Undercard Results from Anaheim
By Miguel Maravilla at ringside
Santa Ana’s welterweight prospect Alexis “Lex” Rocha (16-0, 10 KOs) made his homecoming in defending his WBC Continental Americas welterweight title in winning a unanimous decision over Brad “King” Solomon (28-3, 16 KOs) of Georgia.
It was fast-paced start for Rocha as he chased Solomon in the opening round. In the second, Rocha kept up the pace staying on top of Solomon. Landing crisp on the inside, Rocha tagged Solomon in round three and later in the round, Solomon let his hands go throwing some haymakers. In the fifth, Solomon began to pick up the pace but Rocha continued to box effectively.
Halfway through the fight in the sixth Rocha was effective neutralizing Solomon with the jab. Picking his shots in the seventh, Rocha stayed close to Solomon countering and landing inside. Cutting the ring early in the eighth, Rocha pressed as Solomon was limited by just jabbing but late in the round landed a thudding punch on Rocha. Coming out swinging in the tenth and final round, Rocha dropped Solomon as the local fighter finished strong but was also caught with a Solomon uppercut. Rocha satisfied his hometown fans in closing strong.
Scores were 100-89, 99-90, and 97-92.
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Opening up the DAZN live stream Blair “The Flair” Cobbs (16-0, 10 KOs) of Las Vegas won a split decision over Samuel Kotey (23-3, 16 KOs) of Baltimore by way of Ghana in defending his NABF welterweight title.
Cobbs boxed smoothly, circling the ring to start as Kotey charged. In the fourth round, Cobbs continued to box, shoving Kotey to the ground. Continuing to keep his distance, Cobbs controlled the fight as the fans began to show their dis-appreciation. Late in the fight in ninth Cobbs hit Kotey with a low blow and referee Jerry Cantu deducted a point from Cobbs without issuing a prior warning. Regardless of the deduction, Cobbs dominated the Ghanaian in route to a decision win.
Judges scored the bout 96-93, 96-93 Cobbs, and 95-94 Kotey.
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Lightweight Alejandro “PinPon” Reyes (2-0, 2 KOs) of Mexicali, Mexico won a decision over Nelson Colon (4-1, 3 KOs) of Puerto Rico in what was a scrappy entertaining four round bout. Reyes worked as he boxed throwing a high rate while Colon landed the bigger more thudding punches in going the distance. The judges scored the bout 40-36, 40-36, 39-37 as Alejandro Reyes wins a unanimous decision.
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Uzbekistan’s Bektemir Melikuiziev (5-0, 4 KOs) defended his WBA Continental Americas super middleweight title by making quick work of Oscar Cortes (27-6, 14 KOs) of Guadalajara, Mexico. Melikiziev dropped Cortes a pair of times in the opening round as the referee waved it off at 2:05 of the first.
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Up and coming prospect Evan Sanchez (7-0, 6 KOs) of Parlier, California was impressive in scoring a second round knockout over Daniel Evangelista (20-12-2, 16 KOs) in a scheduled six-round welterweight bout. Exchanging in the opening round, Sanchez dropped Evangelista with a right hand. The right hand found its mark once again as Sanchez drilled Evangelista sending him to the canvas for a second time as he got up but referee Jerry Cantú waived it at 1:52.
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In an all-Southern California battle, featherweights Tenochtitlan “T-Dog” Nava (7-2-1 1 KO) of Los Angeles and Anthony Casillas (8-1-1, 4 KOs) of South Gate, California, went the distance in a six-rounder in the opening bout at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Nava and Casillas did not hold back and both fought on for six rounds as all three judges scored the bout 57-57. Moments later the scores were recalculated and all three judges scored the fight 58-56.
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