By Michael Montero: It’s never too early for a little Independence Day fireworks and the latest “LA Fight Club” delivered as advertised. Every first Thursday of the month Golden Boy Promotions puts these cards on from the Belasco Theater in downtown Los Angeles. This month’s card was headlined by bouts featuring undefeated featherweight prospects Oscar Negrete and Diego De La Hoya, as well as 140pound contender Gilberto Gonzalez.
In the TV opener, undefeated Oscar Negrete went up against Ramiro Robles in an eight round featherweight bout. Negrete, of Los Angeles, came out very aggressive in the opening round, throwing body shots with bad intentions. Robles, of Guanajuato, Mexico, weathered the storm and began marching forward to make his presence felt. This was a good scrap, with solid two way action throughout. Neither man carries much power so this was destined to go the distance, but it was an entertaining way to kick off the broadcast. The judges scored it 80-72 and 79-73 twice for Negrete, who improves to 11-0 (3KO) while Robles drops to 12-4-1 (6KO). The scores felt a bit wide, but the right man won.
Next was another featherweight eight-rounder between Diego De La Hoya and Jose Estrella, both natives of Mexico. De La Hoya worked well off his jab early on, controlling the distance and showing impressive hand speed. Toward the end of the fourth round he dropped Estrella with a nice one-two, knocking him through the ropes. Estrella made it to his feet, but seemed to be having issues with his foot, perhaps spraining his ankle on the way down. Either way De La Hoya pounced upon him, teeing off with combinations until referee Lou Moret stopped it at 2:36. De La Hoya gets the TKO win and improves to 11-0 (7KO), while Estrella drops to 14-7-1 (10KO).
The main event featured 140pounders Gilberto Gonzalez of Mexico and Hevinson Herrera of Columbia, scheduled for ten rounds. Gonzalez started out switching between the orthodox and southpaw stance, attempting to confuse his opponent. The action picked up in the second as Herrera landed a big right hand that staggered Gonzalez. The Mexican fought back with tenacity and suddenly things escalated into a street fight. In the third round Gonzalez slipped and appeared injured, as he rose to his feet but was favoring his right knee. Feeling a sense of urgency he immediately went for broke, landing hard shots and backing Herrera into the ropes. The Colombian ate several unanswered punches, dropped his hands and appeared defenseless, giving the ref no choice but to call it off. Upon the stoppage Gonzalez collapsed to the canvas in pain, but he was all smiles after fighting through his injury and scoring a dramatic stoppage. He improves to 26-3 (21KO) while Herrera drops to 17-11-1 (11KO).
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