Vernon Forrest Knocks Out Elco Garcia to Headline Six Fight Card

22.10.05 – By Kent Appel @ Ringside – The Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California was the scene of a world class professional boxing card on Friday October 21, 2005. The live card, portions of which were broadcast on Fox Sports Network’s the Best Damn Sports Show Period, featured six bouts and it was promoted by Goossen Tutor Promotions.

The card was headlined by former world welterweight champion Vernon Forrest of Atlanta, Georgia who continued his comeback after losing his welterweight title in 2003 by a second round knockout to Ricardo Mayorga and again losing a rematch against Mayorga by a twelve round decision later that same year. Forrest scored his second win this year, after a two year layoff, by defeating Elco Garcia of Durango Colorado by a tenth round knockout.

The end of the bout came in a bizarre fashion because after controlling the action for nine rounds using a variety of effective punches with both hands, in the tenth and final round Forrest threw a hard left hook at Garcia and in doing so he found himself on the canvas from the momentum of the punch.

Referee Pat Russell signaled it was a slip but before he could get between the fighters to separate the fighters and wipe off the gloves of Forrest, Forrest unleashed two more left hooks, one that grazed the head of Garcia and a second one that knocked Garcia down. Referee Russell started to count but he decided Garcia was too badly hurt so he stopped the contest, giving the victory to Forrest.

The crowd booed their displeasure at the ending but even though referee Russell may not have been quick enough to get between the fighters, no obvious foul was committed as Forrest, unfortunately for Garcia, landed his knockout punch in the heat of battle.

Forrest, who had scored a second round TKO victory over Sergio Rios earlier this year, positioned himself for bigger and better things by defeating Garcia in this junior middleweight fight that was scheduled for ten rounds. With the win Forrest,154 pounds, improves his record to 37-2, 28 by KO while Garcia, also 154 pounds, slides back to 18-4, 8 by KO.

In the lead preliminary match, in a junior middleweight fight scheduled for eight rounds, Hector Camacho Junior of Orlando, Florida defeated Nelson Estupinan of Delicias, Mexico by a unanimous decision. All three judges saw the fight by the same score, 76 to 74.

Camacho, a southpaw, won most of the rounds by effectively using his right jab and straight left hand but the bout was not without some moments of concern for him as Estupinan knocked down Camacho twice, both times with right hand lead punches, once in the first round and another time in round number three. Camacho did not appear badly hurt from either knockdown and in particular the knockdown in round three was a flash knockdown in which Camacho was up right away without the count beginning.

I saw the fight by the score of 77 to 74 for the winner with Camacho winning eight rounds to two for Estupinan. The second knockdown was just not effective enough to give Estupinan a 10 to 8 round. With the win Camacho, 155 1/4 pounds, improves his record to 39-1-1, 22 by KO while Estupinan, 156 pounds, is now 12-2, 9 by KO

Also on the card: In a heavyweight bout scheduled for eight rounds, Chris Arreola of Riverside, California took on Dominic Jenkins of La Mesa, Texas. Arreola weighed 255 pounds while Jenkins tipped the scales at 218 pounds. Arreola came out on top by a TKO at 2:38 of round number five. The end came with Arreola pounding Jenkins along the ropes with a number of punches with both hands and the referee declared Jenkins was too badly hurt to continue.

This fight was a very competitive contest with Jenkins controlling the action in the first three rounds and Arreola coming back strong for the win by taking the fourth round and of course the fifth and final round. With the win Arreola improves his record to 13-0, 11 by KO while Jenkins takes a step back to 6-4-1, 1 by KO.

In an eight round super middleweight fight, Enrique Ornelas of La Habra, California fought Ayodeji Fadeyi of Denver, Colorado. Ornelas weighed in at 167 pounds while Fadeyi weighed 165 3/4 pounds. Ornelas was the winner by TKO at 2:37 of the second round. Ornelas was in control from the opening bell and while Fadeyi was game, he was not effective in countering Ornelas’ constant attack. With the win Ornelas goes forward to 21-2, 14 by KO while Fadeyi falls to 10-6-1, 6 by KO.

In a heavyweight fight scheduled for six rounds, former national Golden Gloves heavyweight champion Rafael Butler of Rochester, Minnesota squared off against Andrew Jackson of Crossett, Arkansas. Butler weighed in at 255 pounds while Jackson weighed in at 285 pounds. Butler scored a first round knockout at just 29 seconds of the first round by knocking Jackson down and out, overwhelming him with the first barrage of punches of the fight. With the win Butler goes forward to 15-1, 11 by KO while Jackson falls to 3-3, 2 by KO.

In a four round junior welterweight bout, Lorenzo Reynolds of Saginaw, Michigan went up against Mikel Williams of Monroe, Louisiana. Reynolds weighed 140 pounds while Williams weighed 140 1/2 pounds. Reynolds, a two time national golden gloves champion at 132 pounds and 141 pounds respectively, was the winner of the contest by TKO at the end of the third round when Williams was unable to come out for the fourth round.

Reynolds used a brutal body attack to take the fight out of Williams, who suffered no less than three knockdowns from body blows, two in the second round and one in the third and final round. With the win Reynolds improves his record to 9-0, 4 by KO while Williams is now 4-13-4, 2 by KO.