Solo Boxeo ringside report
Sergio Martinez KO4 Saul Roman... Top Rank Promotions returned to Houston for a night of boxing at the Grand Plaza Hotel. The Solo Boxeo televised main event pitted the WBC’s #3 and #4 ranked fighters in the 154-pound division. The card was to feature the return of Tommy Morrison to the squared circle, but fans were disappointed as they were informed at the door that he would not be stepping inside the ring as the requirements for his Texas boxing license were not able to be fulfilled in time for him to be licensed.
Sergio Martinez from Argentina, and now living in Madrid, Spain, and Saul Roman of Culiacan, Mexico, faced off in the main event in a WBC world title elimination bout. That belt is currently held by Oscar De La Hoya, who will be challenged for it by Floyd Mayweather, Jr. on May 5, 2007 in Las Vegas. No one expects the winner of this fight to get a shot at the De La Hoya-Mayweather winner, but the title could very easily become vacant.
The southpaw Martinez utilized his superior movement to out box Roman in the early rounds, while his competitor tried to make the fight into a brawl. Frustrated by his inability to chase down his foe and being continually out punched, Roman hit Martinez low in the third round and then began the fourth round by charging across the ring and rough housing Martinez. The Argentine responded with slick movement and solid punches in an effort to rebuff Roman.
The end came when Martinez landed a strong straight left punch to the abdomen which clearly hurt Roman, and then immediately followed it with another left shot in the same location which dropped his foe to the mat. Roman rolled around in anguish as the referee counted to ten and a joyous Martinez climbed the ring ropes to salute the crowd. The official time of the stoppage was 2:25 of the fourth round.
“It was all planned. Our plan was to attack his body and sometimes to throw twice to the body. We trained for this,” Martinez said.
Martinez improves his record to 39-1-1 with 20 KO’s. His lone defeat came at the hands of highly touted Antonio Margarito. He becomes the #1 challenger in the WBC at the 154 lb weight class, which is a huge stretch to WBC credibility in a division with Roman Karmazin, Kassim Ouma, etc.
Jose Aguiniga W8 Joe Morales... In the evening’s co-main event, Oxnard, California’s Jose Aguiniga consistently beat San Antonio’s Joe Morales to the punch, blooding the Texan’s nose early in the fight. The veteran Morales showed grit standing toe to toe and exchanging punches. The three judges scored it 76-76, 79-73, 77-75, awarding Aguiniga the majority decision victory preserving his undefeated record at 31-0.
Miguel Angel Garcia TKO2 Steve Trumble... Miguel Angel Garcia dropped Steve Trumble three times in round one and once again in round two en route to a second round stoppage by referee Ronnie Ralston at 2:30 and improves to 8-0 with 7 KO’s.
Vanes Martirosyan TKO2 Nelson Estupinan... Vanes Martirosyan, a 2004 U.S. Olympic team member, had a tough time with Nelson Estupinan of Mexico but came out victorious. Martirosyan, an Armenian-American brought in a huge local contingent of fans from the Houston Armenian community. He controlled the action in the first round, but then got caught in the second and was knocked down. He showed heart in getting off the canvas to then drop Estupinan who injured his leg and could not continue. The TKO came at 2:39 of the second round, and Martirosyan improves to 13-0 with 9 KO’s.
Austin Trout W6 Julio Perez... Martirosyan’s Olympic team alternate, Austin “No Doubt” Trout, of Las Cruces, New Mexico dished out a ton of punishment on the way to a decision victory over Julio Perez of Mission, Texas. Judges scored the bout 60-54, 60-54, and 59-55 as Trout moves to 8-0 with 7 KO’s.
Marcelino Osuna KO1 Aaron Sannipoli... Marcelino Osuna from Houston picked up his fourth victory, stopping Aaron Sannipoli from Missouri by KO in the first round.
Vance Garvey TKO6 Chase Fields... Local favorite Chase Shields received his first professional loss at the hands of Vance Garvey via TKO at 1:35 of the sixth and final round as referee Ronnie Ralston halted the action with Shields hurt and leaning on the ropes without answering Garvey’s attack.
Roberto Flores KO1 Montrail Ross... Roberto “El Jefe” Flores, one of the most popular fighters in Houston, took care of business to the sound of chants of “Bobby, Bobby,” by winning via KO of Montrail Ross just 22 seconds into of the first round. Flores' last 3 victories have come via first round KO at 0:11, 0:05, & 0:22.
AA
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