Manuel Mendez Stops Luis Arceo after 4!
Junior welterweight Manuel Mendez (15-1-2, 10 KOs) scored a fourth round TKO over tough veteran Luis Arceo (28-15-5, 18 KOs) on Friday night at the Double Tree Hotel in Ontario Ca. Arceo put up a valiant effort over the four rounds and did put good combinations together but once Mendez figured out that he could sit in the pocket without sustaining too much damage, it was over for the Tijuana fighter. Mendez, out of Indio Ca. walked through the fire to land the bigger and more effective punches. Head and body shots wore down the 38 year-old vet and at the end of the fourth, a bloodied Arceo walked to his corner and chose not to answer the call for the fifth round. Referee Raul Caiz Sr. waved it off at the corners request.
In the co-featured bout, welterweight Jessie Roman (21-3, 9 KOs) stopped Luis Joel Gonzalez (11-5-1, 6 KOs) in the fifth round of a scheduled eight. Roman, of Santa Ana Ca., dominated the action from the opening bell and put together a body attack that proved to be too much for the Puerto Rican fighter. A left hook in the fourth round put Gonzalez on the canvas first. A follow up body shot put him back down moments later. Gonzalez survived the round but Roman came out and went back to the damaged mid section and ended it with another well placed body shot at the 1:50 mark of the fifth round.
On the undercard,
Featherweight Alimkhan Jumakhonov (6-1-1, 3 KOs) survived a 3rd round knockdown to earn a four round split decision over Albert Mora (5-5, 1 KO). A shot during a heated exchange put Jumakhonov on the canvas for an eight count. He quickly recovered and finished strong. After four rounds, one judge would have More ahead with a 38-37 card but was overruled by the other two, who had scores of 38-37 and 38-36 for Jumakhonov.
Mario Hernandez (1-0) had a tough time with Manuel Manzo (0-5) but managed to pull out the victory after four rounds. Hernandez, making his pro-debut had a tough time finding his rhythm and an even harder time fighting off the aggressive Manzo but managed to find openings and closed strong. Despite one-sided scores, 40-36 and 39-37 twice, the fight seemed much closer.
Super bantamweight Daniel Guzman (0-1 ) lost his pro-debut to Xavier Pena (1-0) when it was ruled he intentionally threw a shot below the belt and was disqualified by referee Raul Caiz Sr.. Guzman went down in the opening round and was working his way back into the fight when a couple of shots strayed below the belt and ended it early. Pena was in pain and could not continue due to the foul.
Junior welterweight Alfredo Escarcega (1-0) was succesful in his pro-debut, earning a unanimous decision over Mario Aguirre (2-8, 2 KOs) after four rounds. Escarcega was deducted a point for leading with his head but other than that, it was a perfect night for the Indio Ca. foghter. All three judges had it 39-36 for Escarcega.