
ORANGE, Calif. (Aug. 26, 2019) - In the night's lone upset, Puerto Rico's Edwin Rodriguez (11-5-1, 5 KOs) narrowly defeated previously unbeaten Saul Sanchez (12-1, 7 KOs) by split decision on Friday night from the outdoor venue of Omega Products International in Corona, California. The 10-round fight, which featured numerous rounds that were tough to score, produced a lot of action between the bantamweight sluggers. In the fifth, both engaged in a spirited back and forth that produced many tense moments.
"It was a terrific fight," remarked Hall of Fame broadcaster Rich Marotta, the TB Presentslivestream color commentator. "The fans got their money's worth tonight [Friday]."
In an odd scoring sequence, all three judges produced identical scores of 96-94, with two of the judges seeing the bout for Rodriguez and one having it for Sanchez.
"I feel like I did enough to get the win," said Sanchez after the fight. "I'll regroup from this and come back stronger."
In the entertaining co-feature, Luis Lopez (7-0-1, 3 KOs) and Demarcus Layton (7-1-1, 4 KOs) fought to a majority draw after both failed to create the necessary distance to earn the win. Lopez and Layton both were aggressive and each showed moments throughout the six-round fight.
Lopez was effective fighting in the pocket, while Layton preferred to land and set up shots off his long jab. One judge scored the bout for Layton at 58-56, while the remaining two had it even at 57-57.
Talented heavyweight Oscar Torrez (7-0, 4 KOs) dropped Miguel Cubos (13-21-1, 10 KOs)twice in route to a fifth round stoppage victory. A left-right combination in the fifth sent Cubos to one knee. Torrez had a distinct size advantage and used his jab to set-up the power attack that eventually ended Cubos' night. The official stoppage came at the 1:49 mark.
Unbeaten heavyweight prospect Gabriel Hernandez's (10-0, 9 KOs) knockout win streak ended at nine after his unanimous decision win over Daniel Najera (9-4-1, 4 KOs) on Friday night. Scores 60-54 and 59-55, twice.
Junior lightweight prospect Sebastian Salinas (2-0, 1 KOs) of Arlington, Tex. went the distance for the first time as a professional when he outpointed Michael Gaxiola (4-17) 40-36 across all scorecards in the "New Blood" show opener. Salinas, while wild and lacking precision in his punches, did land the stronger shots throughout the four-round fight.