14.08.04 – by Kent Appel @ ringside: The Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California was the scene of a twelve round middleweight bout Friday Night August 13, 2004 between Jr. Middleweight contender J.C. Candelo of Denver, Colorado and Eddie Sanchez of Hollywood, California that resulted in an upset unanimous decision victory in favor of Sanchez for something called the GBU Americas middleweight title.
Sanchez got the nod on the three judges cards by scores of 115 to 112, 117 to 110, and 118 to 109. I agreed with the judges verdict, scoring the fight 115 to 112 for the winner, Sanchez. With the win Sanchez, 159 3/4, improved his record to 12-3-2, 8 by KO, while Candelo, 153 1/2, fell to 26-7-3, 18 by KO
The Candelo verses Sanchez fight headlined a live seven fight card that was promoted by Banner Productions and Ringside Ticket in association with Pechanga that also featured a ten round featherweight CO feature bout between Valdimir Pereira of San Caetano Do Sul, Brazil and Emmanuel Lucero of New York, New York and it was shown on live ESPN 2 television, along with the CO feature bout
Sanchez, a late substitute for Joachim Alcine, who was unable to fight due to medical reasons, started strong in the main event by scoring with right hand leads, and hard rights to the body. Surprisingly controlling the first three rounds by taking the play away from the favored Candelo with his higher work rate that also featured hard left hooks to the head and the body.
Candelo rallied in the fourth round by scoring well with right leads to the head and body and he outworked Sanchez in this frame as Sanchez was missing more punches than he had in the previous three rounds. Candelo continued to press the action in round number five but Sanchez responded well by fighting back with hard right hand leads that swung the momentum back in his favor in the best toe to toe action of the fight to that point.
Candelo had a ten to eight advantage in round number six by scoring the fight’s only knockdown courtesy of a hard right hand that dropped Sanchez for a short count at around the one minute mark of the round. Sanchez did not appear to be badly hurt and he reasserted his advantage in round number seven by staying out of harm’s way and by virtue of his fine use of the left jab. The trend contiuned in round number eight as Candelo was unable to reassert his dominance.
The flow of the fight switched back to Candelo in round number nine as he scored with hard right leads, lefts and rights to the head, as well as hard rights to the body. To his credit, Sanchez weathered the storm that continued into much of round number ten and he fought back with a hard left hooks to the body late in the round that shook Candelo up as well as with right leads to the body.
Candelo, sensing he was behind on the scorecards, turned the offense up a notch in round number eleven but Sanchez again withshood the onslaught and he came back to control the twelfth and final round to hang on to a hard fought and well deserved decision victory.
In the ten round CO feature fight, Perreira, 125 3/4 pounds, won a ten round
majority decision by scores of 97 to 92, 95 to 94 in his favor while the third judge favored Lucero, 127 pounds, by the score of 95 to 94. I saw the fight by the score of 96 to 93 for the winner, Perreira, who benefited from a one point deduction in round number seven because of a low blow.
I agree that Perreira won the fight but I don’t agree with referee Tony
Crebs’ decision to deduct the point as it appeared unintentional and there hadn’t been any previous low blows or warnings from Crebs not to hit low. Although they don’t have to, most referees will warn a fighter first before deducting a point. Ironically, without the one point deduction, the fight would have been scored a draw by the judges.
Lucero started fast by scoring with a strong body attack in the first two rounds but his offense lessoned as the fight went on and while he showed strong defense throughout the bout by bobbing and weaving and making Perreira miss a lot of punches, he didn’ t make Perrieira pay with enough punches of his own.
I felt Perreira won by virtue of him letting his hands go more than Lucero did. It was Lucero’s fight to win but he just didn’t go out and get it. With the win, Perreira raised his record to 18-0, 14 by KO, while Lucero slipped to 22-2-1, 13 by KO.
Also on the card: in a four round junior welterweight contest, Herman Ngoudjo of Montreal, Canada won a split decision over Jorge Padilla of Mexico City, Mexico by scores of 40 to 36 and 40 to 36 for Ngoudjo and 39 to 37 for Padilla. Ngoudjo, 140 pounds, stepped up to 5-0, 4 by KO, while Padilla, 141 pounds slid back to 4-1, 2 by KO.
In a six round women’s featherweight fight, Kelsey Jeffries of Gilroy, California defeated Melissa Yamas of San Antonio, Texas by identical judges’ scores of 60 to 54. Jeffries, 123 1/2 pounds, is now 28-8, 2 by KO while Yamas, 127 3/4 pounds, went to 3-3, 2 by KO.
In a four round welterweight fight, Antonio Soriano of Lakeside, California won a spilit decision over Justo Almazon of La Mesa, California by scores of 40 to 36 and 39 to 37 for Soriano and 39 to 37 for Almazon. Soriano, 148 pounds, improved his record to 10-2-1. 9 by KO while Almazon, 148 1/2 pounds, fell to 14-39-5, 1 by KO.
In a four round junior middleweight bout, Mauricio Grajeda of Calexico, Mexico and Alex Bogarin of Riverside, California fought to majority decision draw. Grajeda, 152 1/2 pounds, is now 4-1-1, 1 by KO while Bogarin, 152 1/4, is now 3-2-1, 1 by KO. The judges scores were as follows, 39 to 37 for Bogarin, 38 to 38, and 38 to 38.
Finally, In a junior welterweight contest scheduled for four rounds, Anthony Salcido of Chula Vista, California knocked out Alvaro Morales of Riverside, California at 58 seconds of the first round. Salcido, 138 pounds, improved his record to 3-0, 2 by KO while Morales, 138 pounds, is now 2-2, 0 by KO.