Angel Rodriguez’s right hand dominates in Glendale
GLENDALE, California – Angel Rodriguez landed right hand after right hand to the head of Sergio Nunez on Saturday night. It may not have a creative game plan, but it worked extremely well for Rodriguez throughout the fight.
Rodriguez mostly dominated the bout with his one-armed attack, winning an eight-round unanimous decision over Sergio Nunez at the Civic Auditorium in this Los Angeles suburb.
With the win, Rodriguez improves to 12-1 (5 knockouts), while Nunez drops to 12-2-1 (8 KOs).
The Angel Rodriguez-Sergio Nunez fight replaced the originally scheduled main event bout between Saul Rodriguez and Jerry Nardo. Saul Rodriguez withdrew from the bout two weeks ago when he came down with a case of the chicken box.
Angel Rodriguez entered Saturday’s bout having won his last three bouts in row, while Nunez had won his last two.
From the opening bell, Rodriguez’s right hand landed repeatedly in the form of either lead straight rights or counter right crosses.
As the bout progressed, the area around Nunez’s left eye began to show the effects of those blows.
There were times throughout the bout when Nunez tried to mount an offense, but a Rodriguez right hand to the head would thwart that offense. By the end of the fight, Nunez looked fatigued and frustrated, throwing very little punches with any effect.
All three judges scored the bout in favor of Rodriguez, 78-74, 78-74, and 79-73.
Clary bests Solis
In the co-feature bout, junior featherweight Toka Kahn Clary won a convincing eight-round unanimous decision over Edwin Solis.
With the win, Clary improves to 15-0 (9 KOs), while Solis drops to 6-3-3 (4 KOs).
In his last bout on Dec. 13, Clary won a one-sided eight-round unanimous decision over Camilo Perez. Prior to Saturday’s bout, Solis was unbeaten in his previous six bouts.
Solis pressed the action in the first two rounds, landing lead right crosses to the head of the southpaw Clary. Solis was able to connect to the body as well.
Clary began to find a rhythm in the third round. He was able to counter Solis with right hooks or land lead left crosses to the head. Clary looked as though he stunned Solis on a few occasions with those same punches in the third and fourth rounds.
Solis’ punch output dropped considerably in the second half of the fight. Solis seemed to exert a lot of energy pursuing Clary around the ring, throwing less and less combinations with each passing round. Clary hurt Solis with a combination to the head with about a minute left in the eighth round, but the Mexican-born fighter was able to make it to the final bell.
All three judges scored the bout in favor of Clary, 78-74, 78-74, and 78-73.
In other bouts:
– Light heavyweight Egor Mekhontsev (8-0, 7 KOs) won by technical knockout at 31 seconds of the first round when his opponent, Marcelo DaSilva (18-5, 12 KOs), suffered an injury to his left bicep.
– Junior welterweight Gloferson Ortizo (3-0-1) won a four-round majority decision over Ray Mena (1-1-1). One judge scored the bout 38-38, while the other two judges scored the bout 39-37 in favor of Ortizo.
– Junior featherweight Luis Sedano (4-0-1, 1 KO) and Karl Garcia fought to a split-decision draw over four rounds. Garcia (4-4-1, 1 KO) dropped Sedano in the third round with a left hook. One judge had each fighter winning 38-37, while the third judge scored the bout 38-38.
– Welterweight Arnold Barboza (6-0, 2 KOs) stopped James Harrison (3-7-1, 1 KO) at 1:45 of the fourth round.
– In the opening bout of the Top Rank card, middleweight Cem Kilic stopped Tony Juarez at 2:51 of the second round. Juarez was brutally dropped and remained on the canvas after referee Zach Young stopped the bout at 2:51. Juarez had to be carried out of the ring on a stretcher.
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