McKernan, Lacanlale Victorious at Thunder Valley
LINCOLN, CALIFORNIA – Cruiserweight Blake McKernan sent the Sacramento Valley crowd home happy while reinvigorating his hopes for contention with a decision victory and featherweight prospect Kyle Lacanlale continued to impress with a third-round stoppage as co-headliners at the Venue at Thunder Valley at the Thunder Valley Casino Resort on Saturday night.
McKernan (17-2-1, 9 KOs) of Sacramento, California began the bout behind his jab before pressing Campa (20-16, 13 KOs) of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico along the ropes. Campa had his moments, finding room to counter McKernan at times during the opening round.
McKernan, 198.1, let his hands go in the second while Campa, 198.1, was satisfied covering up. The Mexican began to throw more frequently midway through the round, briefly pressing McKernan to the ropes before some curious exchanges late in the stanza. While Campa gestured to referee Edward Collantes, McKernan adjusted his waistband, which prompted the Mexican to rush toward the Sacramento native. When McKernan began to land with some right hands, Campa opted to throw awkwardly from the southpaw stance, before switching back orthodox to close the round.
McKernan began to mix in a body attack early in the third round, again forcing Campa’s back to the ropes. Once Campa was able to turn McKernan and fight from the center, he was briefly more successful. Before the close of the round, McKernan found a home for his right hand to both the body and head. Campa curiously opted to show off his head movement with his hands down before the bell rang to end the round.
Late in a fourth round that was slow to develop, McKernan landed some well-placed body shots that seemed to bother Campa. With his opponent covering up, crouched forward to protect his body, McKernan let his hands go in combination. McKernan punctuated the third with a right hand at the bell that seemed to irritate Campa.
Campa had one of his better rounds in the fifth, winging shots at the body of McKernan and maintaining a busier pace. Still, McKernan closed the round forcing Campa to the ropes while looking to land with both hands. Campa found some success with his overhand right in the sixth, but McKernan took the shot well, even when they landed clean. When McKernan pressed Campa along the ropes, the Mexican briefly employed the cross-arm guard made famous by Archie Moore. Both fighters closed the bout swinging, with McKernan’s sweeping right carrying the exchange.
In the end, all three judges; Joel Farbstein, Brian Tsukamoto and Brian Tyler, scored the bout in McKernan’s favor by the score of 58-56. With the win, the 39-year-old McKernan successfully rebounds from a majority draw last November and keeps hope alive for a marquee match-up at 200 pounds.
Rising featherweight prospect Kyle Lacanlale (9-0, 5 KOs) of San Ramon, California stepped up to the scheduled six-round distance against a fighter with a winning record for the first time in his pro career and turned in one of his better performances to date by stopping Kevin Nunez (6-4, 3 KOs) of Oviedo, Florida by way of Bayamón, Puerto Rico in the third round.
Lacanlale,124.1, was stiff with his jab from the outset and began to follow-up it up with hard right hands as the first round progressed. Nunez, 125.1, looked to time the younger fighter coming in and successfully landed with a sweeping left early in the second that made Lacalale smile. When the San Ramon resident got inside, his faster hands and swift footwork created problems for his veteran opponent.
The end would come in the third, when after an exchange, Lacalale got back into range and led with a hard right to Nunez’s body. Nunez took a step back in pain before taking a knee to prompt a count from referee David Hartman. Nunez took the count and began to rise as the official counted numbers nine and ten. While his right knee may have just lifted from the mat at nine-and-a-half, the bout was waved off at the official time of 2:59 of the third round.
“I started by using the jab a lot and then going to the body, trying to break him down for later,” explained Lacanlale. “One of those body shots slipped in and I was able to get him out of there.”
Shavon Furrow (4-0, 1 KO) of Fresno, California moved past the toughest test of her pro career to date by scoring a six-round unanimous decision over Tatiana Almaraz (2-7) of Pittsburg, California by way of Guatemala City, Guatemala in a fast-paced action fight.
Both fighters wasted no time letting their hands go, as the two-minute rounds flew by at a breakneck pace. After two hard-to-score rounds, Almaraz 114.5, looked to have banked the first clear-cut round in the third, punctuated by some head-snapping punches.
Furrow, 114, came back well in the fourth, staking her claim to the center of the ring and backing Almaraz up along the ropes. The naturally smaller Guatemalan veteran showed her strength as she seemed to hurt Furrow late in the fifth before chasing the Fresno resident to the ropes before the bell sounded to end the round.
The action continued in the sixth, with both women having their moments and trading on even terms as the bout came to a close. Despite the highly competitive nature of the contest, Furrow won all but one round on two of the judges’ scorecards. Judges Joel Farbstein and Brian Tsukamoto both scored the bout 59-55, while judge Brian Tyler had it 58-56, all for Furrow, who has won all four of her bouts in 2026.
Lightweight Maurice Powell (3-0, 3 KOs) of Sacramento was forced to fight past the first round for the first time in his career, but still did not need the official judges as he halted typically durable veteran William Flenoy (3-8-1, 1 KO) of Fresno in the fourth round of a scheduled six.
Both fighters found openings in the first round as Powell, 132.2, flashed his speed and Flenoy, 133.5, utilized timing to land with some clean power punches. The pace slowed a bit in the second round as Powell began to control the range.
The Sacramento native closed the third round well by pressuring Flenoy on ropes and landing with both hands. With the momentum in his favor, Powell upped his aggressiveness and hurt Flenoy to the body along the ropes. With his man in trouble, Powell chased Flenoy to the red corner and let his hands go until the Fresno resident finally fell to the mat in the center of the ring. Flenoy beat the count, but referee David Hartman did not like his response and waved off the bout at the official time of 2:36 of the fourth round.
Making his pro debut, Joel Alvarez Chavez (1-0) of Napa, California pounded out a four-round unanimous decision over Solomon Colton (1-2-1, 1 KO) of Moreno Valley, California.
Alvarez Chavez, 148.4, winged and looped many of his punches, but still found a home for plenty of them. The more polished Colton, 148.1, would have been well-suited to box and move more, but ended up being dragged into a rough inside fight that favored his opponent.
Alvarez Chavez rocked Colton along the ropes in the fourth and continued to force his will and style to close a somewhat mauling affair. In the end, judge Joel Farbstein scored it 39-37, while judges Brian Tsukamoto and Brian Tyler both had it scored a shutout, 40-36, all for Alvarez Chavez.
In his professional debut, Ryan Yang (1-0) of Sacramento moved past a determined Eduardo Sanchez (1-3) of Watsonville, California by way of Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico via four-round majority decision in an excellent action fight.
Yang, 115.8, and Sanchez, 115.8, exchanged punches on the inside in a tit-for-tat manner from the opening round in a fight that saw solid two-way action throughout. Yang flashed the ability to land as a counter-puncher in the second round. One Yang left strayed a bit low, but was not called and did not slow Sanchez for more than a moment.
The fight was fought mainly on the inside, as neither fighter wanted to give up an inch. In the fourth, Yang appeared to break through enough to stagger Sanchez with a right, before the Watsonville resident answered back with a clean combination.
After four thrilling rounds, judge Brian Tyler had it even, 38-38, but was overruled by judges Brian Tsukamoto and Joel Farbstein, who both scored the competitive fight a shutout, 40-36, for Yang.
In a rematch, Keon Merlo (4-1-1, 1 KO) of Fresno again outpointed the always tough Ebert Diaz (4-6-1, 1 KO) of Richmond, California, this time via six-round unanimous decision.
Merlo, 140, found a home for his southpaw left in the early going. Diaz, 139.1, was able to hang with the fast pace his opponent set from the outset to make for an entertaining scrap.
By the second round, the left eye of Diaz was swollen, red and bleeding. Merlo was quick with his counter-punching and his speed was a problem for the undeterred Diaz.
The Diaz corner stopped the bleeding and brought down the swelling by the middle of the fight, but Merlo was still outpacing the Richmond resident.
Diaz turned the tide some towards the end of fifth, pressing the action much of the round and forcing Merlo into the blue corner with some excellent body work.
Again in the sixth, Diaz was successful when pressuring Merlo along the ropes, while the Fresno native did his best work in the center of the ring.
Judge Brian Tsukamoto scored the bout 58-56, while judges Brian Tyler and Joel Farbstein had it a shutout, 60-54. Merlo had previously scored a four-round unanimous decision over Diaz in June of last year.
Upper Cut Promotions will bring professional boxing back to the Venue at Thunder Valley at Thunder Valley Casino Resort in the first quarter of next year.
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortegajr.mario@gmail.com
