Junior lightweight prospect George Acosta overcame a knockdown to stop Marlin Sims late Friday night at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, California.

Acosta, who resides in nearby Whittier, goes to 14-1 (2 knockouts).

Within a minute from the opening bell, the southpaw Sims dropped Acosta with a lead straight left to the head. Acosta was not visibly hurt and fought back well to end the first round.

Acosta was the aggressor from the second round on, walking Sims down and connecting with combinations to the head and body. Sims looked overwhelmed as Acosta backed him against the ropes or in a corner, covering up as Acosta unleashed an effective barrage of punches.

Towards the end of the third round, Sims looked exhausted but refused to tie up as Acosta continued his onslaught of punches. Finally, Sims slumped to the canvas, against the ropes, as referee Ray Corona waved the fight off at 2:25.

The 26-year-old Acosta was originally scheduled to face Sims last year, but the California State Athletic Commission did not clear Sims for that fight. In his previous fight on July 22, Acosta defeated Isaac Avelar by unanimous decision. He has now won his last seven bouts since his decision loss to lightweight prospect Ruben Torres in May 2019. 

“We wanted to start out fast and strong, but he caught me with a good left hand,” said Acosta after the fight. “It was a solid punch and it was a flash knockdown. He’s a good fighter. 

“I had to put pressure in the second and third rounds. I had caught him to the body with a flurry of punches at the end of the first round. I knew I had hurt him then. I think I hurt him again in the second round. I noticed he was shaking his head and I knew he didn’t like fighting on the inside. I wanted to switch it up and come forward. I kept putting pressure and that’s what I did to get the knockout.”

Sims, who is originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, drops to 8-2 (4 KOs). He lost his previous fight to Dominique Crowder in January 2021. 

In the co-feature bout of the Thompson Boxing Promotions card, an action-filled clash of unbeaten junior middleweights saw Nelson Oliva of Los Angeles defeat Wayne Boudreaux by unanimous decision. 

Scores were 58-56, 58-56 and 60-54 for Oliva, who goes to 6-0 (5 KOs). The 60-54 scorecard for Oliva did not reflect the competitiveness of the fight, as Boudreaux came to fight. Oliva landed the more-telling punches throughout a majority of the fight. 

After the scorecards were announced, a majority of the crowd booed the decision, likely not agreeing with the 60-54 scorecard for Oliva. 

Boudreaux, who resides in Marrero, Louisiana, drops to 2-1 (1 KO). 

Welterweight prospect Elias Diaz of National City, California, improved to 12-1 (7 KOs) by knocking out David Thomas in the opening round. 

Diaz dropped Thomas near the end of the opening round. Thomas quickly stood up, but wobbled around the ring, prompting referee Jerry Cantu to stop the fight at 2:59.

Welterweight Juan Sanchez, now 6-0 (5 KOs), of nearby Buena Park, defeated Albuquerque’s Xavier Madrid (4-2, 2 KOs) by unanimous decision. Scores were 60-53, 60-53 and 59-54 for Sanchez, who scored a knockdown in the sixth round. 

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

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