Angel Fierro, Erika Cruz, and Nicholson Secure Decision Wins
In an instant lightweight classic, Angel Fierro (22-1-2. 17O) narrowly escaped with a victory over unknown Brayan Zamarripa (13-2, 4KO).
Zamarippa came into the fight as a nobody and walked away as somebody. He boxed beautifully against the top-rated hometown fighter in Fierro. He couldn’t miss with a jab and straight right hand down the middle while implementing a solid body attack that froze the home fighter momentarily throughout the contest.
Yet, Fierro started fighting behind the jab and coming forward with hard right hands and hooks that stunned Zamarripa in the middle rounds. He continuously landed punishing right hands that stopped Zamarippa in his tracks.
Down the stretch it was a war, as Zamarippa fought like a man possessed with bone-crushing body shots. Fierro refused to lose and landed a go-for-broke right hand that almost put the visitor on the canvas.
How both men made it to the final round was a testament to their will to win. One judge scored it 96-94 for Zamarippa, with two judges having it 96-95, and 96-94 for Fierro.
3Kings Boxing scored it a draw. This fight deserves a rematch, but Team Fierro will probably move on towards a world title fight after such a close call.
ERIKA CRUZ PICKS UP A SOLID WIN OVER MELISSA ODDESSA
In a junior lightweight showdown, Erika Cruz (16-2, 3KO) successfully bounced back in a new division by earning a win over Melissa Oddessa (6-2, 2KO).
In typical fashion, Cruz threw punches like the Tasmanian devil while working off the jab, which kept Oddessa on the back foot early in the fight. It was apparent that the volume punching of the former WBA featherweight champion was going to be one of the keys to victory.
However, Oddessa kicked it into another gear in the middle rounds as she started to find a home for the right hook and straight left hand. Drama arose as there was a clash of heads in the eighth round that opened up a cut on both combatants.
Dripping with blood on their faces, these women fought in a phonebooth, landing hard shots as the crowd cheered with appreciation. Oddessa attacked the body relentlessly as Cruz cranked up the volume and landed good countershots.
Two judges saw it 99-91, with one scoring it 98-92 in favor of Cruz. 3Kings Boxing scored it 97-93 for the former champion.
SKYE NICHOLSON GRABS THE WBC INTERIM TITLE OFF SABRINA PEREZ
Top featherweight contender Skye Nicholson (8-0) took one step closer to a world title fight after grabbing the WBC Interim title away from Sabrina Perez (18-2-1, 2KO).
True to her word, Nicholson was more aggressive in this fight. She fought well off the front foot behind the jab and was pinpoint accurate with her counter-punching. In addition, she did a good job of fighting at mid-range, and she cut the ring off nicely when Perez was in retreat mode.
The theme of the fight was Nicholson’s jab and straight left hand down the middle in the closing rounds of the contest. When the final bell sounded the judges scored it 99-91, 98-92, and 97-93 in favor of the undefeated Australian.
Nicholson is on record calling for a fight with the undisputed champion Amanda “The Real Deal” Serrano. Although she showed tremendous growth, fighting someone the caliber of the undisputed champion is a whole different level.
In this author’s opinion, the newly crowned WBC Interim titlist needs one or maybe two more fights. With that being said, if the undisputed champion gets past Danila Ramos on October 27, boxing fans could see Serrano vs Nicholson by the end of the year.
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