Orlando Salido vs. Miguel Roman: Prelims Results Recap
(Photo: Mikey Williams / Top Rank)
Denis Shafikov (38-4) vs. Rene Alvarado (28-8)
(Super Featherweight – 10 Rounds)
Shafikov and Alvarado banged it out in an action-packed battle that saw very little clinching and even less defensive mastery. Both warriors stood their ground and fought at close distance for the bulk of the match. When Alvarado stabbed his man with straight shots and a solid jab, Shafikov countered with a flurry of punches and combinations galore. The Nicaraguan used nice upper body movement to avoid most of his foe’s shots if not roll with the punches however, Shafikov never let up on the attack. He ate 1-2 after 1-2 combination but rarely deterred from coming forward in an Antonio Margarito-like pace. For his troubles he was badly cut over the left eye and poured blood like a water fountain from the 3rd round until the final bell. His best moments came when he managed to trap his man along the corner and unleash his combinations but became to much of a head hunter at times when he could’ve mixed his shots to the body as well.
Alvarado with magnificent conditioning avoided any serious punishment using his legs and footwork. He also smartly keep his right hook very much in play in order to keep attacking that cut over his man’s left eye . In Round 5, both men collided as Alvarado threw a counter right hand and Shafikov wound up on the canvas. Tony Weeks immediately called it a knock down after checking with the ringside judge however, the HBO instant replay showed the Russina’s foot tripping over his man’s likely being the true cause of the known down.
Shafikov was then only more motivated to chase his man along the ring posts and did some more damage with his pressure and combinations swinging the momentum of the match in rounds 6 through 8. In the end the judges gave the decision to the more accurate punching of the Nicaraguan boxer.
RESULTS: Rene Alvarado defeats Denis Shafikov via Split Decision with scores of 96-93 and 96-94 with one judge seeing it 95-94 for Shafikov.
Jaime Munguia (26-0) vs. Paul Valenzuela (20-7)
Super Welterweight Bout – 8 Rounds)
The first bout on the HBO Latino telecast showcased the fire power of Munguia who came in with 21 KOs out of his 25 professional matches. To his credit, Valenzuela trudged on towards the menacing Munguia as they skipped the feeling out process for the first 3 minutes. Both men met in the middle of the ring and traded with Munguia getting the better of the exchanges. In Round 2 Munguia caught his man with a vicious 1-2 combination that leveled him sending him flat on his back unto the canvas. The Santa Rosalia Mexican warrior beat the count from referee Jay Nady but was met with another monster combo just moments later. He again got caught and fell hard on the canvas barely putting his arms out making a loud ‘thump’. He beat the count and kept fighting past that second knock down however, the end was inevitable as Munguia caught him easily and Jay Nady alertly stepped in to call a stop to the bout.
RESULTS: Jaime Munguia remains undefeated stopping Paul Valenzuela via KO at (1:26) of Round 2
Pedro Duran (16-0) vs. Daniel Evangelista (20-9-2)
(Super Featherweight – 8 Rounds)
Both men started the 1st round slowly trying to counter punch one another’s blows with allot of feinting and angles in the middle of the ring. Evangelista finally led with a combination on the inside that landed about midway into the round. He repeated the combo and got caught flush on the inside via a counter left hook from Duran that got his attention. Evangelista retreated for a moment and Duran marched towards him landing another clean left hook that sent sweat flying off of Evangelista’s head everywhere showing the crowd who the bigger puncher of the two was early. In the 2nd round Evangelista pierced his man with a long step in jab to the body, similar to the one Floyd Mayweather Jr throws in order to set up his masterful punches. This temporarily stopped Duran in his tracks since he wasn’t in position to land his powerful left hook ending up just outside of range. Nonetheless, Duran had success on the inside once Evangelista got away from the jab in Round 3 and opted to counter punch at close range against the heavy-handed Duran. In the final seconds of Round 4 both men traded along the corner of the ring and Duran landed one more clean, solid left hook to his man’s face that stopped Evangelista where he was standing.
The Mexico City native never fully recovered from the shot; in Round 5 Duran walked through anything his foe threw at him and was now moving Evangelista back and punishing him blow after blow. The momentum had drastically changed in Duran’s corner and it did not look to be changing any time soon as he peppered his man with jabs and that solid hook, luckily Evangelista’s corner did the right thing opting not to answer the bell for Round 6.
RESULTS: Pedro Duran remains undefeated beating Daniel Evangelista via TKO at the end of Round 5. Evangelista does not come out for the 6th round due to corner stoppage.
Joselito Velazquez (5-0) vs. Armando Vazquez (22-21-1)
(Flyweight Bout – 6 rounds)
The opening match of the night featured Cancun, Mexico’s Velazquez taking on Mexicali, Mexico’s Vazquez. Vazquez opened the first couple of rounds being the counter puncher behind some loopy hooks while Velazquez operated using a crisp jab which he stepped in with or used to set up his 1-2 combination. Vazquez made the mistake of giving up allot of real estate as Velazquez walked him down round by round in the first half of the match. At the end of Round 3 both men stood in the middle of the ring and traded at close quarters; Vazquez with a couple of bolo shots and Velazquez whipping away with fast and powerful overhand punches. Vazquez’ punches strayed low for every round from 1 to 4 prompting referee Jay Nady to warn him.
Early in Round 5 a Velazquez left hook on the inside landed flush rocking Vazquez. The Mexicali native beat the count and would not go quietly however, as he started winging away hooks and over hand punches at his foe. Velazquez walked through most of them and just his momentum in close tange made Vazquez lose his balance and fall to the mat. The referee ruled it a slip as the action continued and Vazquez found himself along the ropes on the adjacent corner right in front of press row, Velazquez cracked away with straight shots at will , pushing his man along the ropes as Vazquez did his best to stay on his feet since his balance was completely off. Referee Jay Nady stepped in promptly to call a halt to the fight.
RESULTS: Joselito Velazquez remains undefeated and continues his perfect knock out ratio via TKO of Armando Vazquez at (1:27) of Round 5.
Swing Bout:
Aaron McKenna (1-0) vs. Travis Conley (1-1)
(Super Welterweight Bout – 4 Rounds)
McKenna’s pressure helped him along in his professional debut as he marched towards Texas’ Conley and mauled him along the corner of the ring for the first two rounds. The rangy 154-pound fighter used his reach very well as he touched his man with an overhand right then attacked the body with a crisp left hook. He varied the shot by either leading with it or closing with that punch in a combination and once he got his opponent to lower his guard he went back up top with his jab and straight punches Conley stood in the pocket returning fire as best he could but was outmatched in hand speed so everytime he landed one punch he got two or three from McKenna in return. The Los Angeles fighter represented California proudly as well as his Irish heritage putting on a great performance for his pro outing. If he wasn’t coming at his man with a high guard before ripping away to the body with a crisp left hook he hunched over and threw 2 or 3 in a row and kept the approach going for the final two rounds.
RESULTS: Aaron McKenna makes a successful professional debut via Unanimous Decision over Travis Conley with scores of 40-36, 40-36 and 40-36
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