Orlando Gonzalez Beats Castaneda and Zaina Wins a Snoozer
In a junior lightweight all-action, fan-friendly showdown, Orlando Gonzalez (22-2, 12KO) earned a hard-fought victory over Jorge Castaneda (16-3, 12KO) via split decision.
It was a shootout from the first clang of the bell as Gonzalez came out firing hard shots that hurt Castaneda early. In round two, the Puerto Rican landed a punishing double right hook combination that sent the Texan to the canvas.
Gonzalez was on pace to have an easy night before Castaneda came roaring back with hard right hands and body shots in the middle rounds. This fight quickly turned into a war of attrition as both men attacked and threw punches with mean intentions.
Down the stretch, Castaneda kicked it into another gear and was finding a home with those uppercuts against a wilting opponent. However, Gonzalez refused to quit and started firing back with stiff jabs, fast combinations, and straight left hands.
One judge scored it 95-94 for Castaneda, overruled by the other two judges’ scorecards of 97-92 and 96-93 for Gonzalez.
TARIK ZAINA WINS A SNOOZEFEST AGAINST MARCELINO LOPEZ
Undefeated welterweight Tarik Zaina (13-0-1, 8KO) remained flawless after dealing with late replacement Marcelino Lopez (37-4-1, 22KO) in an uneventful contest.
It was a fight where the undefeated prospect moved, boxed, and countered all night long. Zaina made it look easy against the veteran Argentinian who didn’t know how to cutoff the ring.
The fight didn’t produce any loud crowd reaction except during the fighter introductions. Zaina’s movement and jab made the aggressive Lopez ineffective.
Lopez landed a few overhand rights, but Zaina’s switching from orthodox to southpaw was very effective throughout the contest.
Despite getting the victory via unanimous decision (99-91, 98-92, and 97-93), Zaina should have been more aggressive with a 37-year-old who was easy to hit. If he wants to make some noise in division, there has to be an urgency to make a statement in these types of fights.
