By Ken Hissner: At the USC Galen Center in Los Angeles, California, Saturday over DAZN Oscar De La Hoya (Golden Boy Promotions) presented in the Main Event Welterweight Alexis “Lex” Rocha of Santa Ana, California, who stopped Blair “The Flair” Cobb of Hollywood, California in 9 rounds scoring one knockdown earlier in the eighth round.
Welterweight Michael McKinson of the UK, who was to be in the main event, defeated late sub Alex “Chi-town Heat” Martin of Calumet City, Illinois, who was filling in for injured unbeaten Vergil Ortiz, Jr.
In the Main Event welterweight southpaw Alexis “Lex” Rocha, 19-1 (13), #146 ¾, of Santa Ana, CA, stopped Blair “The Flair” Cobb, 15-1-1 (10), #145 ½, of Hollywood, CA, at 0:44 of the ninth round of a scheduled ten rounds.
In the second round, Rocha landed several lefts to the chin of Cobb to take the round. In the third round, a left from Cobb caused a cut on the right eyelid of Rocha. In the fifth round, Rocha hurt Cobb with a left on the chin a minute into the round. Again, Rocha hurt Cobb again with a left on the chin in the final minute.
In the seventh round, with a minute remaining, Cobb landed his best punch of the fight, a left on the chin stopping Rocha in his tracks, but Cobb didn’t follow up.
In the eighth round, a left from Rocha on the chin dropped Cobb for an 8-count from Referee Rudy Barragan halfway through the round. With a minute remaining again, Rocha hurt Cobb with a left on the chin. With thirty seconds left in the round, a right hook from Rocha on the chin hurt Cobb, who held onto the end of the round.
In the ninth round, a flurry of punches starting with a body shot ending with a left to the chin had Cobb out on his feet, forcing referee Barragan to call a halt. This writer had it 78-71 at the finish for Rocha.
Welterweight southpaw Michael McKinson, 22-0 (2), #146, of Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK, defeated late sub (2-day notice) southpaw Alex “Chi-town Heat” Martin, 17-4 (6), #147, of Chicago, IL, over ten rounds.
In the first three rounds, McKinson controlled with an effective jab for the most part against late sub Martin. In the fourth round, Martin landed his best punch up to this point, a counter left on the chin that stopped McKinson in his tracks.
In the fifth round, Martin seemed to do enough to win his first round of the fight. In the sixth through the ninth, McKinson outworked Martin. In the tenth and final round, it ended up being the best round of the battle, with McKinson taking the decision but being a light puncher; the crowd was looking for a knockout and were disappointed at the end.
Scores were 99-91, 98-92, and 97-93, with this writer having it 98-92. The referee was Thomas Taylor.
McKinson was to be in the main event against top-ranked unbeaten Vergil Ortiz, Jr., who suffered an injury early in the week and had to pull out.
Light Heavyweight southpaw Bektemir “Bully” Melikuziev, 9-1 (7), #171 ½, of Shoimbek, Uzbekistan, Indio, CA, stopped David “La Pantera” Zegarra, 34-8 (21), #172, of Lima, Peru, at 1:30 of the second round of a scheduled ten rounds.
Zegarra threw a right in the second round, but a hard left uppercut from Melikuziev to the mid-section dropped Zegarra on his knees for the count from Referee Gerald White.
Super Bantamweight Ramira Ali, 5-0 (1), #122 ¾, of Greenwich, London, UK, stopped Shelly Barnett, 5-7-2 (0), #122 ¾, of Toronto, Ontario, CAN, at 1:23 of the second round of a scheduled eight rounds.
In the first round, Ali scored a pair of knockdowns. In the second round, referee Ivan Guillermo called a halt giving Barnett a standing count and waving it off in favor of Ali.
Middleweight southpaw Alex Ricon, 10-0 (6), #154 ½, of Carrollton, TX, stopped Luis “Diamante Negro” Midyael Sanchez, 9-3 (6), #155, of San Juan, PR, at 1:44 of the second round of a scheduled eight rounds.
Ricon dropped Sanchez twice in the second round with hard right hooks to the head.
