Fernando Trejo scored a workmanlike unanimous decision over a tough Luis Antonio “Vampiro” Arceo to capture a vacant regional super featherweight title. The bout headlined a “Champions of Tomorrow” card promoted by Top Rank and Ray Alcorta, before a standing room only crowd of 1600 at the Maywood Activity Center in Maywood, California.  Local flyweight slugger Giovanni Segura meanwhile added another first-round knockout win to his resume, stopping Francisco Arce with one second remaining in the first round.

Trejo counterpunched effectively for much of the bout, blocking or slipping Arceo’s punches and returning fire with hooks or uppercuts. The lanky Arceo was the busier of the two, but usually got the worse of the exchanges. Trejo landed a number of hard left hooks when the two exchanged, and also did nice work with the right uppercut. Arceo was able to bang the body effectively, and also score with left hooks to the head.

Behind on points, Arceo had one of his best moments in the ninth, staggering Trejo with a counter left hook during an exchange. Trejo rebounded to hurt Arce in the tenth, as Arceo circled into a Trejo left hook. In the twelfth, Trejo finished strongly, pressuring Arceo in an effort to secure a stoppage. The judge’s scoring varied, with scores of 117-111, 116-112, and 115-112. Some rounds were difficult to score, as Arceo threw a greater volume of punches but many of them seemed to fall short or hit gloves.

“I wasn’t surprised. The Mexican has a lot of heart” said Trejo through an interpreter, when asked if he was surprised that Arceo was able to absorb so many power punches. Trejo stated that he feels more comfortable at 130 lbs than at lightweight, and that he hopes to improve his ranking before challenging for a title. Trejo ups his record to 26-11-4 with 17 KOs with the victory and seems on the verge of shedding his image as an opponent, while Arceo is now 19-4-2 with 13 KOs.

In the co-feature, Arce was supposed to test the hard hitting Segura, but was unable to get anything started against the 23 year old prospect. Segura pressed him early from the orthodox stance, landing a hard left hook-right hand combination. Segura soon turned southpaw and landed a number of right hooks, before flooring Arce with a straight left in the final seconds of the first round. Arce beat the count, but wobbled forward forcing referee Raul Caiz Jr. to wave off the bout. Official time was 2:59. Segura improves to 13-0-1 with 10 KOs. Arce falls to 20-3-1 with 9 KOs.

Oxnard’s Brandon Rios defeated Freddy Castro on a third round technical knockout in a lightweight bout. The quick-handed Rios floored his foe three times in the second round, and had landed a hard combo in the third when Castro’s corner decided they had seen enough. Rios remains unbeaten at 10-0 with 8 KOs, while the tough Castro’s record falls to 5-13-5 with 2 KOs.

Carlos Martinez made a successful pro debut, knocking out 1-0 Alex Artiaga in the first round of a junior welterweight bout. The southpaw Martinez floored Artiaga with a big right hook during an exchange, and Artiaga was badly hurt. Referee Dr. James Jen Kin waved off the fight without counting to ten, after determining that Artiaga was in no shape to continue. Ray Alcorta is planning on another show for March 31st.