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Alfonso Gomez boxes, brawls way to victory over Yoshihiro Kamegai

Fighters Network
20
Mar

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INDIO, California – While he is a little older and the legs may not be there, Alfonso Gomez proved he can still bang with the younger fighters.

On Friday night, that translated into victory.

Gomez first boxed, then brawled and out-hustled Yoshihiro Kamegai through 10 rounds, winning a unanimous decision inside the Special Events Center at the Fantasy Springs Casino. He improves to 25-6-2 (12 knockouts) while Kamegai drops to 25-3-1 (22 KOs).



Gomez dictated and controlled the action during the first three rounds. He was able to keep his distance with his jab, but was able to counter effectively with right hands or left hooks to the body. Whenever Gomez was in the pocket, he used angles to outland the Japanese fighter.

Undaunted, Kamegai increased his punch output in the fourth round and landed more often. In that same round, referee Raul Caiz Sr. deducted a point from Gomez for head-butting Kamegai.

Gomez seemed to win the middle rounds, but Kamegai came on in the seventh, unleashing some vicious hooks to the body and head, and again in the eighth round when the fighters traded blows.

There were times in the last three rounds when Gomez seemed to abandon the game plan of outboxing Kamegai. Instead, he stayed inside, throwing at will, something he has been known for in his fights against Arturo Gatti, Jesus Soto-Karass and Canelo Alvarez.

While it looked as though Gomez had slowed down, he seemed to find a second wind in the final two rounds, matching Kamegai’s offense on the inside or countering with right hands to the head.

All three judges scored the bout 98-91 in favor of Gomez.

It was Gomez’s first bout since winning a 10-round unanimous decision over Ed Paredes on July 9. Kamegai is best known for giving Robert Guerrero all he could handle for 12 rounds before losing a decision on June 21.

Rios decisions Frias

Featherweight Ronny Rios won a hard-fought 10-round unanimous decision over Sergio Frias.

Rios improves to 24-1 (10 KOs) while Frias falls to 16-5-2 (8 KOs).

It was Rios’ first fight since being stopped at the hands of Robinson Castellanos on Oct. 10. Frias had come in at 4-3-2 (1 KO) in his last nine bouts.

It was a competitive chess match between the two fighters early on. Frias seemed to stun Rios with a counter left hook to the head, but Rios fought on.

Rios took the initiative from the second round on. He peppered Frias with repeated jabs to the head, following them up with right crosses or straight rights. As the bout progressed, Rios began walking Frias down more, even attacking Frias to the body.

There were times Frias would land an occasional hook or cross, especially in the seventh round. Rios swung the momentum back in his direction in the eighth round, landing repeatedly with counter left hooks to the head of Frias.

Both fighters had their moments in the final round. Frias pressed the action, but Rios countered well to the head and body while maintaining his distance until the final bell.

All three judges scored the bout in favor of Rios, 99-91, 99-91, and 98-92.

Kavanagh stops Zamudio

Lightweight Jamie Kavanagh survived a second-round knockdown to stop Miguel Zamudio after the fifth round.

After a competitive opening round, both fighters increased their punch output in the second. Towards the end of the round, Zamudio landed a left-right combination to the body of Kavanagh, dropping him to the canvas. Kavanaugh was not visibly hurt.

The knockdown seemed to spur Kavanagh (18-1-1, 9 KOs) in the third round, as he began to increase his punch output and take the fight to Zamudio (29-7-1, 17 KOs). As the bout progressed, Zamudio’s output seemed to drop and he fought only in spurts while Kavanagh landed more punches.

After the fifth round, the ringside physician checked on Zamudio. Based on the amount of punishment Zamudio was taking and at the advice of the ringside physician, Caiz stopped the bout.

In other bouts:

– Junior lightweight Rafael Gramajo dropped Salvador Perez in the second round on his way to a four-round unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout 40-35 in favor of Gramajo.

– Junior lightweights Abraham Lopez and Juan Carlos Martinez fought to an eight-round majority draw. One judge scored the bout 77-75 for Lopez, while the other two judges scored the bout 76-76.

– In the opening bout of the Golden Boy Promotions card, welterweight Jose Marrufo won a six-round unanimous decision over Alberto Herrera. All three judges scored the bout in favor of Marrufo, 60-54, 60-54, and 59-55.

– In the walkout bout of the evening, super middleweight Jason Quigley stopped Tolutomi Agunbiade in the second round. Time was 1:41.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV since October of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Salazar also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, Boxingscene.com, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing

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