Rocky Juarez vs Jason Pires- 10 Round Featherweight Main Event

This was a great back and forth fight with Rocky Juarez displaying a lot of polished skills, and Jason Pires showing good heart as well as many of the traits that earned him the USBA 122lb title awhile back. The first round started off quickly with both fighters setting a blazing pace. Juarez got Pires onto the ropes in the first and was able to do that throughout the fight. While leaning on the ropes, Pires absorbed a lot of body punches but was able to throw enough return volleys to keep Juarez from smothering him. In the second round, Juarez landed hard shots sending Pires sprawling to the canvas after a bounce off the ropes and a few more solid punches. Pires regained his composure and spent round three moving behind the jab and proving his mettle as a top level competitor. He also landed a nice left hook to the body in the round. The next two rounds showed Juarez's relentless attack begin to take a toll on Pires and by the end of the seventh round Juarez was consistently battering Pires with vicious up and down combos. In round eight, Pires was dropped with a crushing right cross and the end came in round nine as the referee halted the action saving Pires from further abuse. Juarez improved to 15-0 with his 11th stoppage victory. Pires fell to 20-3.

Francisco Bojado vs Frankie Santos- 10 round Junior Welterweights

The semi-main event was the second stop on the road to recovery for Bojado (Photo: Tom Casino/Showtime) as he continues to bounce back from the shock defeat to Juan Carlos Rubio. Frankie Santos proved to be a tough customer and gave Bojado all he could handle through the fight. The early rounds were spent with Bojado feeling out Santos and working behind the jab. In the third round, Bojado stunned Santos along the ropes and landed some crisp hooks. The fourth and fifth were more Bojado coasting and he seemed to be fighting only as well as he had to. In round six, Santos came out firing and wacked Bojado on the left cheek while Bojado had his hands a little lower than reasonable. Santos continued to mount a rally through the late rounds and came out in round ten with a possible chance of an upset. And then the end came. Bojado dropped Santos at the start of the round and after Santos rose, Bojado put the pressure on and forced the stoppage. Bojado moves up to 11-1 with his 10th knockout, and Santos falls to 15-2-2.

Juan Diaz vs John Bailey- 10 round Lightweights

The first televised fight was a complete mismatch with John Bailey getting beat like a last place horse throughout the fight. In round one Diaz came out pounding Bailey with big counter uppercuts and showed superior skill and speed. Diaz continued the same pattern in the second and third rounds and gave Bailey a good opportunity to show off that chin of his. In the middle rounds Diaz continued to punish Bailey and finally referee Frank "better late than never" Cappuccino mercifully halted the action in round seven. The ringside banter favored an earlier stoppage, but since we can't have fifteen round title fights now, at least we can still have Frank Cappuccino. Diaz is now 20-0 with 10 KO's, and Bailey is now 21-10-2.

Undercard Results

In a heavyweight scrap over eight rounds, Dominick Guinn improved to 20-0 by out pointing trial horse Otis Tisdale. Tisdale was dropped in rounds one and two after taking tough left hands from the more polished Guinn. The pace slowed in the middle rounds with Guinn pushing Tisdale around the ring and setting the pace. Tisdale showed signs of life in round five but then fell back into the opponents' role in the next two rounds. Guinn went on to win 80-70, 80-70, and 79-71. EastsideBoxing scored the fight 78-72. Tisdale fell to 21-9-1

In another heavyweight bout Malik Scott drilled Terry McGroom, dropping McGroom with a big left uppercut and right hand combo in the second round to close it out early. Scott through hard, sharp punches in scoring his 9th KO win. He improved to 15-0. McGroom fell to 19-5-2.

In the opener, decent amateur Franciso Rincon improved to 2-0 with tough decision win over Richard Dean. Dean fell to 1-3-2, but gave Rincon a tough go. The cards read 38-38, 39-37, 39-37. Eastside had the fight 39-37.

In the closer, Connecticut prospect Chad Dawson reached double digits with a decision win to get to 10-0. Unorthodox fighter Shannon Miller dropped to 14-24-6 with the loss. Miller has been in with many reputable fighters and confused Dawson enough to make this a dull fight. The cards read 59-55, 59-55, 60-54. Eastside had the fight 59-54.

A few random thoughts

Malik Scott and Francisco Bojado need to get their damn hands up. You guys know that your left fist isn't there to guard your hip bones. Bring it up to your chin.

What in the world is Arthur Mercante thinking. First off, he scored four of six rounds in the Diaz-Bailey fight 10-8. The guy didn't go down, why would you rob him of a point? Arthur, is it fair to penalize a guy for being tough? It is bad enough the fight probably went a round or two too long, but lets not rub salt in the wounds by robbing a guy of points on the scorecards. Judging is a matter of opinion, and is usually fair and adequate, but it is only fair and adequate if the judges think their scores through before they are recorded.

Thanks to Mohegan Sun Casino, Main Events, CES and everybody else who put in the time to make this excellent fight night happen.