Flores Decisions Contreras Before Hometown Crowd

STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA – World ranked lightweight contender Gabriel Flores Jr. continued his run of success fighting at home, scoring a one-sided eight-round unanimous decision over journeyman Dennis Contreras at the Adventist Health Arena on Saturday night. 

Flores (24-2, 8 KOs) of Stockton utilized his superior boxing skills, giving Contreras (24-14-1, 22 KOs) of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico angles and movement that the Mexican struggled to combat. Contreras was much more straightforward with his offense and had to sell out to get in close enough to land on the more elusive Flores. 

In the fifth, Flores, 134.6, pressured Contreras, 136.6, to the ropes and began to double up on stiff left hands. By leaning against the ropes, Contreras appeared to try to goad Flores into creating an opening, but if that was his plan it proved to be fruitless. 

Flores stood more flatfooted in stretches during the sixth, providing the home crowd with some excitement as he stood and traded headshots with Contreras early in the round. Contreras, whose power did not appear to carry up to the lightweight division, landed clean with several upstairs, but Flores walked through them and landed more of his own. 

Contreras kept coming forward as the fight moved into the final two rounds, but Flores was too clever for his Mexican adversary, picking his openings and moving away from counters. Flores sat down on his punches in the final rounds, but could not stop his forward-moving opponent in his tracks. Contreras was moving on less steady footing than earlier in the fight, but kept trying his best as the final bell rang. 

Judge Melissa McMorrow scored the bout 79-73, while judges Rey Danseco and Kermit Bayliss both scored the eight-rounder a shutout, 80-72. 

After the bout, Flores, the WBA #11 ranked lightweight, told ringside interviewer Aliyah Orozco that he hoped to land a top ten opponent in his next bout. 

Fighting days after his hometown was affected by Hurricane Milton, Dominique Francis (16-0, 10 KOs) of Opa-Locka, Florida scored a dominant fourth-round knockout of previously beaten Julio Carrera (18-1-1, 14 KOs) of Navojoa, Sonora, Mexico. 

Francis, 130.8, was the classier boxer and exploited the holes in the game of Carrera, 130.8, from the outset of the bout. Once Francis found Carrera’s body, the writing was on the wall. Late in the fourth, Francis landed a clean left to the body that was the damaging blow which ultimately led to the fight-ending knockdown. Two more shots upstairs and another left downstairs followed, sending Carrera down to a knee. With referee Michael Margado counting, Carrera made no effort in returning to his feet. Margado reached the count of ten for the stoppage at the time of 2:21 in round four. 

In an entertaining back-and-forth scrap, Jessie James Guerrero (4-0-3, 2 KOs) of Gilroy, California and Bryan Santiago (1-1-2) of Weslaco, Texas fought to a six-round split decision draw. 

Guerrero, 112.8, had more technique and speed, but Santiago, 114, applied relentless pressure throughout as each fighter had their moments of success. Guerrero was at his best when he could keep Santiago at arm’s length and use his jab and combinations to prevent Santiago from finding his way inside. Santiago was effective at times with his free-swinging style from the outside or when he got rough on the way inside. 

With several rounds difficult to score, judge Melissa McMorrow scored the bout 58-56 for Santiago, while judge Kermit Bayliss scored the fight the other way, 58-56 for Guerrero and judge Ray Danseco had the even card, 57-57, forcing the draw. 

Rising super flyweight Andrew Rodriguez (5-0, 1 KO) of Salinas, California scored a one-sided four-round unanimous decision over an overmatched Marcelino Rangel (1-1) of Toledo, Ohio. 

Rangel, 114.6, began round two motivated and after some gesturing to the crowd, landed clean with a couple right hands. Rodriguez, 114, soon found his range again and began doubling up his left hand to Rangel’s body and head. With Rangel withering from the body shots, Rodriguez kept up the attack, finally downing the Ohio resident with a left near the liver. Rangel rose, but absorbed much punishment along the ropes as the round came to a close. 

Rodriguez continued to damage Rangel to the body in the third, creating openings to land upstairs. Referee Michael Margado kept a close look, but Rangel managed to last the round. Margado ushered Rangel over to ringside physician Gary Furness to start the fourth, but the fight continued. Rodriguez continued to land from the outside, where the shorter Rangel had no ability to land in retort. Despite taking heavy punishment, Rangel lasted until the final bell. All three judges scored the bout a shutout, 40-35, for Rodriguez. 

Super bantamweight prospect Kyle Lacanlale (2-0, 2 KOs) of San Ramon, California pounded away at Ricardo Antonio Luna (0-2) of Glendale, California by way of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico en route to a third-round stoppage. 

Lacanlale, 122.6, punished Luna, 124.8, to the head and body for the entirety of the contest. Lacanlale landed in combination, often doubling on his left or mixing in his right. Luna started aggressively in the second round, but Lacanlale quickly made him pay for the openings his offensive outburst created. Lacanlale then continued the onslaught in the third. Eventually three unanswered overhand rights prompted referee Michael Margado to call a halt to the bout at :53 of round three.

Multi-combat sport star Jennah Creason (2-0) of Visalia, California bested her much larger short-notice opponent Seta Vatuvei (0-3) of Hayward, California via four-round technical decision. 

Creason, 148.8, was the faster and more accurate puncher throughout the bout. Vatuvei, 154.8, wound up cut from an accidental head clash in the opening round. By the second round, the blood was running freely and Creason was starting to overwhelm Vatuvei in spots with her output. The trend continued in the third round, with referee Edward Collantes and ringside physician Gary Furness each keeping a keen eye on the cut. Three seconds officially into round four, Furness recommended the fight end and it went to the scorecards. All four judges scored the shutout for Creason, 40-36

Former amateur standout Steve Canela (1-0) of San Jose, California was tested and passed, scoring a four-round unanimous decision over a game David Music (0-1) of Findlay, Ohio. 

Canela, 136.2, turned up the aggression in the second round, as his right hand began to find a home upstairs. Music, 136.8, bounced back to have his moments in round three and got off to a solid start in round four, before Canela turned the fight back in his direction. Canela began landing some clean power punches in succession late in the round. By the end, Music’s nose was bloodied, but he kept coming. All three judges were in agreement on a shutout for Canela, 40-36. 

In the opening bout, Tatiana Almaraz (1-4) of Concord, California by way of Guatemala City, Guatemala moved into the win column with a four-round unanimous decision victory over Vicky Zhao (0-1) of Capitola, California by way of Chongqing, China. 

Almaraz, 110.6, appeared to be the more powerful of the two fighters, but Zhao, 108.8, was willing to trade all through the fight. After four competitive rounds, judge Ray Danseco scored the bout 39-37, while judges Kermit Bayliss and Melissa McMorrow scored the bout a shutout, 40-36, all for Almaraz. 

Photo by Julio C. Sanchez/G-Squad Entertainment

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected]