By Miguel Maravilla at ringside

LA Fight Club kicked off its 2017 season as San Antonio, Texas’s Joshua “The Professor” Franco (9-0, 5 KOs) scored a third round knockout against Ensenada, Mexico’s Victor “Dragon” Pasillas (8-6-2, 5 KOs) on Friday night at the Belasco Theater in downtown Los Angeles in the Boxeo Estelar on Estrella super-flyweight main event.

By Fightnews.com

Firing away combinations in the opening round, Franco boxed well as he kept Pasillas away. Continuing to throw combinations Franco outworked Pasillas as he came straight at Franco’s punches. A left hook inside followed by a right uppercut from Franco staggered Pasillas and as he went down, referee Raul Caiz stopped the fight 2:32.

East L.A.’s Jonathan “Thunder” Navarro (8-0, 5 KOs) won a unanimous decision overAngel “El Picosito” Rodriguez (5-7-3, 4 KOs) in a scheduled six round featherweight bout. Navarro traded with Rodriguez as he pressed forward behind the jab following with the right in the early rounds. Going to the body, Navarro began to chop down Rodriguez as he looked tired halfway through the fight. Rodriguez wasn’t done as he connected solidly on Navarro late in the fight. Navarro and Rodriguez traded in the final round. The judges scores were 60-54, 60-54, and 59-55.

Opening up the Boxeo Estelar on Estrella TV telecast lightweight prospect Ryan “Kingry” Garcia (7-0, 6 KOs) of Victorville, California stopped Devon Jones (2-1, 1 KO) of Louisiana in two rounds of a scheduled six round lightweight bout. A straight right hand by Garcia hurt Jones as Garcia followed up with his attack dropping Jones twice in the opening round. Jones charged at Garcia as he scored two more knockdowns prompting referee Raul Caiz Sr. to stop the fight at 55 seconds into round two.

In the opening bout from the Belasco Theater in downtown Los Angeles, super lightweight David Mijares (5-0, 3 KOs) of Santa Monica won a unanimous decision over Evincii Dixon (7-16-2, 2 KOs) of Lancaster, Pennsylvania in a scheduled six-round bout. Mijares worked patiently as he found his spots connecting on Dixon and outworking him in the first half of the fight. Mijares’s nose was busted in the fourth round but despite that he kept mixing up the attack on Dixon. The Pennsylvania fighter Dixon held his own in the later rounds connecting solidly as a bloodied Mijares had to work hard for the decision win. Judges scored the fight 60-54, 60-54, and 58-56.