MAYWOOD, CALIFORNIA — In what would have been a mild upset, Dyah Davis looked to have a decision victory in his grasp, but had to settle for a majority draw with world ranked super middleweight contender Francisco Sierra in Saturday’s main event at the Maywood Activity Center.
The actual fight will not further the career of either fighter, but Davis should have the victory on his record. Davis (18-2-1, 9 KOs) of Coconut Creek, Florida seemed to win a minimum of seven rounds, but two judges managed to find the fight even after ten rounds.
Sierra (23-3-1, 21 KOs) of Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico never got unhinged in the fight, which was not a crowd pleaser. Sierra, 170 ¾, could not get the bat of his shoulder and only managed to land one punch at a time whenever he did land. Davis, 169, worked well in spots from the outside, but most of the fight consisted of a lot of falling in and clinching.
Davis began to get more effective work done in the second half of the fight. A left hook forced Sierra to stumble coming in twice in the seventh, with the second having more power behind it. Davis’ confidence continued to rise, as he held his left hand down low and pursued Sierra in the eighth. Another lead left hook scored for Davis in the ninth and a left jab, straight right landed clean in the tenth. Sierra showed signs of life, landing a right late in the round, but as was the case for much of the fight, the Mexican could not maintain any sort of momentum.
In the end, only one judge had it for Davis, by the correctly wide tally of 98-92. The other two judges seated ringside unfortunately must have fallen asleep, deciding perhaps no one deserved the win, as they handed in scorecards of 95-95. Sierra entered the bout the WBO #10 ranked super middleweight, based solely on his knockout of prospect Donovan George last year.
Oscar Meza (21-4, 17 KOs) of Van Nuys, California by way of El Dorado, Sinaloa, Mexico moved past game journeyman Leo Martinez (15-15, 7 KOs) of Columbus, Ohio by way of Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl, Estado de Mexico, Mexico by unanimous eight-round decision.
After a feeling out round one, Meza, 136 ¾, turned up the heat in round two, as he put his punches together a little more. Martinez, 135 ½, became more offensive in round three, but it was still Meza landing the harder shots. Meza really began to put a hurt on Martinez in round five, which was evidenced by the marks on his face. Martinez did not fare any better in the sixth either, as Meza kept up the pressure.
Early in the seventh, a left hook dropped Martinez hard to the canvas. The Ohio-based warrior got right back up and gamely made it out of the round and actually may have won the eighth with his activity level. In the end, all three judges had the bout for Meza, 80-72, 78-73 and 79-72.
Andy Ruiz Jr. (7-0, 5 KOs) of Imperial, California by way of Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico battered Kelsey Arnold (4-6-2, 1 KO) of Lexington, Tennessee en route to a third-round stoppage. Ruiz, 257 ½, got rough in round two, bloodying the nose of Arnold, 241, and flooring him with a jab on a break. The potential knockdown was correctly waved off by referee David Mendoza. In the third, Ruiz relentlessly pounded Arnold, who was leaking crimson quite heavily, before Mendoza called a halt to the violence at the 2:19 mark of the third.
Fighting before a vocal supporting crowd in the first walkout bout, debuting Raymond Chacon (1-0) of Los Angeles scored a four-round unanimous decision over Manuel Machorro (0-3) of Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico. Chacon, 121, was the aggressor in an awkward fight, which was more than enough to get the unanimous verdict over Machorro, 119. All three judges handed in tallies of 40-36 for Chacon.
Jose Roman (9-0, 7 KOs) of Garden Grove, California remained unbeaten with a six-round unanimous decision over Johnny Frazier (2-5-3, 2 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nevada in the night’s final bout. Frazier, 132, coming off of a four-round decision loss to Jose’s younger brother Jessie Roman, was dropped in the first. A right hook stunned him and set the table for a left hook that cleaned up for the knockdown.
Roman, 133, rocked Frazier with another sweeping left hook in the second. Frazier came alive in the third as he landed well with Roman’s back to the ropes. Roman shut down his offense for a bit after getting buzzed, but awoke late in the fight. The sixth featured some tense action, but in the end Roman had no need to worry, the fight was already his on the cards. In the end, Roman won by scores of 60-53 and 59-54 twice.
In a closer than anticipated contest, Patrick Teixeira (12-0, 10 KOs) of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil just got by Nampa, Idaho’s David Lopez (3-4) via six-round split decision. Lopez, 155 ½, won over the crowd with his active pace, but it was Teixeira, 155, that won over the majority of the official judges in the end. Two had it 59-55 for Teixeira, while one had it the other way, 58-56 for Lopez.
Davis-Sierra Photo by Chris Farina/Top Rank
Additional Photos by Mark Ortega
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected].
