By Manuel Perez: Light middleweight Joaquin Zamora (17-2-1, 11 KOs) defeated Jose Luis Gonzalez (12-5-1, 10 KOs) by a close 10-round unanimous decision on Friday night at the Santa Ana Star Center, in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The final judges’ scores were 95-94, 95-94 and 97-92.
Zamora, 31, started off slowly, making the mistake of trying to fight Gonzalez off the ropes in the first round and was dropped with a left-right combination near the end of the round. However, after struggling for a bit in the next couple of rounds, Zamora finally wizened up and stayed in the center of the ring, where he was able to control the slower Gonzalez with his jab and movement.
Gonzalez, 27, whom has been seen quite on a lot on cable television in battles with Carson Jones, Jason LeHoullier and Ronald Hearns, fought well in the first round, staying on top of the shorter Zamora and nailing him with huge hooks to the head.
In the closing seconds of the round, Gonzalez knocked Zamora down with a combination. Unfortunately for Gonzalez, there wasn’t enough time for him to add to the knockdown as the round ended shortly after Zamora got to his feet. In the second round, Zamora attempted to fight Gonzalez with his back to the ropes, leaving him a sitting duck for Gonzalez’s bigger hooks to the head and body.
For the duration of the round, Gonzalez punished Zamora with huge shots to the head and body, getting far the better of the action. Zamora showed that he had little ability at infighting and looked completely out of his element when backed to the ropes.
In the 3rd round, Zamora changed his tactics, now mostly staying at the center of the ring and boxing well, using his jab a short combinations to control Gonzalez. Zamora used a lot of in and out movement, preventing Gonzalez from teeing off on him with his bigger shots.
In rounds four though eight, Zamora continued fighting well at the center of the ring where he was able to land his faster shots and get away before Gonzalez could respond with any of his own. Not a big puncher, Zamora needed to use his legs at all times because he didn’t have the power to stand and trade with Gonzalez the way he initially tried to in the first two rounds of the fight.
In the 9th round, Zamora started tiring out, his punch volume dropping dramatically and was easily bulled to the ropes by the younger 27-year-old Gonzalez. Like in the first two rounds, Zamora took tremendous punishment while on the ropes and was no match for Gonzalez’s much bigger hooks to the head and body.
Although he tried to match him punch for punch, Zamora didn’t have the strength or the leverage to work the way he wanted to on the ropes. By the end of the round, both of his eyes began to show swelling underneath.
In the 10th round, both fighters took turns trading shots, with Gonzalez controlling the first half of the round with his big power punches and Zamora taking over in the 2nd half, out-landing Gonzalez by a significant margin. In the end, it was enough to give Zamora the round and the fight.