By Boxing Bob Newman
David Michery’s DMG Boxing promoted Night of Champions III Saturday night in in Pomona, California at the Fox Theater. The 10 bout card was headlined by a super featherweight matchup pitting undefeated Otar Eranosyan (#1 WBA) against Dannis Aguero Arias in a scheduled eight rounder.
After a 1-hour delay due to the ambulance being unavailable and not on hand, the show finally got underway much to the delight of the raucous crowd.
Otar Eranosyan (Miami Beach, by way of Akhalkalaki, Georgia) and Dannis Aguero Arias (San Cristobal, DR) closed the show in a super featherweight clash with title implications. Eranosyan is the mandatory for WBA champion Lamont Roach, despite this fight coming exactly 2 years to the day after his last fight- TKO 8 win over former champ Roger Gutierrez. For his part, Arias was coming off a TKO loss to former champion Guillermo Rigondeaux, 9 months ago. Eranosyan looked to live up to his ring moniker, “The Pitbull,” with relentless pressure and power shots. Arias began to start holding to try and neutralize Eranosyan. Midway through the third round, referee Thomas Taylor had seen enough and took a point from Arias. During the fifth, a verbal altercation between referee Taylor and Arias ensued, leading to Taylor essentially telling Arias to stop talking and fight, finishing the conversation with a bit of a shove to the shoulder of Arias. After the round ended, some more tough verbal sparring between Taylor and Arias, as well as his corner, carried over while Arias was being tended to on his stool during the minute rest period.
During the 6th round, Arias was deducted another point for holding and warned by Taylor, “You do it again, you’re done!” Roughly 30 seconds later, that’s exactly what happened as Arias resumed clinching and Taylor separated the two fighters, waving the matters off. Time was 2:03 of round 6, Eranosyan winning by DQ. He now moves to 15-0, 7 KOs, while Arias falls to 20-4, 17 KOs.
Bantamweights Dante Ibarra (Jalisco, MX) and Riverside’s Héctor Oros, both 19 years old, opened the night in a scheduled four rounder. At the very start, the much shorter Oros, had no trouble landing beautiful counters against the elongated Ibarra. A cut over the left eye Ibarra opened in the second round. Courtesy of the Oros right hand. Strangely, Ibarra had trouble discerning between the wooden block sound of the 10-second warning and the actual bell, causing him to turn and walk towards his corner when there was still 10 seconds left in both first and second rounds. Oros had no trouble making up for the 9-in reach deficit he faced against Ibarra, nailing his foe easily and repeatedly. If nothing else, Ibarra showed an iron chin as Oros was not throwing pitty-pat punches and was landing flush. In the end, it was Oros by scores of 40-36 and 39-37 twice, who moves to 3-0, 1 KO. Ibarra evens out at 1-1, 1 KO.
Next up were bantam weights Julio Resendiz and Aaron Whitehurst, in a scheduled four-rounder. It was a lefty- righty matchup as southpaw Resendiz landed a few snappy counters while Whitehurst moved forward behind a speedy left jab. Halfway through the second, Whitehurst opted to switch lefty, but thought better of it after about 30 seconds. A swelling developed on the left eyelid of Whitehurst in the third and fourth. It was a close tactical fight with the scores reading: 40-36 x 3 for the debuting Resendiz, now 1-0. Whitehurst evens out at 1-1, 1 KO.
Featherweights Joshua Torres (Simi Valley) and Josephat Navarro (Laguna Hills via Philippines) clashed in a scheduled six-rounder. Southpaw Navarro started out like a bull, pinning Torres against the ropes with a barrage of head and body shots. The second round saw a turning of the tide with Torres forcing Navarro to the ropes where both engaged in phone booth warfare, but that trend didn’t last as Navarro regained control by the end of the round. Navarro controlled the fifth with pressure-filled infighting, a clash of heads causing a cut over the right eye of Torres in the process. To his credit, Navarro never let any of the Torres rallies amount to much, as the the bout went the full distance. The scores were as follows: 58-56 and 60-54 twice, all for Navarro who now moves to 4-3- 1, while Torres falls 2-3-2, 2 KOs.
Bellflower’s Letryle Pearson and Ontario’s Louis Vasquez met in an over the limit middleweight contest. Pearson was almost 3 lb under and Vasquez was 3 lb over the middleweight limit but the about went ahead. The cocky Pearson was making his pro debut and came out switching between Southpaw and Orthodox stances multiple times when suddenly a crushing right hand from Vasquez dropped him flat on his back, blood pouring from his nose as he rose on very unsteady legs. Referee Thomas Taylor gave it some thought before waving it off at 1:59 of the first round. Vasquez pulls even at 2-2, 2KOs, while Pearson leaves his pro outing with a loss at 0-1.
Featherweights Brandon Douglas (Salt Lake City, UT) and Javier Zamarron (Sheboygan, WI) squared off in a scheduled six. This battle of fellow southpaws started out with the taller Zamarron controlling matters with a fast right jab/hook combo. Douglas, had to work hard to find ways to get inside his foe’s reach. The Robert Garcia-trained Zamarron’s timing was excellent as he was able to use hooks to the body with follow-up left crosses to keep Douglas guessing and off balance. In the third, several powerful left crosses jolted Douglas to his boots, but he held his ground, those seeming weaken ever so slightly. Zamarron picked up where he left off in the 4th. After an initial Douglas quick start, Zamarron fired an 18-punch flurry forcing the referee to step in at 1:03, saving Douglas from further punishment, and inflicting his first ever loss inside the distance. Zamarron moves to 10-0, 5 KOs. The tough luck Douglas falls to 13-2, 11 KOs.
Super middleweights Samuel “S3” Arnold, (Cedar Hill, TX) and Vaughn “The Animal” Alexander (St. Louis) locked horns in a scheduled eight. In a pedestrian opening round, Arnold worked off his jab while Alexander tried to close the distance without actually throwing any punches. Arnold controlled the fight with his jab, work rate and sheer volume while Alexander kept pace with his footwork, but little coming from his fists. This pattern continued throughout leading to an 80-72 unanimous shutout for Arnold who moves to 13-0, 8 KOs. Alexander slides to 19-15-2, 12 KOs.
Yorba Linda, CA’s Chelsey Anderson and Claudia Herrera, Aguascalientes, MX tangled in a scheduled six-round super lightweight contest. Several Anderson jabs started a faucet of blood from Herrera’s nose in the opening frame. Anderson utilized her reach to employee her jab and long combos with enough volume and precision to completely control Herrera throughout the bout. For her part, Herrera did land a few singular shots, but not enough in both volume and power, to turn the tables and take control at any point in the bout. One would never know that Anderson was coming out of a 16+ month layoff. Anderson snag at the win via scores of 60-54 x 3. Herrera pulls even 4-4-1, 1 KO.
Flyweights Terry Washington (San Bernardino) and Nelvis Rodriguez (Roselle Park, NJ, by way of Maracaibo, Venezuela), threw down in a scheduled eight rounder. An overhand left, followed by a right sent Rodriguez crashing hard to the canvas moments into the first round. He did well to beat the count and survive the round. Then again, that depends on how one looks at it, as seconds into the next round, a vicious right hand sent Rodriguez spinning after his own missed right, crashing face first to the canvas. Referee Thomas Taylor didn’t bother to count, waving matters off at :23 of the second round. Washington is now 5-0, 5 KOs. Rodriguez loses his fourth straight, falling to 10-4, 5KOs.
Super featherweights Michael Bracamontes (Santa Ana, CA) and Emmanuel Dominguez (Aguascalientes, MX) took each other on in a scheduled eight-rounder. A trip to the canvas by Dominguez in the second round was correctly waved off by the referee as Bracamontes was stepping on his left foot while landing punches. A pattern emerged that saw Bracamontes allow Dominguez to come forward and chase, expending energy, and get countered. Dominguez certainly came to win and did not lack in effort. His work ethic was definitely seen by the judges, although wasn’t quite enough as reflected by the scores of 76-76, 77-75 and 78-74, for Bracamontes by majority decision, who now moves to 13-2-1, 6 KOs. The tough luck Dominguez falls to 27-11-2, 18 KOs.
