De La Hoya stops Salgado, remains unbeaten

Fightnews.com

By Boxing Bob Newman at ringside
Photos: Andy Newman

In the main event at Verona, New York’s Turning Stone Resort and Casino, Diego De La Hoya and Jose Salgado picked up where they were supposed to start six months ago. This fight was originally supposed to come off in December 2017, but Diego weighed in a whopping four pounds heavy and the bout was scrapped.

In fact, this was mildly in jeopardy as De La Hoya was heavy again, this time by a quarter pound, An hour later, it was all systems go as he made weight on the money to defend his NABF/NABO super bantamweight titles in the ring, instead of losing them on the scale.

De La Hoya came out aggressively, going right at Salgado with punches in bunches. By the end of round one, Salgado’s nose was bloodied and his left eye red from clashes of heads. In the second, Salgado was cut on the right eye from a clash of heads. After referee Mark Nelson took a look at the damage, he waived the action on and Salgado raced toward De La Hoya, but not landing anything of note. Round three saw De La Hoya in command, snapping Salgado’s head back and forth, reddening his face and worsening the cut. Salgado went down near the end of round four from a tangle of feet and De La Hoya’s forward momentum, Referee Mark Nelson ruling it a slip.

Another cut opened up, this time on Salgado’s left eye, from a punch in the fifth. De La Hoya began pot-shotting Salgado at will and referee Nelson took a serious look at the punishment Salgado was taking. If nothing else, Salgado was too tough for his own good. In round six, De La Hoya landed a straight right to the tip of Salgado’s chin, causing him to sag ever so slightly into the ropes. De La Hoya surged but Salgado absorbed and hung in there, doing just enough to keep Nelson from stepping in. No matter, after the seventh, Salgado’s corner did the deed, saving there fighter from further punishment and asking referee Mark Nelson to end the bout. The official call was a TKO7 for De La Hoya, now 21-0, 10 KOs. The tough-as-nails Salgado falls to 35-5-2, 28 KOs. De La Hoya retains his NABF/NABO super bantamweight titles.

In an intriguing semi-main event matchup of super welterweight prospects, undefeated Travell Mazion locked horns with once beaten Daquan (Arnett) Pauldo. The 6’1” Mazion patiently stalked the 5’10” Pauldo in round one, pumping the left jab from his hip. In the second, Pauldo had some success in cutting off the ring, finally tagging Mazion along the ropes and drawing reaction from the crowd. In the third, Mazion went back to controlling the pace with his jab, but a long right hand to the head staggered Mazion with 0:13 to go in the round. Mazion escaped further punishment. The action was paced with a mix of confidence and respect from and for each fighter. Round five saw Pauldo land some nice singular shots again, staggering Mazion once more. Pauldo gave chase to finish the round with momentum against a retreating Mazion. Round six saw Mazion get on his toes, mugging, juking and jiving, trying to frustrate Pauldo, who didn’t fall for the tactics. While Mazion flicked a snappy jab of his toes, it landed infrequently. With little over a minute to go in round seven, both fighters tagged each other to the head in a five second flurry, bringing the crowd to life and a mocking, bug-eyed face from Mazion. It was a case of Pauldo’s eye-catching singular shots versus Mazion’s flashy style. All-in-all, it was a clean fight. Punch stats showed both fighters landing at 29%, connect rate, but Mazion threw 99 more and landed 28 more overall. The judges favored his work rate by scores of 77-75 twice and 78-74 for Mazion who moves to 13-0, 11 KOs. The hard luck Pauldo goes to 17-2, 9 KOs. The crowd was definitely in disagreement, booing the decision loudly.

In the walkout swing bout of the evening, Puerto Rico’s Danielito Zorrilla stopped Julio Perez of Framingham, MA with a left to the body at :37 of round two. Referee Gary Rosato appeared at first to rule a low blow or some sort of foul, then, began to count, reaching ten. Zorrilla moves to 7-0, 6 KOs. Perez falls to 4-3.

Elongated southpaw Super welterweight Alex Rincon made quick work of flabby Engelberto Valenzuela in a scheduled four rounder. Golden Boy prospect Rincon, used his jab and wicked hooks to the body to drop Valenzuela twice en route to a first round TKO at 1:35. Rincon is now 4-0, 4 KOs, while Valenzuela continues south at 11-14, 3 KOs.

“Bullet Proof” Lawrence Gabriel is making up for lost time in his stalled career. After appearing on last month’s Sadam Ali-Jaime Munguia card here at the Turning Stone, Gabriel was right back in the ring against Buffalo’s Jimmy Levins. The 220 lb. Levins was no match for the taller, better conditioned Gabriel as he sustained two official knockdowns (there were other “non-knockdown” trips to the canvas). Referee Charlie Fitch felt he had seen enough, calling an end to matters at 1:56 of round two. Gabriel is now 3-1-1, 2 KOs. Levins still needs his first win, at 0-3.

Former middleweight prospect Isaac Rodrigues of Moca Ajuba, Brazil made his return to Verona, NY a successful one as he took on Chesapeake, VA police officer Frankie Filippone. Local fight fans may remember Rodrigues having three fights here at “the Stone” where he looked like he’d go on a tear after his tough win over Bryan Vera. But then he got derailed by Samuel Miller and journeyman Jose Medina, both by brutal knockouts. After a quiet comeback in Brazil, Rodriguez returned with a tough fight against Filippone. “The Freight Train” used his southpaw stance and experience to befuddle Rodrigues over the first three rounds. With both eyes swelling badly, Rodrigues finally got his timing down and dropped Filippone with a straight right in round four. Up at at and unsteady, Filippone took two more shots and went down just as referee Gary Rosato stepped in to the rescue. The tine was 1:46 of round four. Rodrigues is now 25-2, 20 KOs. Filippone slides to 25-8-1, 9 KOs.

The opening bout of the evening in Verona, New York at Turning Stone Casino saw debuting cruiserweights Armus Guyton of Ithaca, NY and Mike Diorio of Cortland, NY go at it in a four round bout. The switch-hitting Guyton showed a tad more skill and punch output to secure a 39-37, (twice) 40-36 decision win. Diorio was cut over the left eye in round three. Guyton goes to 1-0 while Diorio starts out at 0-1.