(Jose Ramirez crumples Charlie Dubray; photo credit: Chris Farina, Top Rank)
LAS VEGAS — In the opening bout of the afternoon, junior welterweight Manuel Lopez improved his record to 2-0 (2 KO) by scoring a technical knockout in two rounds over awkward Las Vegas native Jason Tresvan. Lopez had to find a bit of a groove, as Tresvan’s head movement and weird style posed a few issues. By the end of the1st round, however, Lopez found a way in and began hammering Tresvan to the body — even through a near chest-high foul protecor. Lopez swarmed in round 2 and forced a stoppage when Tresvan fell into a corner, clearly rocked. Tresvan’s record falls to 0-2 (0 KO).
Welterweight Roberto Lopez’s face had difficulty holding itself together against Juan Heraldez, despite giving a game effort in spots. By the end of 4 rounds, Heraldez left the ring with a 5-0 (4 KO) ledger, and Lopez left with a badly swollen mug. Most of the bout consisted of Lopez stalking ineffectively while getting peppered by sharper, crisper shots from Heraldez, though the latter scored a knockdown in round 2 with a right-left combination. Lopez, now 4-5-2 (1 KO), looked to have a busted sniffer, a cut lower lip and two swelled up eyes.
A surprisingly entertaining heavyweight fight between Brett Rather and Juan Guajardo saw a lot of punches flying for a scrap between big men, and a close decision in favor of Las Vegas native Rather. Guajardo managed to send Rather down in the 1st round and follow up nicely, but he likely lost the next three rounds, though not for lack of toughness or effort. Guajardo gassed out as a result of trying to close the show, but showed that Rather is fairly easy to hit if you’re willing to withstand good body work. Rather is now 3-0 (0 KO), while Guajardo moves to 2-1 (1 KO). Scores were 38-37 across the board.
Junior Featherweight Tramaine Williams, 6-0 (2 KO), pitched a shut out over a relatively stationary target in New Mexico’s John Herrera in the fourth bout of the card. While Williams proved to have quick hands and a vaguely Pernell Whitaker-esque style, Herrera did little more than walk forward and showcase Williams’ hand speed. At a few points, Williams had no difficulty landing several southpaw left hands to the head in a row, and Herrera did nothing about it. Scorecards read 40-36 thrice for Williams. Herrera falls to 4-6-1 (2 KO).
Up until 1:49 of the 5th round, Michael Finney wasn’t showing more than a gear or two in smacking around fellow junior middleweight Osvaldo Rojas, who was content to lay on the ropes and take shots, only occasionally lashing out. In round 4, Finney doubled Rojas over with body shots, but Rojas fought back hard and stayed upright. But two left hands to the body in round 5 were too much, and Rojas fell — both to the canvas and to 7-3-2 (2 KO). Despite his now 11-0 (9 KO) record, Finney actually got hit with left hooks easily and didn’t appear to be doing much adjusting. But when he did, it mattered.
In a junior welterweight bout, Charlie Dubray lasted 1:06 against 2012 Olympian Jose Ramirez, who clearly walked through the ropes looking for blood. Though the bout was short, the gap in class was very clear, as Dubray generally threw punches with his head down. A left hook to the body followed by a combination upstairs put Dubray down moments into the fight, and another left hook to the body put Dubray down for good and raised Ramirez’ record to 2-0 (2 KO). Dubray, from Hastings, Nebraska, goes to 1-1 (1 KO).
Miguel “El Alacran” Berchelt also made quick work of his foe, overwhelming Carlos Claudio in 1:53 of the 1st round and forcing referee Kenny Bayless to step in. The first 90 seconds were relatively uneventful, with Berchelt closing in while Claudio tried to stay away, but a left hand had Claudio covering up against the ropes. At that point, Berchelt unloaded a good dozen unanswered shots, most of which didn’t land, but Claudio could do nothing more than turtle up and wait to be saved. Berchelt left the ring with a 17-0 (14 KO) record, while Claudio’s now stands at 15-10-3 (8 KO).
