Shane Mosley Jr. stops D’Mitrius Ballard in seven, Ricardo Sandoval outpoints Rocco Santamauro

Middleweight fringe contender Shane Mosley Jr. stopped former prospect D’Mitrius Ballard in seven rounds in the co-featured bout to the Jaime Munguia-Sergey Derevyanchenko super middleweight fight on Saturday at Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.

Mosley Jr. (19-4, 10 KO’s), the son of hall of famer “Sugar” Shane Mosley, boxed in the opening round. For Ballard (21-1-1, 13 KO’s), of Temple Hills, Maryland, it was his first time back since his defeat to Munguia and was on the receiving end of a headbutt in Round 2. Things began to pick up in the third round as Mosley and Ballard let their hands go. There was some clinching going on in the fourth as the Mosley and Ballard mixed it up on the inside, but they continued to fight at close quarters in a heated fifth. Mosley and Ballard exchanged shots and in the closing seconds of the round, Mosley sent Ballard to the canvas with a left hook-right hand combination.

In the sixth, the fight continued inside as Mosley and Ballard kept letting their hands go. Mosley finished Ballard in the seventh with a series of unanswered punches prompting referee Thomas Taylor to step in and stop the fight at 1:42.

Ricardo Sandoval Decisions Rocco Santamauro

Ricardo Sandoval, The ring’s No. 8-rated flyweight, won a hard-fought 10-round unanimous decision over a very game Rocco Santamauro in the opening bout to the DAZN broadcast.

Sandoval (22-2, 16 KOs), from nearby Rialto, California, came out aggressive as Santamauro (22-2, 6 KOs) hinted to referee Ray Corona about a headbutt in the opening seconds of the fight. Sandoval kept the pressure up and landed a thudding right hand in the second round that got Santamauro’s attention. Sandoval landed huge punches in the third as Santamauro was beginning to feel the power. In the fourth, Sandoval kept up the pace as Santamauro’s face was beginning to swell up. At the halfway mark in the fifth, Santamauro was beginning to fade as Sandoval kept finding openings and break him down.

Exchanging to begin the sixth, Santamauro caught his second wind and fought at a fast pace with Sandoval. The following round in the seventh, Sandoval and Santamauro mixed it up as Santamauro appeared to be game. Stalking in the eighth, Sandoval stayed on top of Santamauro as he kept his distance and clinched at the opportunity. Late in the fight in the ninth, Sandoval was in control but there was still fight left in Santamauro. On the hunt and pressuring, Sandoval was lurking in the tenth and final round as Santamauro jabbed and kept his distance. Continuing to pressure, Sandoval worked his way to the decision win.

The judges scored the bout 98-82, 96-94, and 96-94.

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