Alexis Rocha And Oscar Collazo Body The Opposition; Ramirez Gets A Split Decision
Welterweight Alexis “Lex” Rocha (23-1, 14KO) continues to march toward a world title shot with a stoppage over Anthony Young (24-3, 8KO) in front of the hometown crowd.
Rocha came out the gate firing with that jab and left hand to the body. He was very aggressive in coming forward using his size to pin Young against the ropes and rip off thudding combination shots. Young was not going to go away quietly as he started going to the body and landed a few good straight right hands.
In the middle rounds, the Californian fought at a furious pace, landing body shots that began to take a toll on Young. Realizing his opponent was weakening, Rocha attacked with more brutal body shots and uppercuts before landing a left hand that finally dropped Young.
Despite beating the count, Young was clearly out on his feet, and the referee waved off the fight in the fifth round. Rocha made it clear he wants the winner of the undisputed showdown between unified champion Errol Spence Jr and WBO champion Terence Crawford.
OSCAR COLLAZO SCORES AN IMPRESSIVE STOPPAGE OVER MELVIN JERUSALEM
Oscar Collazo (7-0, 5KO) made history for being the first Puerto Rican to win a championship in seven fights by stopping Melvin Jerusalem (20-3, 12KO) for the WBO minimumweight championship.
Jerusalem came out strong by landing the lead right hand against the less-experienced southpaw in Collazo. His jab and footwork had the Puerto Rican confused and hesitant to attack. The champion was in control early and was working well behind the jab.
Collazo quickly turned this fight around with body shots. He hit the champion to the body with brutal hooks and straight left hands. The young, undefeated fighter went on an all-out body assault over the next couple of rounds. In round seven, his body attack severely weakened the Filipino, who quit on the stool before the start of the eighth round.
Collazo screamed with joy as a dream of becoming a champion is now a reality.
SCRAPPY RAMIREZ NARROWLY DEFEATS FERNANDEZ DIAZ
Super flyweight John “Scrappy” Ramirez (12-0, 8KO) remains undefeated after being heavily tested by Fernandez Diaz (12-3-1, 4KO) in a ten-round, all-action battle.
It was a tale of two halves as Ramirez’s speed, footwork, and accuracy controlled the fight at the opening bell. His jab was sharp, followed by the right hand that couldn’t miss as Diaz’s head stayed on the centerline. It looked as if this was going to be an easy night for the WBA’s number two-rated contender.
Diaz came alive in the second half, turning up his punch-output, and began landing the right hand. He was having plenty of success applying pressure and landing combinations as Ramirez slowed down.
In the closing moments of the fight, both men let their hands go as Ramirez focused on landing hooks to the body, and Diaz’s right hand was money. One judge scored it 96-94 for Diaz, overruled by the other two that had it 96-94 for Ramirez. It was a close fight that could have gone either way. 3Kings Boxing had it a draw.
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