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Carlos Morales Wins NABA Super Featherweight Title

PicsArt_08-06-12.26.48By Anthony “Stacks” Saldaña (At Ringside)
Photos by Cynthia “Cindy Lou” Saldaña (At Ringside)

Friday night at the Belasco Theater in downtown Los Angeles, Golden Boy Promotions brought fight fans another action packed edition of their LA Fight Club. Special guests in attendance included NBA Superstar Metta World Peace, NABF Super Lightweight Champion Antonio “Relentless” Orozco, NABA Featherweight Champion Abraham “Chamaco” Lopez, Jesus “Renuente” Soto Karass, “King” Gabriel Rosado, Vyacheslav “Lion Heart-Chingonskyy” Shabranskyy, Roy “Pitbull” Tapia, Alexis Rocha, Niko “Baby Face” Valdes and David Mijares, who all sat ringside watching the action.

Fighting in the televised main event Los Angeles local, Carlos “The Solution” Morales, 14-1-3, 6 KO’s took on the tough Luis “La Estrella” Franco, 14-2-1, 9 KO’s of Havana, Cuba in a super featherweight bout for the vacant NABA title. The evenly matched fighters exchanged blocks and jabs for all 10 rounds, with both fighters giving it their all. Eventually “The Solution” came out on top as the judges awarded the NABA crown to Morales with scores of 98-92, 97-93, 96-94.

In the co-main event, Joet Gonzalez. 14-0, 6 KO’s from Glendora, California maintained his undefeated status when he took on Los Angeles native Sergio “Micky” Lopez, 19-12-1, 12 KO’s in a featherweight bout that went the distance. Gonzalez showed off his impressive offense and strong left hook throughout the fight, using it to slowly break down Lopez round by round. Lopez countered and showed great ring generalship of his own landing shots to the face and body and at times pinned Joet on the ropes. The ninth round was filled with intensity as Joet landed massive jabs to the face, stunning Lopez. After 10 solid rounds Gonzalez walked away with a unanimous decision victory. “I was mad during the fight,” said Joet Gonzalez. I felt the referee wasn’t doing his job correctly. There were various points during the fight in which my opponent would lean in, head butt and hold me. However, despite the referee not noticing, I am glad the judges took note of my boxing ability. This was my first 10 round fight, and I prepared for this fight a little differently, using strength and weight training. I was able to share the card with my brother, which means a lot to me. We got first round knockout and unanimous decision victories.

Also on the card Friday night was local favorite Pablo “The Shark” Rubio, 7-0, 3 KO’s. Pablo was originally supposed to face Rafael Gramajo, but due to an unexpected Gramajo injury Pablo took on an unknown last minute opponent in Micheal Gaxiola, 4-8, of Modesto, CA in a six-round super bantamweight fight. “The Shark” demonstrated his ability to dominate the ring, throughout the fight by cornering Gaxiola during most rounds. It was during the third round that Rubio sustained a cut over his right eye from a head butt. Despite the setback, the judges all unanimously agreed that he was the stronger fighter, awarding him the victory in the fight. “I agree with the judges’ decision and I am happy with my performance tonight,” said Rubio on his unanimous decision win. I used my jabs and had a lot of movement, which is what I was working on in training camp for this fight. I noticed that I slowed down in the fifth round, however, I still kept my rhythm. My opponent was very technical and he didn’t throw any crazy punches, so I applaud him for a tough fight.”

Other bouts:

Francisco Esparza, 3-0 vs. Noe Munoz, 2-2, (4 rounds) Featherweights

Result: Esparza 1st round TKO, Esparza moves to 4-0, 1 KO.

Jousce Gonzalez, 2-0, 2 KO’s Vs. David “Tito” Montes 0-4 KO’s (4 rounds) Super
Featherweight

Result: Gonzalez 1st round KO Victory.
Angel Bojado 1-0 Vs. Euris Silverio, 0-4, (4 rounds) Super Welterweight

Result: Bojado unanimous decision victory.

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