At The OC County fairground, Roy Englebrecht promotions put on another action packed card at The Hangar. In the main event, Rowland Heights, CA heavyweight Alex Flores moved to 11-0-9KO's, after his opponent, Las Vegas' Matt "Hurricane" Hicks blew a little too hard with a left hook, and injured his knee, as he fell to the canvas. Hicks fought on for the remainder of round one, but doctors called a halt, dropping Hicks' record to 13-8-12KO's.
The other two big undefeated heavyweight prospects failed to impress as Vince Thompson, of Federal Way, Washington, outboxed northern California's Yohan Banks over 6 one sided rounds. Banks made a good effort, but Thompson's boxing skills from the southpaw stance led the way. Thompson is now 12-0-2KO's, while Banks falls to 5-8-3-3KO's. 60-54 on all cards. Time for Thompson to step up in class of competition.
The same can be said for Newark, NJ's Joe Hanks, who made a return to the OC fight cards. He easily outboxed the timid Texan, Lorenzo Smith, who falls to 11-4. While the strength and skills clearly lay with Hanks, Smith had a bad case of sparring partner syndrome, and only offered enough offense to avoid being stopped. Hanks is now 21-0-14KO's, and should not still be in 6 rounders against this type of opponent.
In an all-out robbery, John Worthy dropped his 154lb foe, Javier Albonica in the first round, and seemed to outwork him in at least 2 of the other rounds. However, all three judges gave Albonica every other round, for a 38-37 sweep on all cards. CA had it 39-36 for Worthy, of Ontario, who now falls to 3-5-1KO, while Albonica, of L.A., improves, if you can call it that, to 7-1-4KO's.
In a war while it lasted, Junior Lightweight namesakes Danny and Daniel Martinez took turns dropping each other, in a bout that showed little regard for defense. Danny Boy Martinez, of Azusa, went down in the first, after his opponent had come out with both guns blazing. Danny rebounded well to take over against the Mohawked Daniel "Shenanigans" Martinez, now 0-1-2 draws. Oddly enough, both Latin fighters possessed Irish nicknames. Danny Boy seemed to take over in round two, and after a potent combination, Shenanigans, out of San Bernardino, went down voluntarily. After rising on unsteady legs, he seemed to signal to the referee that he did not wish to continue. Danny Boy moved to 3-2-1-3Ko's.
In a Super Middleweight stunner, Local favorite, Costa Mesa's Steffan Lugo was KO'd in round 2, by previously win-less Laurence Letuli, of Oceanside, CA. Lugo was dropped hard at the end of round 1, and again in round 2, with looping overhand rights from his shorter foe. Lugo's equilibrium seemed to be affected, as he walked to his corner, and the referee called a halt. Lugo is now, 2-2-1KO, while Letuli improves to 1-2-1-1KO.
In the only MMA bout of the night, Huntington Beach's Ozzie Alvarez scored a brutal one punch KO over Patrick Fitzgerald, also of Huntington Beach, in a Welterweight bout. After doing good work in round 1, Fitzgerald twice shoved Alvarez to the floor in round 2, but this only added momentum when Alvarez sprang up and flattened his rival with one big right hook. Both men fought from the southpaw stance, so Fitzgerald, also of Huntington Beach, walked right into the big shot, and was down for a few minutes after the bout was stopped at :50. Fitzgerald drops to 0-3, while Alvarez improves to 3-1.
Chris Strait
www.convictedartist.com