Joshua Kevin Anton W10 Freudis Rojas... On Friday at Rawhide Western Town & Event Center in Phoenix, Joshua Kevin Anton pressured, bullied and then exhausted Freudis Rojas to win a unanimous ten-round decision in the junior welterweight division. A Guatemalan-American, Anton (15-0, 12 KOs), got stronger every round to quickly overtake the advantage from Rojas (15-2, 11 KOs) of Las Vegas. Rojas showed his slick southpaw boxing skills in the first two rounds but progressively wilted as Anton’s conditioning and superior power took over the flow after that. By mid-fight, the punishment worsened, but referee Joey Chavez allowed things to continue. Under-powered Rojas, forced to sprint to keep world-class fighters off him from the start of fights, has now run out of gas midway through his last two fights and did well to (hopefully) escape lasting damage in this one. The judges agreed on the winner, with scores of 98-91 (twice) and 97-92.
It's always different when you find someone with that kind of style,” said Anton after the fight. “Freddy and I both had similar styles from the get-go and I just want to give him thanks. He was the late replacement, but I don't look away from the challenge. He put up a great challenge, and I knew he was a great fighter, so we had to adjust. We're here to give our all. Long live Guatemala!”
Justin Pauldo W10 Rene Tellez Giron... In the co-feature, Justin Pauldo won a ten-round split decision over fan-favored Rene Tellez Giron. Showing “ready for primetime” skills, Pauldo (20-2, 10 KOs) of Houston was able to outfight Tellez Giron (23-5 with 14 KOs), on the well-known Mexican slugger’s terms, nullifying his own size advantage to stand inside and trade with Tellez Giron. In a tense fight throughout, most punches were met with an equal reply and neither man perceptibly seizing control for long. In fact, the two normally entertaining styles produced a surprisingly tame affair with both contenders having moments, but not taking control. Pauldo worked slightly harder. Tellez Giron was more accurate. After the announcement of a score of 96-94 for Tellez Giron being overruled by scores of 98-92 and 97-93 for Pauldo.
ADDITIONAL RESULTS
In a ten-round “ProBoxTV-typical” featherweight war between Mexican sluggers, Carlos Arteaga moved to 17-1-1 with 14 KOs, with a fourth-round stoppage of Bryan Acosta (21-3, 8 KOs). Acosta was badly rocked by an Arteaga hook inside his own wider hook midway through the first and showed inhuman levels of durability to withstand a savage follow-up beating for the remainder of the opener. So brutal was the pasting Acosta took, he was examined extensively by the ringside physician before the start of round two. Despite still being clearly dazed, Acosta collected himself enough in round two to stage a power-punching rally and probably edged out the action-packed round purely out of instinct and fighting heart. Coming back to life more in round three, Acosta took control of the action by outfighting a seemingly tiring Arteaga with a two-fisted assault. Appearing to be losing momentum, Arteaga suddenly discovered his uppercut in round four, slamming several of them to the jaw of Acosta and dropping him late in the frame. Acosta bravely rose from the knockdown, but referee Chris Flores decided he’d seen enough. The end of the fan-friendly battle came at 2:12 of round four.
Junior welterweight Charles “LoLo” Harris Jnr put his educated skills on display in an entertaining but convincing unanimous decision over Misael Cabrera. Fighting in his first ten-rounder, Harris (13-1, 7 KOs), of San Bernardino utilized a strong body attack and his ring IQ to overcome Cabrera (18-3-1, 12 KOs), of Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico. Harris, who fights out of Brian "BoMac" McIntyre’s BoMac's B&B Boxing Gym in Omaha, Nebraska, showed why the award-winning trainer freely touts the 23 year-old's potential by nullifying Cabrera’s offense with two-handed shots to the liver and solar plexus. Cabrera fought with determination and landed several strong shots, but Harris showed no reaction. The scores were 99-91 (twice) and 98-92.
In an eight-round junior welterweight bout to open the broadcast, Heidan Martinez stayed undefeated by winning a “southpaw vs. southpaw” showdown against Willmank Canonico Brito by unanimous decision. In an awkwardly fought puncher’s duel, the Bob Santos-trained Martinez, 19-0 (17 KOs), of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, got off to a slow start against Canonico Brito, 14-11-2 (12 KOs), of Caracas, Venezuela. Canonico Brito was able to frustrate the 22-year-old Martinez, especially early on. Martinez was warned for several fouls including hitting after the bell and using his forearm and was finally deducted a point by referee Jonathan Puu for a low blow in the fight’s final round. Beginning in round six, Martinez found a rhythm by moving forward against his crafty foe and slowly gained the clear advantage as the fight progressed. The scores were 78-73 and 77-74 (twice).
