COSTA MESA, CALIFORNIA – Unbeaten welterweight Alfredo Contreras made short work of normally durable Michael De La Cruz to cap a five-bout “Fight Club OC” event at the Hangar at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa, California.
Quinones (3-0-1, 1 KO) of Carlsbad, California wasted no time and got in close enough to land his power shots against the much taller De La Cruz (2-6-2) of Ventura, California.
Quinones, 147, scored the first knockdown of De La Cruz, 147, with a left hook. De La Cruz looked to be regaining his footing before a Quinones short left dropped the Ventura native a second time. Before long, a body shot followed by an overhand right dropped De La Cruz for the third and final time. After the third knockdown, referee Ray Corona immediately waved it off at 1:54 of the first.
The impressive kayo victory ended a layoff of over a year for Quinones due to an issue with one of his eyes.
In her professional debut, Elena Mandujano (1-0) of San Bernardino, California scored a four-round unanimous decision over Amanda DeRosa (0-2) of Hesperia, California.
Mandujano, 126.2, and DeRosa, 122.8, stood toe-to-toe and traded from the opening bell. Soon, Mandujano’s punch selection and head movement began to make a difference. DeRosa hung tough, especially having her moments early in the fourth, while her face showed the result of Mandujano’s punches. The San Bernardino native closed the fight strong in the final seconds of the bout and all three judges; Michael Bell, Chris Leben and Jack Reiss scored the shutout, 40-36.
Former amateur standout Ryan Jones (1-0, 1 KO) of Lake Forest, California scored two knockdowns en route to a fourth-round stoppage of Maclovio Salas (0-3) of Mission Hills, California.
Jones, 128.8, the more polished boxer, upped his aggression in the third, twice dropping Salas, 130, with combinations. The latter came from a left hook and grazing right that Salas recovered from just before the bell.
Referee Ray Corona kept a close eye in the opening moments of round four before Jones uncorked an overhand right that prompted the stoppage at 21 seconds of the final act.
Albert Ochoa (1-0, 1 KO) of Sacramento, California was slated to take on debuting Leon Miles Jr. of Los Angeles, California in a four-round welterweight rematch of an exhibition bout in 2023. Miles, who struggled before the weigh-in, but made weight on Wednesday, fell ill hours before the fight on Thursday and was ruled out by the California State Athletic Commission.
MMA
In the opener, John Simon (8-6, 2 Submissions) of Portland, Oregon stopped Elj Portee (8-11-1, 7 KOs, 1 Submission) of Fallbrook, California in the second round.
Simon, 174.6, the southpaw, took Portee 174.8, to the mat early in the first round and maintained a controlling position. The Pacific Northwest native took Portee to the mat again early in the second, eventually forcing the tapout via armbar submission at 3:13 of the second stanza.
“Fight Club OC” hybrid fight series, promoted by SOCA Fights, returns to the Hangar on August 28th.
Photos by Damian James
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortegajr.mario@gmail.com