Top Rank Boxing powered by ESPN took its show to the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula for an exciting Friday Night of Boxing.
The main event was between IBF Lightweight Champion Richard Commey (28-2) and the veteran Ray Beltran (36-8-1).
The last time we saw the champ Commey, he captured the vacant IBF title by way of second round TKO which seemed at the time would lead to a unification fight with Vasiliy Lomachencko. Those plans were immediately scrapped as Commey hurt his right hand during the fight and required surgery.
Since the injury resulted in some time away from the ring, Top Rank was forced to go in a different direction, which led to the recent news of Vasiliy Lomachencko facing Luke Campbell for the vacant WBC crown. The current plan is to match the winner of tonight’s main event with the winner of Teofimo Lopez and Masayoshi Nakatani, which happens in July, to a fight later on this year.
Coming into this fight, Ray Beltran was quite possibly facing his last opportunity at a world title and with a recent knockout victory in February, Beltran was motivated coming into tonight’s fight. Although his last fight was at Super Lightweight, this world title opportunity was at Lightweight and with Beltran coming in a little over (1.8 lbs) the 135-pound limit at the weigh-in, he will not be able to win the title if he is victorious.
All of the drama during Friday’s weigh-ins stirred the pot just enough to make this main event an interesting fight to watch.
Here is how tonight’s fights unfolded.
Main Event: Richard Commey vs. Ray Beltran
This one started off with fireworks as the champ Commey crushed Beltran with a right hand sending him to the canvas for the first knockdown. Later in the first round, it was Beltran who had Commey on shaky legs as he was landing a crushing left hook each and every time. Rounds two through four saw Commey landing a hard overhand right that would give Beltran issues but then Beltran would rock Commey with the left hook. The Beltran left hook almost had Commey’s eye closed but in the fifth round, but the champ landed a right hand knocking his opponent down again. Rounds six and seven were more back and forth action between the two but in the eighth round, Commey landed a left hook knocking down Beltran once again. Beltran got up once again but the referee looked into Beltran’s eyes and didn’t see what he liked so he called a halt to the action. Your winner is Richard Commey by way of technical knockout and he retains the IBF Lightweight crown.
Co-Main: Carlos Adames (17-0) vs. Patrick Day (17-2-1)
Leading into this event, the talk on Twitter was that this fight was going to be the most intriguing and boy was it ever. Adames was clearly the bigger man and he fought like it from the beginning of round one as he threw some thudding shots that could be heard from press row seating. Day felt Adames’ power and switched his game plan to more of a “stick & move” offense that saw success through round six. In round seven however, Adames was landing at will and was really punishing Day. In round eight, Day bounced back with a overhand right that saw success but Adames was walking right through those punches. Carlos Adames started to pour it on in the ninth and in the tenth round, nearly knocked out Day who was saved by the sounding of the bell to end the round. In the end, the judges saw this one 97-93, 97-93 & 98-91 all for the winner Carlos Adames.
Raymond Muratalla (7-0) vs. Agustine Mauras (6-5-3)
The Robert Garcia trained Muratalla came in confident and ready to put on a show and that he did. In the first round, it was a left hook that sent Mauras to the canvas for the first knockdown of the fight. Mauras did get up but was met with some savage left hooks to the body that nearly knocked him down again but he ended up surviving the round. Mauras did not get up from the stool for the second round so Raymond Muratalla wins by first round knockout.
Elvis Rodriguez (2-0) vs. Joaquin Chavez (9-18-3)
In what looked like a fight that could have been interesting, this one was called in the first round due to a nasty headbutt. The fight was called as a technical draw since it did not surpass the fourth round.
Saul “Neno” Rodriguez (23-0-1) vs. Miguel Angel Gonzalez (24-4)
This one started out with fireworks right away as Gonzalez landed a crushing left hook knocking down “Neno” in the first round. Rodriguez got up and fought back like a warrior to finish out the round. In the second round, a headbutt caused a cut to the left eye brow of Gonzalez but that didn’t seem to affect him as he kept landing a looping left hook. In the third round, Gonzalez landed another crushing left hook knocking Rodriguez out cold and referee stopped the fight immediately. Your winner is Miguel Angel Gonzalez by third round knockout.
Chris Zavala (4-0) vs. Prisco Marquez (4-0-1)
Chris Zavala was going up against another undefeated fighter in a bout where someone’s “0” had to go. Chris Zavala really didn’t lose control at all in this one as he dictated the action from the beginning of the fight. In round one, it was the straight right hand that was landing hard from Zavala and in the second, he was finding success with a good short check left hook. Rounds three through six were more Zavala landing when he wanted to, although at times, he would get touched by Marquez’ left hook. In the end , all three judges saw this one 60-54 for the winner by unanimous decision, Chris Zavala.
Dmitry Yun (Debut) vs. Jose Antonio Meza (6-3)
In his pro debut, Dmitry Yun came out with a ton of energy showing good hand speed and movement. In the first round, it was a crushing left hook by Yun that gained Meza’s attention right away. In the second, Yun landed a hard overhand right and Meza was starting to back pedal a bit shortly after that. It was more of Yun in the third with Meza trying to find ways of countering but he was unsuccessful. In the last round, the referee deducted a point from Yun for rabbit punching but it did not effect the outcome which was a unanimous decision victory (39-36,39-36,39-36) for the debuter.
David Kaminsky (4-0) vs. Osbaldo Gonzalez (6-4)
Kaminsky started the night with a hard snapping right jab that kept Gonzalez at the right distance for the majority of the first round. In the second, Kaminsky was trying to position that lead left foot so that he can land his straight left with some power, which he did successfully. In the third and fourth round, Kaminsky dedicated his offense to the body and was just breaking Gonzalez down all the way to a unanimous decision victory (40-36,40-36,40-36) in this four round affair that kicked off the ESPN plus telecast.
This evening was filled with a rollercoaster of emotions from head butt stoppages to upset knockouts. Either way, the fans showed up to this event and were entertained with a great night of boxing. One domino has fallen and now it will be up to Teofimo Lopez to knock down the other in order to set up the Commey versus Lopez title fight later on this year.
You can follow me on twitter @abeg718 for west coast ringside coverage.
