By David Robinett at ringside

2012 U.S. Olympian Marlen Esparza won her professional debut over tough but overmatched Rachel Sazoff (0-3), earning a unanimous four-round decision in the flyweight bout by scores of 40-36 on all three cards. Esparza, who just missed out on also qualifying for the 2016 Olympics, is part of a wave of female Olympians in America and abroad who have been turning pro now that the Olympics has created a pipeline of young female talent into the sport. Here, Esparza really did nothing more than get her first fight jitters out of the way, teeing off on MMA fighter and novice boxer Sazoff, who took a lot of punishment and showed heart but was otherwise uncompetitive.

Another bright young star in the Golden Boy Promotions stable of young prospects, 20-year old super lightweight Hector Tanajara Jr., (8-0, 4 KOs), narrowly averted disaster after getting crushed by a left hand in round two by unheralded Daniel Perales (10-9-1, 5 KOs), before recovering to earn a six-round unanimous decision by a score of 58-55 on all three cards. Tanajara, who qualified for the 2016 Olympic Trials but chose to go pro instead, was boxing beautifully, using every inch of his 5’10” frame to keep Perales at the end of his left jab and straight right hand. However, out of nowhere in round two Perales dropped Tanajara hard. Tanajara was in bad shape, stumbling while trying to get up, and it wouldn’t have been unfair had the fight been stopped there. Fortunately for Tanajara the referee gave him a full count and he was ready to go before ten, but on very unsteady legs. Tanajara immediately held on for dear life when the action resumed but Perales either lacked the skill or judgment to capitalize, letting Tanajara hold on for nearly the remainder of the round without much urgency to finish his wounded opponent. Tanajara was still vulnerable in round three, but with Perales failing to apply much pressure, Tanajara was able to fall back on his effective boxing and movement, snapping Perales head with the one, two, and deftly spinning out of the way before Perales could counter. This continued for the remainder of the fight and undoubtedly Perales will look back at the tape and see a wasted opportunity for a career-changing upset. For his part, Tanajara’s chin is now in question, but aside from the second round he put on a clinic on how a tall fighter in a lower weight class should box.

In a matchup of past-their-prime welterweights, Mauricio Herrera (23-7, 7 KOs) grinded out a workmanlike eight-round unanimous decision over Hector Velasquez (57-29-3, 39 KOs). Velasquez, who once split a pair of fights with the Pacquiao brothers in their prime more than a decade ago (hint: he didn’t beat Manny), hasn’t been a viable contender for years, entering the ring with a 2-8 record since the beginning of 2014. Herrera, is also on the down side of his career, going 2-4 since 2014, but still had enough in the tank to outlast Velasquez, working mainly behind the jab while Velasquez looked to counter with one punch at a time. Herrera mixed in some nice body work in the later rounds but, not carrying knockout power, never hurt his opponent in the fight, choosing instead to simply outwork Velasquez each round en route to the victory. All three judges scored the bout 80-72.

A controversial ending between super middleweights Tureano Johnson, (20-1, 14 KOs), and Fabiano Pena, (16-7-1, 13 KOs), when Pena’s corner appeared to prematurely stop the fight late in round two of a scheduled ten-round bout. Johnson knocked Pena down twice with short right hooks earlier in round two, but neither shot appeared to hurt Pena badly, and although he was losing, he appeared to be into the fight and on steady legs. However, at 2:38 of the round Pena’s corner asked to stop the fight, prompting referee Jack Reiss to wave it off. Pena was in visible disbelief, shouting to Reiss, “Why? Why?” before Reiss informed him his corner stopped it. Pena and his cornerman argued briefly before Pena calmed down and congratulated Johnson. Johnson, a 2008 Olympian representing The Bahamas, was attempting to shake off substantial ring rust in his first appearance in the ring since October 2015.

In the opening bout of the debut card for Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN from Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California, Art Hovhannisyan, (11-2, 10 KOs), had his way with Diuhl Olguin, (10-7-2, 9 KOs), through nearly six one-sided rounds before referee Ray Corona called it at 2:47 of round six in a scheduled eight-round super bantamweight contest. Hovhannisyan nearly ended things in round three with a series of right hands that had Olguin reeling, and eventually beat the fight right out of Olguin, who essentially stopped attempting to fight back by the time the referee waved the fight over.