Mexican welterweight standout Angel Beltran upsets Louie Lopez in ‘Path To Glory’ main event
ONTARIO, California – Thompson Boxing Promotions started Friday night with a somber memorial for their late owner, founder and CEO Ken Thompson. As staple of the boxing community for 23 years, “Kenny” was loved by fans and members of the boxing community, as well as a guiding light for fighters of all levels.
As fans filled the DoubleTree Hotel, retired fighters Michael Dutchover and Josesito Lopez and current boxer George “El Yuyu” Acosta presented flower arrangements as The Fifth Avenue Gospel Choir sung hymns all in remembrance of Thompson, while ring announcer Sonny Franco stated “This one’s for you Kenny.”
In the eight-round welterweight main event of an emotional evening, Louis Lopez (13-2-1, 4 KOs), of Corona, California, went toe to toe with the heavy handed Angel Beltran (16-1, 9 KOs), of Mexicali, Mexico. Beltran who is known for his explosiveness came out throwing punches with bad intentions. Beltran caught Lopez early with a solid left hook, flooring him in the opening round. Lopez beat the count and by the fourth round had begun to turn the tide of the fight. That, however, would be short lived as Beltran kept his foot on the pedal throughout the rest of the fight. Lopez would throw scoring combinations in spurts, but that just wasn’t enough for the Corona, Calif. native. after eight solid rounds of boxing, the judges turned in scores of 77-74 and 78-73 (twice), all in favor of Beltran.
In the co-main event, undefeated Jesse “Lobito” Gonzalez (6-0-1, 2 KOs), of Riverside, California, put his undefeated record on the line against another unbeaten prospect in Keon Papillion (5-0-1, 4 KOs), of Lafayette, Louisiana. Gonzalez, a local fan favorite who trains under the tutelage of Henry Ramirez, looked good early on, neutralizing the speed of Papillion landing hard body shots at will. By the third round Papillion gained confidence and would begin to control the inside, making Gonzalez fight his fight as the fans were treated to an all-out war in the middle rounds. By the sixth, Papillion set the pace and distance of the back-and-forth battle with his aggressiveness, as Gonzalez could not find that second gear. After six rounds, judge Lou Moret had it 58-56 for Papillion, Fernando Villarreal had it 58-56 for Gonzalez, and judge Thomas Taylor had the fight 57-57, declaring the fight a draw.
Also on the card Marco “Madman” Hernandez, of Fresno, California, took on Jeremy “The Boxing Barber” Ramos (11-14, 4 KOs) in a six-round super middleweight bout. Hernandez, the 23-fight veteran who has fought the likes of Jeison Rosario, Anthony Dirrell and Alantez Fox, came out from the opening bell throwing punches in bunches, dropping Ramos in the second round with a body shot. Hernandez controlled the fight with effective aggressiveness, and after six rounds judges Fernando Villarreal, Thomas Taylor and Lou Moret returned with scores of 60-53, 57-56 and 58-55 all in favor of Hernandez (16-6-2, 3 KOs).
Kicking off the evening, Rowdy Montgomery (10-4-1, 7 KOs), of Victorville, California, entered the ring to take on Antonio “El Tigre” Duarte (2-6), of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, in a four-round super middleweight bout. Montgomery started slow but by the second round began to let his hands go using his five-inch height advantage to place his jab and vicious combinations to drop Duarte twice before the corner threw in the towel at the 1:32 mark of the second round, giving Montgomery the TKO victory.
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