Ringside report from Ontario, California
Yohnny Perez’s main event debut was short but sweet. The unbeaten Colombian bantamweight needed only two minutes to dispose of Samuel Lopez Friday night at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, California. The scheduled ten rounder topped a stellar six-bout card promoted by Thompson Boxing.
Lopez assumed a defensive posture early, and was soon knocked backward by a right hand lead. Shortly thereafter, the two exchanged and a Perez right deposited the Mexican southpaw on his posterior.
Lopez failed to beat the count, giving Perez the win by first round knockout. Perez improves to 11-0 with 8 KOs. Lopez is now 17-5-1 with 6 KOs.
In the co-feature, Adam Carrera rebounded from a loss to super bantam contender Mike Oliver with a ten round unanimous decision win over Juan Ruiz. Official scores were 99-91, 98-92, and 96-94. Carrera is now 19-2with 8 KOs while Ruiz slips to 22-4 with 6 KOs.
Unbeaten lightweight prospect Dominic Salcido gained some invaluable experience with a unanimous points win over former world title challenger Julio Gamboa. Official scores were 80-71 twice and 79-72.
Salcido floored the Leon, Nicaragua, native with a left during the first meaningful exchange of the bout early in the first round. “DJ” proceeded to control the tempo of the bout against the crafty southpaw, who gave few openings for the quicker Salcido to exploit.
Salcido repeatedly tried to lure Gamboa in with feints but to no avail. He did manage to land some solid right hands on the veteran, who has faced five current or former world champions during a noteworthy 15 year career. Salcido ups his record to 12-0(6) while Gamboa’s ledger now stands at 26-11-2(11).
Body work and crisp counter left hooks were the differences in Manuel “Suavecito” Roman’s six round unanimous points win over Ernie Marquez. Roman, managed by Frank Espinoza, improves to 10-0-2 with 5 KOs while Marquez slips to 5-2-1 with 3 KOs.
Joel Mills dominated an overmatched Frank Bybee en route to a second round stoppage victory. Mills is now 3-1 with 1 KO, while Bybee falls to 4-10.
In the opener, Carlos Molina made an impressive pro debut with a four round unanimous decision win over Mario Juarez. Molina’s heavier hands earned him the better of the exchanges against his switch-hitting opponent. Juarez is now 2-3-1 with 1 KO.
Among those in attendance were the legendary Bobby Chacon and former world champions Israel Vazquez and Julio Gonzalez. Junior welterweight contender Timothy Bradley Jr. and unbeaten heavyweight Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola were also in the house. Joe Martinez was the ring announcer.
Thompson Boxing returns to the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario on June 29.
