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Dallas stops Castro in FNF main event

Fighters Network
23
Jun

Mike Dallas Jr. took another step toward rebuilding his reputation in the junior welterweight divsion with an impressive sixth-round stoppage of Javier Castro in the main event of a Friday Night Fights show in San Jacinto, Calif.

Dallas (19-2-1, 8 knockouts) controlled most of the scheduled 12-round bout with his jab, lateral movement and periodic body attacks until he badly wobbled Castro with a right hand midway through the sixth round. The speedy 25-year-old boxer from Bakersfield, Calif., pursued his wounded prey with hard hooks and crosses until Dr. Lou Moret stepped in to spare Castro undue punishment at 2:06 of the round.

Going into the ESPN2-televised bout, Dallas was only one fight removed from back-to-back losses to Josesito Lopez (KO 7) and Mauricio Herrera (MD 10) suffered last year. The knockout and controversial decision loss cost Dallas his “prospect” status among fans and the boxing media, but he appears on his way to earning the respect of a solid pro in 2012 with his shutout victory over Miguel Gonzalez (20-2) in February and Friday night’s stoppage of Castro (27-5, 22 KOs), who had won three bouts by knockout going into their fight.

In the co-featured bout of the Goossen Tutor-promoted card, junior middleweight prospect Brandon Gonzales scored a shutout decision over game Elie Augustama. The 28-year-old Sacramento resident was in command throughout the fight but he suffered two lacerations above his left eye in the fourth round that bled down his face for the remainder of the eight-round bout.



Gonzalez (16-0, 10 KOs), who won by unanimous scores of 80-72, was the busier and more aggressive fighter, especially so after he suffered the gash above his left eye, which Bay Area-based boxing writer Ryan Maquinana reports was a reopened cut that Gonzales suffered in a sparring session. Gonzales kept the training injury mum to stay on the Friday Night Fights card.

His gamble paid off. He looked good dominating the dangerous journeyman. Augustama, a 6-foot-1 boxer-puncher from Haiti, dropped and outworked unbeaten prospect DonYil Livingston in his last fight in March.

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