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Joseph Diaz Jr., Frankie Gomez score shutout decisions

Fighters Network
23
Oct

Featherweight prospect Joseph Diaz Jr. remained unbeaten with shutout 10-round decision over Ruben Tamayo in the main event of a Golden Boy Promotions card at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California on Saturday.

Diaz (18-0, 10 knockouts), a 2012 U.S. U.S. Olympian from South El Monte, California, outclassed Tamayo (23-7-4, 15 KOs) from the opening round of the Estrella TV-televised fight, beating the 26-year-old Mexican spoiler to the punch while defending well during almost every exchange. Diaz was in complete command of the bout and was able to do everything he wanted to do except hurt or drop his iron-willed opponent, who gave two-time Mexican Olympian Oscar Valdez a tough 10 rounds in his last bout.

Diaz won every round on all three judges scorecards, winning the bout by unanimous 100-90 tallies, in what was arguably the finest performance of his professional career so far.



The co-feature to the seven-bout card, Frankie Gomez scored a 10-round unanimous decision over Jorge Silva by unanimous scores of 100-90. However, unlike Diaz’s shutout decision, Gomez had to take his share of lumps en route to his hard-earned “W.” Gomez, a 23-year-old former amateur standout from East L.A., landed accurate power shots to Silva’s head and body but he wasn’t able to overwhelm the game Tijuana native with his sporadic offense. Silva, a 23-year-old gatekeeper, was able to pound Gomez’s body and cut and bruise the prospect’s left eye.

An accidental clash of heads at the end of round 9, opened up a nasty gash on Silva’s hairline above his left eye and produced a slash on the outside corner of Gome’s left eye, which made for a bloody Round 10, which featured intense two-way action to the delight of the crowd.

Gomez, who hadn’t fought since 2014 because his failure to make weight scrapped a scheduled showdown with Humberto Soto in May, was able to knock a lot of rust off with the tough 10 rounder. However, his failure to make the contracted 147 pounds for the bout with Silva (19-10-2, 15 KOs) — he came in at 150 (with his second attempt at Thursday’s weigh-in — has many fans and boxing insiders questioning the Freddie Roach-trained fighter’s dedication to the sport and his potential.

In a matchup of unbeaten young super middleweights, Alberto Fundora (6-0, 2 KOs), of nearby Coachella, California, came on strong in the second half of a brisk six rounder to earn a unanimous decision over Richard Romero (3-1, 3 KOs). Fundora, who was able to hold his form better in the final rounds, won by scores of 59-55 and 58-56 (twice).

In a special heavyweight attraction, Paul Ritter (1-1), a 29-year-old former college basketball player from Lithuania, scored a four-round decision over 20-year-old Relanzo Richard Jr., who was making his pro debut. Ritter, a heavyweight project trained by John Bray, scored two knockdowns in Round 2 to clinch his victory by scores of 38-35 (twice) and 37-36.

Welterweight prospect Keandre Gibson (14-0-1, 6 KOs) scored an impressive second round knockout against late sub Thomas Howard in a middleweight bout. Gibson, a talented 23-year-old boxer from St. Louis, blasted Howard (8-5, 4 KOs), a middleweight journeyman from Trenton, Michigan, with a one-two combination. The fight was stopped 55 seconds into the round.

Former Muy Thai kickboxing champ Melsik Baghdasaryan, of Glendale, California by way of Armenia, improved to 3-0, with 1 KO, with a four-round majority decision over Diego Padilla (1-2), of Los Angeles.

Marco Magdaleno, the 19-year-old younger brother of boxing standouts Diego and Jessie Magdaleno, won his pro debut with a first-round stoppage of 30-year-old Phil Bounds, who was also making his pro debut.

 

Email Fischer at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @dougiefischer

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