SUNDAY PUNCH IN LOS ANGELES

In a sparking night of boxing, several prospects shone, while established star  Josesito Lopez proved he’s still capable of competing in the big time.

Riverside’s  former welterweight champion performed well  at Novo in downtown Los Angeles, scoring a clear decision over Mexican Saul Corral.

López (35-7), who stunned Víctor Ortiz in 2012 at the Staples Center, suffered defeats in hard fights against Canelo Alvarez, Marcos Maidana and Andre Berto. He had fought only once in the last two years, guided by  his new trainer, Robert Garcia.

Karlos Balderas, a fighter who shone in the Olympic Games despite not winning a medal for the US,  landed numerous power shots on Thomas Smith in the first round. Smith’s corner stopped the punishment before the second round started.

Meanwhile, Mexican Olympic medalist Misael Rodríguez defeated Brian True (1-7-1) by unanimous decision, with  scorecards of 40-36; however, although he suffered some complications due to his rival’s style.  Lightweight Alejandro Luna improved his record to 21-0 by defeating Andrey Klimov via  a unanimous decision win with scores of 97-93, 98-92, 97-93.

In another interesting fight, Maricela Cornejo (9-2) defeated Sydney LeBlanc by scores of 60-54, 60-54 and 59-55. Mexican Lindolfo Delgado defeated Luis Silva of Tijuana in the third round after Silva’s corner stopped the fight due to the punishment received.