Pendarvis Defeats Lugo!

Despite a superior offense, welterweight Cleotis Pendarvis (14-3, 5 KOs) did just enough to win over the judges and claim a victory Friday night but not enough to win over the sold out crowd at the Mariott Hotel in Woodland  Hills.

The quicker, slicker Pendarvis started off landing accurate combinations to the head of his opponent Jose Alfredo Lugo (12-17, 5 KOs) but midway through chose to dance from post to post, throwing one punch at a time on his way to the unanimous decision win. Although Pendarvis was able to land at will from the outside, he allowed rugged journeyman to go the distance.

Make no mistake, Lugo is a tough outing for anybody but he was seriously outgunned and was forced to chase Pendarvis from the fourth round on. Scores were 79-73 on all three cards.

On the Undercard,

Crowd favorite, Zachary Wohlman (2-0) won a unanimous decision over Tatsuro Irie (0-2) after a dominate four round performance. Despite a couple well placed counters in the third round, Irie could not fight off Wholman’s constant pressure. Wholman simply outworked his opponent and won every round on all three judges scorecards.

In an entertaining scrap between female flyweights, Adrienne Alegria (2-0) earned a hard fought majority decision over Rebecca Garcia (5-1, 3 KOs) after four rounds. Alegria came out firing at the bell, landing a quick left hook, right hand combination to earn Garcia’s respect early. It wasn’t until the third round that Garcia began to find her rhythm and out worked Alegria to keep things interesting. However, Alegria finished strong and punctuated a solid performance with a all action final round. One judge would see it a draw at 58-58 but was overruled by the deciding two who saw it 39-37 for the Chino Ca. fighter.

Undefeated super middleweight Donyil Livingston (7-0, 4 KOs) was awarded a split decision victory over Michael Walker (19-12-2, 12 KOs) after six tough rounds. Livingston came out in the first and dominated the action with a quick jab and double left hooks to the head and body. It seemed like he was on his way to an easy night until an odd round three, where he laid on the ropes and allowed Walker to out work him. Things got worse in the fifth when a headbutt opened up a cut over Livingston’s right eye. The ringside doctor took a look at the cut and allowed Livingston to continue despite him telling the referee he could not see. Both would attempt to close strong with Livingston doing a bit more. Scores would read 58-56 for Walker, 59-55 and 58-56 for Livingston. Standnfight.com had it a draw.

Unbeaten Alexander Filichkin (10-0, 2 KOs) pounded out a TKO victory over Hector Alatorre (16-18, 5 KOs) after four complete rounds. Filichkin fought off a wild attack in the opening round to defeat the over matched Alatorre who quit on the stool after taking a beating in the three preceding rounds.

In female action, Chino Ca.’s Celine Roman (2-0) dominated Claudia Amaro (1-1) en route to a unanimous decision victory after four rounds. Roman pressed the action from the opening bell, landing lead rights at will. Amaro came out aggressive in the third but a counter left hook quickly shut down the Southpaw’s attack. The two would go toe-to-toe in the final round with Roman landing the more accurate shots. Scores were 40-36 by all three judges.

In an all-action four rounder Erik Ruiz (4-0, 2 KOs) won a unanimous decision over a tough Jesse Adame (2-8-1) with scores of 39-37, and 40-36 twice. Adame seemed to have a solid first round but Ruiz let his hands go in the second and dominated from there on.

Thoughts and Notes:

• Kelly Pavlik, Paulie Malignaggi, Raymundo Beltran and Rashad Halloway were all in the building.
• This has to be one of the best club shows I’ve been to in a while.. Pre-fight interviews that played on big screens before each fight was a good addition.
• Show was completely sold out.. Despite ticket prices starting at $50.
• Female fights are becoming something to look forward to. Algeria vs Garcia could be called the fight of the night.
• Event was promoted by Bash Boxing and Art Of Boxing promotions.