SAN DIEGO — 21-year old junior welterweight Jonathan Garcia of Watsonville, Calif. barely held onto his perfect record as he survived two knockdowns to stop tough Tijuana, Mexico native Pedro Arcos in a wild 1st round of their scheduled six-round bout Thursday night at the Four Points by Sheraton. The main event capped an exciting night of action promoted by Don Chargin Productions with Jorge Marron Productions and A&T Promotions.
Garcia (9-0, 7 KOs) was dropped early in the 1st after a body shot badly hurt him and the follow-up from Arcos put him on the canvas. Garcia made it to his feet but still seemed bothered by that body shot and would find himself on the floor again with a ton of time still to go before the bell would get a chance to sound the end of the round.
Arcos (8-3, 6 KOs), sure he was on the verge of a upset stoppage, smothered Garcia on the inside and threw caution to the win. That would end up being a costly mistake as Garcia caught him flush with his own firepower, turning the tables to drop Arcos in a heap. Arcos made it to his feet but was on wobbly legs, and Garcia jumped on him and got tagged a few times en route to putting Arcos on the ground once again. This time referee Tony Crebs took a close look at Arcos but deemed him alright to continue before Garcia finally put him down the third and final time and Crebs had no choice but to wave it off at 2:32 of the round.
It was later rumored that Arcos may have broke his ankle falling to the canvas for one of the knockdowns, and a reviewing of the footage showed that it probably came after the third knockdown as he tried getting up and fell to the canvas again.
In his most impressive win to date, Watsonville, Calif.’s Oscar Godoy (8-2, 3 KOs) gutted out a four-round unanimous decision over San Francisco’s Richard Hargraves (3-1-1, 2 KOs) in the evening’s co-feature. The 1st round was fought evenly until Godoy caught him with an overhand right that put Hargraves on the canvas. Godoy continued his success into the next round as Hargraves tried getting his legs back. Hargraves had his best round in the 4th as he poured it on looking for some magic, hurting Godoy towards the end before Godoy caught him in the final seconds. Scores were 40-35, 39-36 twice for Godoy.
San Diego junior welterweight Emmanuel Robles (5-0-1, 2 KOs) returned following a seven-month layoff to dominate experienced journeyman Jaime Orrantia (26-28-5, 14 KOs) via four-round unanimous decision. Robles did good work, and it was obvious from the outset his opponent showed up to stay on his feet and not try to win. Orrantia came just short that, using a variety of veteran moves to stay vertical before finally tasting the canvas in the final round on what looked to be more of a slip than a clean knockdown. Robles employed a good jab and landed at a high clip with his power shots on the inside. Orrantia will surely return to his day job answering a plethora of questions about his badly swollen face. Robles prevailed by a shutout on all three cards, 40-35.
Eduardo Rivera (8-0-1, 3 KOs) of Merida Yucatan, Mexico earned a unanimous decision over career opponent Adolfo Landeros (22-27-2, 10 KOs) in their four-round junior lightweight bout. The experienced Landeros extended Rivera the distance but mostly played defense. Landeros laid on the ropes for extended periods of time in the first few rounds and that is when Rivera did his best work. Landeros had a moment here and there but never enough to really make a case for winning a round. The official scores read 40-36 thrice in favor of Rivera.
Debuting flyweight Jesus Rojas (1-0) of Columbus, Ohio narrowly escaped with a victory over tough Christian Salgado (1-3) of Ensenada, Mexico in their four-round bout by split-decision. The fight began with Rojas getting tagged by the first left hook Salgado threw right at the opening bell, but Rojas adjusted and seemed to edge his opponent in a majority of the rounds in this nip-and-tuck battle. Rojas enjoyed his best edge in the final round when Salgado seemed a bit spent, but only prevailed on two of the three judges’ cards by 39-37 margins with Salgado winning 39-37 on the third card.
In a four-round light heavyweight bout, Donald Anderson (2-0, KO) of Columbus, Ohio outpointed Jose Jesus Hurtado (3-5, 3 KOs) of San Ysidro, Calif. in a tougher than expected bout. Anderson started out strong, using his height and reach to accurately tag Hurtado without letting him get inside. In round 2 it looked as though it would be more of the same, but Anderson stopped throwing, allowing Hurtado to mount some momentum. Anderson got back on track in round 3 but the action was pretty give and take. Anderson righted the ship in the final round to make sure he prevailed on the cards. The final scores favored Anderson 40-36 twice and 39-37.
In attendance was WBC 135-pound beltholder Antonio DeMarco, who was there to sign autographs and bring attention to his tough Sept. 8 clash with John Molina on the HBO televised undercard of Andre Ward-Chad Dawson in Oakland.
Mark Ortega can be reached via e-mail at ortegaliitr@gmail.com and followed via Twitter at www.twitter.com/MarkEOrtega. Mark also contributes to renowned boxing publications RING Magazine and Boxing Monthly, and is a member of the Boxing Writer’s Association of America and RING Ratings Advisory Panel.
