Photos - Tom Hogan/Golden Boy
Orange County welterweight Alexis “Lex” Rocha (19-1, 13 KOs) of Santa Ana, California handed Philadelphia’s Blair “The Flair” Cobbs (15-1-1, 10 KOs) his first defeat via ninth round stoppage Saturday night at the Galen Center at the USC campus in downtown Los Angeles.
Cobbs came out jabbing and circling as Rocha stalked and popped the jab to begin the fight. Rocha appeared to be on the receiving end of a clash as his right eye began to swell. In round two, Rocha connected with straight lefts followed by short rights as Cobbs popping the jab was on the receiving end those snapping punches. The short right hand kept landing for Rocha and he continued to back Cobbs in the third, but Cobbs began to get some rhythm. The pressure continued from Rocha, and he kept landing as Cobbs circled.
Rocha staggered Cobbs in the fifth round with a left and stood on top of him attacking patiently, Cobbs managed to survive. In the sixth, Rocha attacked as Cobbs bounced around and was on the receiving end of Rochas punches. Continuing to stay on top of Cobbs in the seventh, Rocha pressured as Cobbs began letting his hands go connecting effectively. A right hand in the seventh by Rocha dropped Cobbs as he was up. Rocha remained poised stalking and closed the round cornering, Cobbs.
Rocha continued where he left off backing Cobbs and finishing him in the ninth as the referee stepped in to stop the fight at 44 seconds.
In the co-main event, Michael “The Problem” McKinson (22-0, 2 KOs) of Portsmouth, won a unanimous decision over Alex Martin (17-5, 6 KOs) from Chicago. It was a lackluster fight drawing boos from the entire crowd, McKinson boxed and fought flashy most of the fight as Martin was limited in going the distance. .
The judges scores of 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93.
McKinson was slated to take on Vergil Ortiz in the main event, but Ortiz withdrew from the fight due to _.
Bektemir “Bully” Melikuziev (9-1, 7 KOs) of Indio, California scored a second-round knockout over David “La Pantera” Zegarra (34-8, 21 KOs) of Lima, Peru. Starting off at a slow pace, Melikuziev stalked as Zegarra kept his distance but in round two a crunching body shot by Melikuziev did as Zegarra went down, referee reached a ten count at
Parlier, California welterweight Evan Sanchez (11-0, 6 KOs) and Alejandro Munera (6-5-4, 5 KOs) from Medellin, Colombia went the distance as Sanchez won a unanimous decision in opening the DAZN stream. Sanchez and Munera did not hold back trading shots in the opening round. Munera fought awkwardly as the southpaw Sanchez threw and connected with straight punches in round two as they continued to trade. It continued to be street fight in round three with Sanchez keeping his distance landing his shots and Munera connecting with the hard punches.
In the fourth round, a right hook by Sanchez dropped Munera as he got up, shortly after Sanchez stumbled and slipped to finish the round. Sanchez and Munera continued to exchange late in the fight, the sixth and final round saw the two fighters staying close trading away.
All three judges scored the bout 60-53 in favor of Sanchez.
Super welterweight Alex Rincon (10-0, 7 KOs) of Dallas, Texas, scored a second-round knockout over Puerto Rico’s Luis Sanchez (9-3, 6 KOs). Rincon sent Sanchez to the canvas twice as he tried getting up a second time but staggered on his way up as the referee stopped the fight at 1:44. Prior to the official announcement and time, Rincon collapse in his corner but appeared to be ok as he was looked at by the ringside physician.
Local undefeated bantamweight John “Scrappy” Ramirez (9-0,7 KOs) of Los Angeles won a one-sided decision over Roberto “Escorpion” Pucheta (10-21-3, 6 KOa) of Jalisco, Mexico. Fighting at a fast pace, Ramirez came out shooting the jab and countering in the opening round. Ramirez came out attacking in round two, connecting solid with the right fighting flashy as he circled Pucheta. In the third, Ramirez backed Pucheta to the ropes continuing to attack and outwork him.
Halfway through the fight in the fourth, Ramirez kept at it letting his hands go. The right-hand kept landing for Ramirez in the fifth as he countered, snapping Pucheta’s head. Finishing strong, Ramirez stayed busy touching up Pucheta mixing it up as he worked his way to the unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout 60-54.
Lightweight prospect Miguel Gaona (2-0, 1 KO) of Los Angeles made quick work of Mexico City’s Gilberto Aguilar (0-5). A body shot did it as the referee reached a ten count at 30 seconds of the first round.
Lightweight Delis Kaleiopu (2-0, 1 KOs) of Walanae, Hawaii, won a unanimous decision over Mexico’s Manuel Lara (2-8). Kaleiopu did what he had to do, flooring an overmatched Manuel Lara (2-8) early in the bout before stopping him with another knockdown at 2:15 of the fourth round.
West L.A’s Alejandro Reyes (7-0, 4KOs) won a unanimous decision over Daniel Evangelista Jr. (20-12-2, 16 KOs) of Mexico City in a 6-round super lightweight fight. Scored a knockdown early in the fight in the third round. Evangelista was deducted a point in the fifth for holding and hitting behind the head. Reyes finished strong in route to the decision win. All three judges scored the bout 60-52.
In the opening bout from the Galen Center at the campus of USC in downtown Los Angeles, London female super bantamweight Ramla Ali (5-0) scored a second-round knockout over Toronto’s Shelly Barnett (5-7-2).
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