Brian Tsukamoto scored the bout 77-75, while judge Kru Michael Rinaldi scored the fight a shutout for Sanchez, 80-72. With his victory over known tough out Briceño, Sanchez figures to be in line for a profitable opportunity.
In the co-main event, Blake McKernan (15-2, 8 KOs) of Sacramento, California continued his march on the comeback trail with a decisive fourth-round knockout of veteran Milton Nunez (40-34-1, 33 KOs) of Miami, Florida by way of Barranquilla, Colombia.
McKernan, 200, who displayed the habit of shaking out his right hand throughout the bout, had little trouble finding the plodding Nunez, 204, who seemed satisfied to cover up and look for one home run shot at a time. McKernan was busier and found great success leading with right hand power punches.
Late in the third stanza, McKernan landed with a clean left hook that staggered Nunez and had the Colombian leaning on the ropes for much of the remaining time in the round. Early in the fourth, with referee Dan Stell already in close, McKernan landed a left to the body that brought Nunez’s hands down to protect. With the Colombian’s head open, McKernan landed a left upstairs that forced Nunez to a knee. With the trajectory of the bout clear, Stell opted to immediately wave off the bout, without any protest from Nunez. Official time was 1:00 of round four.
Unbeaten middleweight Victor Guerrero (8-0, 6 KOs) of Morgan Hill, California got off of the canvas early to drop and eventually halt veteran spoiler Moris Rodriguez (8-17-2, 5 KOs) of Sacramento in round four.
Guerrero, 160, did well to keep the much shorter Rodriguez, 160.3, at bay with his jab for much of the first round. However, Rodriguez did exploit an opening for a lead overhand right that appeared to momentarily bother the unbeaten fighter. Roughly ten seconds into the second round, Rodriguez targeted the same opening, landing a stiff left and an overhand right over Guerrero’s lowered left that dropped the prospect to the seat of his pants. Guerrero reached his knee and took a nine count before action resumed. Guerrero would hold on enough to clear his cobwebs and, despite taking some clean uppercuts and rights, would ultimately land well in the final seconds of the round.
After allowing Rodriguez in close during the second round, Guerrero found his distance again in the third and took over with his right hand. Rodriguez, fighting for only the second time since the pandemic, may have gassed out a bit going for the stoppage the previous round as well. Seconds into the fourth, Guerrero landed with a left that snapped Rodriguez’s head back and sent him to the ropes. With Rodriguez’s right glove hooked on the ropes, Guerrero unleashed with a flurry that eventually had the Sacramento resident holding on as the action moved around the ring. After a warning from referee Michael Margado, Guerrero clubbed Rodriguez to the mat for a knockdown. When action resumed, Rodriguez opted to trade with Guerrero, actually landing clean with a left, before a right uppercut staggered him along the ropes. Margado did not like what he saw from Rodriguez and called for the stoppage at 1:09 of the fourth round.
Ruben Torres (6-2-2, 1 KO) of Sacramento and William Davis (3-2-2, 1 KO) of Sacramento failed to settle bragging rights over their hometown, but did not fail to entertain the crowd on hand en route to a six-round majority draw.
Things got hot in round three, as Davis, 145, seemed to hurt Torres, 147, early before the tide turned late in the round. Most of the fight was an even back-and-forth. The southpaw Davis was at his best when he could get distance, fire and move. Torres, the constant pursuer, was most effective when he could cut the ring or force Davis along the ropes.
By the end of an exciting fight, Torres was bloodied but undeterred as both men fought until the final bell of round six. In the end, the scorecard of judge Brian Tsukamoto read 58-56 for Torres, but was overruled by the cards of judges Dan Stell and Kru Michael Rinaldi, who both had the fight even, 57-57.
Islam Abdusamadov (4-0, 3 KOs) of Santa Clara, California by way of Makhachkala, Dagestan, Russia scored a first-round knockdown and weathered some moments in the final act en route to a four-round unanimous decision over Andrew Buchanan (3-2-1, 2 KOs) of Hesperia, California.
Abdusamadov, 158, and Buchanan, 159, were open to trading leather from the opening bell. During the midst of an exchange about a minute into the fight, Abdusamadov connected with a left that snapped back Buchanan’s head and dropped him to his knees for a knockdown. Buchanan did well to get on his toes and box for the remainder of the round, clearing any cloudiness in the process.
Abdusamadov was mostly the hunter in rounds two, three and early in round four, while Buchanan remained in boxer mode. Things changed briefly about a minute into the fourth, when a short and clean right on the inside from Buchanan rocked Abdusamadov. Despite being implored by his corner, Buchanan did not really follow-up with urgency and Abusamadov was able to get back to being the pressure fighter in the bout.
Judges Brian Tsukamoto, Kru Michael Rinaldi and Dan Stell all scored the bout idenitically, 39-37 for Abdusamadov.
Jamaar Collins (2-0, 2 KOs) of Merced, California took little time in dispatching Cashton Young (3-3-1, 1 KO) of Encino, California by first-round stoppage. Collins, 220, dropped Young, 230, with a left in the midst of an exchange roughly half of a minute into the bout. Young managed to get up and tried to get through the round with his jab. Collins had other things in mind and hurt Young along the ropes. When the punches stopped coming back from Young, referee Dan Stell leaped in to call an end to the fight at 2:19 of round one.
In a competitive and entertaining bout, Brenda Hernandez Cardenas (2-0, 1 KO) of San Diego, California scored a four-round split decision over tough luck Maribel Guerrero (0-3) of Gilroy, California.
Many of the rounds were tough to score, especially with only the two minutes to differentiate between the two. Hernandez Cardenas, 116, may have sewn up round two with a head-snapping left near the bell, one of the more telling blows landed in the contest.
Guerrero, 118, was at her best when she could get distance, box and move. Even when backed to the ropes, Hernandez Cardenas did well in exchanges when Guerrero pressured her in close. In the end, judge Dan Stell scored the bout for Guerrero, 39-37, but was overruled by judges Brian Tsukamoto and Kru Michael Rinaldi, who both had the fight for Hernandez Cardenas, 40-36.
In a rough-and-tumble affair, Christian Avalos (3-1-2) of Carson City, Nevada used his superior technique to turn back the rugged Luciano Ramos (2-6) of Stockton, California by way of Buenos Aires, Argentina via four-round unanimous decision.
Ramos, 139, did well early to thwart the boxing style of Avalos, 138, while falling back on his MMA background for some inside roughness. Avalos settled down and began to box better from the outside in round two. By round three Avalos took over the bout.
Judges Michael Margado, Brian Tsukamoto and Kru Michael Rinaldi were all in agreement with a score of 39-37 for Avalos.
In an action-packed encounter, Alexander Espinoza (23-6-2, 8 KOs) of Sacramento by way of Managua, Nicaragua pounded out a six-round unanimous over tough-as-nails Diuhl Olguin (16-40-7, 10 KOs) of Oak Hills, California.
Espinoza, 128, just had more gears and facets than Olguin, 126, who has to be one of the better 40-loss fighters of recent times. Olguin kept the pressure, despite getting rocked on a couple of occasions during the bout.
Judge Kru Michael Rinaldi scored the bout 60-54, while judges Brian Tsukamoto and Michael Margado both had the fight 59-55, all for Espinoza.
Over two fights and eight rounds, Mario Hernandez (2-1-1) of Sparks, Nevada and Marco Ortiz (1-3, 1 KO) of Red Bluff, California have provided fans in the Sacramento area with non-stop action. For the second time in two fights, it was Hernandez that was declared the victor in the end.
Hernandez, 175, and Ortiz, 173 ½, each stood their ground and traded throughout the twelve minutes in which they shared the ring on Saturday night. Each had their moments, but Hernandez landed the most eye-catching and head-snapping shots when all totaled.
All three judges scored the bout 40-36 for Hernandez. In August of last year, Hernandez scored a four-round unanimous decision over Ortiz in an exciting fight in Sacramento.
Saturday’s event was the first boxing card held at the new Venue at Thunder Valley. Promoter Nasser Niavaroni of Upper Cut Promotions aims to bring boxing back to the venue early next year.
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected]