The time, 2:26 of the very first round as former two-time world title challenger Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola (35-3, 31 KO’s) of Riverside, California after perhaps his best training camp ever would from pillar to post administer a serious thrashing of Brandywine, Maryland’s Seth “Mayhem” Mitchell (26-2-1, 19 KO’s). This in front of many an adoring fan at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California.
In the process not only does Chris wrest the WBC International Title, but he did so in such a ferocious and determined fashion, pummeling Seth to the canvass twice before referee Jack Reiss would intervene to prevent further punishment, so as to perhaps make him a major player yet again in boxing’s premier division.
Stated Arreola, “first of all I want to thank myself, I put in all the work. He [Mitchell] hits hard, cause when he hit me I said holy shit. But today it was easy work because I put in all the hard work in Arizona. This title here don’t mean shit to me, I want the real title. In all my losses, I lost my bouts in training. The next thing man, a real world title.”
As for a dejected Seth Mitchell whom many observers saw as less than a true champion, “I got caught, [and] I’m very disappointed. I’ve got to go back to the drawing board. Chris did what he was he was supposed to do.”
In the end Chris gave credit to Bermane Stiverne, the number one contender who recently defeated him, and against whom “The Nightmare” would love nothing more than a rematch to in his mind set the record straight. This in the hopes of ultimately redeeming himself against WBC champion Vitali Klitschko should the Ukranian remain in the sport.
Near masterful performance by Esquivias who registers kayo of Rafael Marquez
The time, 19 seconds of round 9 as Gardena, California’s Efrain Esquivias (17-2-1, 10 KO’s) with a short explosive right hand would finish Rafael Marquez (41-9, 37 KO’s) of Mexico City, Mexico, making the former two-division world champion’s return to the ring an unsuccessful one.
“I finished strong, that’s all that matters,” stated a triumphant Esquivias. “All the respect in the world for Rafael Marquez who’s one of my favorite fighters.”
As for Marquez who respectful and quite accepting of defeat, he would conclude, “I’m going to think about whether I’m going to continue [in boxing] or retire.”
The stockily built Esquivias would hang in against the Nacho Beristain veteran trained fighter in what was an evenly contested first round . But then in the second behind a jab and some good body work Marquez would visibly separate himself, reddening the face of his opponent while gaining the upper hand.
Good defense by way of head movement and footwork would allow Efrain to avoid for the most part anything flush in the third, save for a solid right hand, of which Esquivias would retaliate in kind to make it a closely contested round. That said, at this juncture the overall feeling was that Marquez would be the one to do heavy damage if there was to be any administered.
Round 4 would see the Gardena fighter push Marquez back a bit, although Rafael had during this time run Efrain into some hard lefts. Flipping the script in the latter half of this same frame, Esquivias increased his work rate which visibly appeared to give him the edge.
In round 5 the hometown fighter took the initiative to with the same good head movement and high work rate exert command over Marquez against whom the momentum would swing.
Able to baffle Marquez as well as keep him off balance switching beautifully back and forth from orthodox to southpaw on the inside, Efrain in the sixth stanza would beat his adversary to the punch repeatedly in his biggest round up to this point.
Enter round 7 and Marquez desperately needed to turn the momentum in his favor or risk losing a decision. In saying that Esquivias would begin to pick apart the Mexican in what was becoming a masterful performance for the Gardena fighter.
But then Marquez in the latter half of the seventh came storming back in the last 30 seconds or so, landing the most solid shots of the fight to force back and even wobble his opponent, though it may have been too little too late.
Trying to pick up where he left off in round 8, a renewed Marquez would have the tables quickly turned against him as Efrain threw and landed rapidly solid combinations to rock Rafeal back on his heels in what is now becoming a war. Not done yet, Esquivias nearly dropped Marquez with a counter right hand towards the close of the eighth to the surprise of many.
Then came what would be the ninth and final round as with that same right hand coming in the form of a sharp lead, the local fighter would drop his opponent, who upon rising looked to be out on his feet so that referee Raul Caiz Jr. saw fit to waive the bout off.
Early Results from Indio, California
Southpaw junior featherweight Randy Caballero (2-0) of nearby Coachella, California would for the most part pursue and back his orthodox and equally elusive opponent Lyonell Kelly (0-2) of Compton, California, to as the busier fighter outwork and outland Kelly over the course of four rounds for the victory. The final scores handed in would read 40-36 all around in favor of the still undefeated Caballero.
All throughout in a ten-round featherweight bout, undefeated Ronny Rios (22-0, 10 KO’s) of Santa Ana, California would look the part, to as the much sharper fighter repeatedly punish his visibly slower and powerless opponent Jose Beranza (36-28-2, 28 KO’s) of Mexico City, Mexico who came in with more losses than Rios had wins. In the end the final tallies would read 80-72 twice, and 78-74, the latter score seemingly out of touch in what was a one-sided affair.
Relegated to undercard duty in a scheduled ten-round featherweight bout, former one-time world champion Rico Ramos (22-3, 12 KO’s) after a downward spiral would be pitted against undefeated 2004 Puerto Rican Olympian Carlos Velasquez (15-1, 11 KO’s) fighting out of Las Vegas, Nevada.
In a mainly uneventful bout due to the defensive prowess of what appeared two evenly matched fighters, Ramos with the assistance of his opponent would catch an incoming Velasquez with a left hook to register a massive kayo at the 1:36 mark of the tenth and final round, inflicting the Puerto Rican’s first professional defeat.
After a mainly uneventful first three rounds, the busier and more aggressive Velasquez looked to emerge the frontrunner. Ramos would connect with a flush right hook in the fourth frame, a punch by itself that seemed to carry the round. The fifth stanza saw Rico hit the deck from a Velasquez right-left combo of which Ramos would get back to his feet in a 10-8 round for the Puerto Rican.
Rounds 6 through 8 would see the two fighters return to the same lackluster action of the first three frames, as landed punches throughout were a somewhat rare commodity. Clutching and grabbing would be par for the course in the final two rounds, rounds that were very close up until the fateful knockout.
Undefeated lightweight southpaw Maurice Lee (3-0, 2 KO’s) under the tutelage of veteran trainer Joe Goossen as the rangier fighter would take it to opponent Juan Carlos Sanchez (1-2) of Mexico City, Mexico, registering a sweep on the scorecards at 40-36 all around in this four-round contest. Sanchez in attempting to apply pressure had no defense for the right hook or much anything else, so that along with pushing his punches he would be reduced to near fodder as early as round 2.
Failing to utilize a jab, Joel Gonzalez (5-0, 1 KO) of Los Angeles, California would be lured into a slugfest of sorts against a much shorter opponent in David Reyes (2-5-1), a crude brawler also of Los Angeles. As a result, Reyes would hang around to make the bout somewhat competitive. However, Gonzalez as the more technical fighter would prevail after four rounds in this junior featherweight contest by scores of 40-36 twice, and 39-37.
In a four-round junior middleweight tilt, unbeaten Justin Deloach (4-0, 2 KO’s) of Houston, Texas would remain so, pummeling Gardena, California opponent Carl Hill (1-7, 1 KO) to both body and head in the opening stanza, to rock Hill on more than one occasion. Surviving, Carl would attempt to fight back, but unable to find the target he would succumb to the more accurate Deloach who would end things the way he started, as referee Jack Reiss would intervene prevent further punishment to Hill by calling a halt to the action at 2:50 of round 3.
To open the undercard, junior lightweight Ricky Lopez (10-2, 4 KO’s) of Oxnard, California would get caught cold and get dropped in the opening seconds of round 1 by Sonora, Mexico opponent Pablo Batres (3-8-1). But utilizing movement and some boxing skills in what was a rather large ring, Lopez would rebound over the next 3 frames of this scheduled four-rounder to in the end carve out a decision victory. The final tallies would read 39-37, and 39-38 twice.
