Ornelas wins vacant NABA title in Las Vegas

Fightnews.com

By Jeff Zimmerman

Local fan favorite bantamweight Max Ornelas earned the NABA title in a tough but convincing victory over Fort Worth’s Tony Lopez at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas as the main event of the Roy Jones Jr. Boxing Card that was also shown live on beIN Sports. The scores read 79-73 twice and 80-72 for the UNLV student, a criminal justice major, who had the crowd chanting his name throughout the fight.

Ornelas displayed a crisp jab from the opening bell while Lopez mostly stayed in a defensive posture to fend on the 19-year-old aptly called the “baby face assassin.” Ornelas was not surprised by the tactics of the defensive-minded Lopez.

“I knew that was going to happen. I know he gets tired as the rounds go so I kept pushing and I knew he would be in that defensive stance, so I was working on shots just to take advantage of it.”

Lopez did have his moments on occasion landing a big left hand but never seemed to get in a rhythm until the final round when he let his hands go and landed some solid uppercuts and left hooks to the head of Ornelas. Ornelas stayed patient throughout and was content on snapping his jab and right hand in the face of Lopez all night.

“I felt I was in control from the 1st round to the 2nd to the 3rd, I kept getting more comfortable, found my rhythm, figured him out and I was able to keep him on the outside.”

Ornelas added, “I knew what he was going to do, I studied his fights, wait for me to come in and counter punch to land his big left hand, but I think I did pretty good to avoid all that.”

Ornelas also said he was never hurt by Lopez.

“He said step in there with the big boy and I stepped in there and took his best shot and kept taking them and taking them, but he didn’t really do anything that surprised me.”

It was a very emotional win for Ornelas to win the vacant NABA title in front of his family and friends.

“It’s something I have been working on since I was a little kid, working hard, kept going at it, never quit since I was 7 years old.”

Jimmy Williams vs. Marquis Taylor

In the co-main event, welterweights Jimmy Williams and Marquis Taylor fought a rugged yet entertaining fight over 8 rounds. There were no knockdowns in the fight, however Taylor, the taller of two, had success with his right hand and left hook when he stayed on the outside of Williams. Williams success was found on the inside where he was able to land shots to the body of Taylor. Both guys held, but Referee Robert Byrd let them punch their way out.

Williams, with the legendary Eddie Mustafa Muhammad in his corner, couldn’t land consistently even when inside. Taylor made his presence known in the latter part of the 1st round as he had Williams against the ropes and landed some big blows. Taylor used a snapping jab in the 3rd round to keep Williams from bullying forward and in rounds 4-7, Taylor was landing the cleaner, sharper punches. Even on the inside with his longer arms, Taylor was having more success than Williams.

Taylor came away with the tough, but unanimous decision with scores of 79-73 twice and 80-72.

Shady Gamhour vs. Erasmo Garcia

Roy Jones Jr. middleweight fighter Shady Gamhour (7-0, 6 KOs) made his coach proud with a dominating performance against the game but overmatched Erasmo Garcia (5-3, 3 KOs). Gamhour started slow as he was looking to find his range but by the 2nd round it was clear this fight wasn’t going the full 6 rounds. Gamhour and Garcia both landed shots although Gamhour were far more effective than the wild Garcia. In the 3rd round, Gamhour landed an overhand right to open up Garcia and then unleashed a flurry of punches that had Garcia against the ropes. Gamhour landed a right, followed by a left as Garcia finally dropped to the canvas after taking a beating. Referee Russell Mora had seen enough and stopped the action to the dismay of Garcia. The official time was 2:32 as Gamhour remained undefeated with the TKO.

Carlos Hernandez vs. Tommy Browne

Super welterweight Tommy Browne (36-7, 14 KOs) dropped Carlos Hernandez (15-18, 12 KOs) twice in the first round and earned the TKO at 1:04 of the very 1st round. Referee Robert Byrd gave a quick glance to Garcia as he got to his knees but decided he had enough. Browne got his 36th win with the first-round victory.

Gabriel Flores Jr vs. Alejandro Rochin

Lightweight Gabriel Flores Jr (7-0, 5 KOs) showed his superior skills against the tough and gritty Alejandro Rochin (5-2, 3 KOs) over 6 rounds to win a unanimous decision in the opening bout of the Roy Jones Jr. Boxing card at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas. Flores Jr., the youngest ever to be signed by Top Rank at 16 made his Las Vegas debut, and had to work hard to earn the win against Rochin out of Mexico. All 3 judges scored it 60-54.

Flores Jr. displayed fast hands and kept good distance to land his left hook to the head and body plus big overhand rights in the 3rd and 4th round that rocked Rochin.

“Yea that’s 2nd nature to me, slipping a punch, countering him, keeping my distance, that’s 2nd nature to me. I can go in there blind folded and that’s what I would do, because that’s what my instincts are to do.”

Rochin though showed he came for a fight and stood toe to toe with the multi-talented Flores Jr. and even backed him up from time to time. Flores Jr. looked like he wanted to finish Rochin.

“My mindset was just to look good, I wasn’t worried about stopping him. I was just in there, my mind was cloudy, I couldn’t think of anything, I couldn’t think of combinations, I just fought, I didn’t fight a gameplan, that is the worst thing ever. That’s the one thing I could say I didn’t fight with a game plan, I just fought in there and I got by.”

Rochin, a grown man, looked physically strong, but that’s no excuse according to Flores Jr.

“I fought a long strong people in my life, but strong doesn’t make a difference in the ring to me. It’s about the skills, everything in there the fundamentals. I just felt like I wasn’t my A game tonight. On a 1-10 rating I would give it about a 7,” stated Flores Jr.

Flores Jr. will be back in the ring on the undercard of Crawford-Horn June 9th and looks to do better by his own assessment.

“I’m getting excited to fight in a big time Vegas fight, prove myself and make myself feel better about myself. I’m happy I won, I did great, tremendous, but I can’t wait to go in there and see another performance from me.”

Jamie Gomez vs. Ivan Ortiz

In a back and forth slugfest, super featherweights Jamie Gomez (0-0-1) and Ivan Ortiz (0-1-1) went toe to toe over four rounds. The scores read 39-37 for each fighter and 38-38 declaring it a split draw that had the crowd on it’s feet until the final bell.

Photos: Manny Mitts Murillo/Roy Jones Jr. Boxing Promotions

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