Friday Night Boxing returned to DAZN live from Fantasy Springs Casino, Indio in California, with a Golden Boy Promotions event. In the main event red hot prospect Vergil Ortiz Jr took on Samuel Vargas co-featured by middleweights Shane Mosley Jr and Jeremy Ramos.
The highly anticipated main event between Vergil Ortiz Jr and Samuel Vargas delivered in several ways, we were able to see the power of Ortiz while Samuel Vargas performed better than most thought he would. The contest started with Vargas pressing the action landing to the body of Ortiz hoping it would pay off later in the fight. In the third and forth rounds Ortiz punished Vargas with huge right hands followed up by combinations that rocked Vargas several times.
We would see some success from Vargas in the fifth, he pushed forward catching Ortiz with jabs and hooks while smothering Ortiz’s offense. When round six began Ortiz had slowed his pace setting Vargas up by using angles to land his power shots. It would appear as though Vargas was going down from an Ortiz rally in round six but Vargas used veteran tactics tackling Ortiz to halt his momentum.
The onslaught of Ortiz continued throughout the seventh until referee Jack Reiss stepped in and stopped the contest at 2:58 of round seven. With the win Vergil Ortiz Jr improved to 16-0 (16) while Samuel Vargas drops to 31-6-2 (14).
This was not Vergil Ortiz Jr best performance when compared to his previous outings if judged by those stoppages. The fact it was his first time past six rounds against an opponent who knows how to survive in tough situations, we can expect to see a better version of Vergil Ortiz Jr in his next outing. We need to give Samuel Vargas credit for his toughness and heart, most fighters would of folded under half the attack we witnessed from Ortiz Friday night.
The nights co-feature was a middleweight contest between Shane Mosley Jr and Jeremy Ramos. It was a legitimate effort from Ramos but Mosley controlled the fight with his jab and straight right hands winning by wide unanimous decision by scores of 79-73 and 80-72 twice. With the win Shane Mosley Jr improved to 16-3 (9) while Jeremy Ramos now stands at 11-9(4).
In a ladies junior flyweight contest, Seniesa Estrada needed just seven seconds to dispatch replacement opponent Miranda Adkins. While Adkins was less experienced and had never faced an opponent near the level of Estrada it was as impressive a KO as any male fight on the card. With the win Seniesa Estrada improved to Seniesa Estrada 19-0(8) while Miranda Adkins drops to 5-1(5).
In an eight round bantamweight affair, undefeated Super Bantamweight prospect Hector Valdez defeated veteran Josue Morales. It was a one sided affair despite Morales efforts, the natural ability of Valdez was too much as he cruised to a unanimous decision win by scores of 80-72, 80-72 and 79-73. With the win Hector Valdez improved to 13-0(8) while Josue Morales now stands at 11-12-4(1).
Opening the card would be welterweight prospect Evan Anthony Sanchez taking on veteran Issouf Kinda. This was a fairly close contest in terms of punches thrown and landed, Sanchez showed his inexperience at times getting caught with counter hooks but he adjusted well. In the fifth Sanchez scored a knockdown then used his physical advantages to keep Kinda on the back-foot en-route to scoring a unanimous decision.
With the win Evan Anthony Sanchez improved to 8-0(6) while Issouf Kinda now stands at 18-5(7).
Well boxing fans we now have professional boxing in two states Las Vegas and California. There is a full schedule for August can we say boxing is back and has beaten the pandemic?
