By Ken Hissner: At the Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas, Saturday over Showtime, Tom Brown (TGB Promotions) presented in the Main Event 2-division world champ the former WBC Super Bantamweight and WBC Featherweight champion Rey Vargas lost to WBC Silver Featherweight champion and No. 1 ranked O’Shaquie “Ice Water” Foster for the vacant WBC World Super Featherweight title.
In the Main Event, former WBC Super Bantam and WBC Feather champ Rey Vargas, 36-1 (22), #129.4, of Otumba, MEX, lost to WBC Silver Feather champ and No. 1 ranked O’Shaquie “Ice Water” Foster, 20-2 (11), #129.4, of Houston by way of Orange, TX, 12 rounds, for the vacant WBC Super Featherweight title.
In the first round, Foster used the ring well, landing numerous jabs as Vargas followed him around, unable to cut off the ring. In the second round, what looked like a knockdown scored by Foster was ruled a slip by Referee Jon Schorle, with the replay showing Foster stepped on the foot of Vargas while landing a jab in the first minute of the round. It wasn’t until the final minute Vargas landed his right on the chin of Foster.
In the third round’s final minute, Vargas suffered a cut on the outside of the left eyebrow from the quicker Fosters left jab, followed by a clash of heads in a close round.
In the fifth round, Foster continues using an effective jab while Vargas gets in occasional rights to the chin, with Foster having an edge. At the end of the first minute of the round, Foster landed a pair of left hooks to the chin of Vargas. Foster continued out-landing Vargas.
In the sixth round, Foster, for the most part, was the aggressor chasing down Vargas, whose counter punches landed were far less than Foster’s overall punches landed. In the seventh round, Foster avoided most of the punches from Vargas. In the eighth round’s midway point, Vargas landed a combination that was countered by the quicker Foster though possibly a Vargas round.
In the ninth round, Vargas had a better round having a slight edge though seemingly behind after nine rounds. In the tenth round, both had their moments, with Vargas having a better half.
In the eleventh round end of the first minute, Foster landed a right to the chin, getting the attention of Vargas. The face of Vargas, at this point, had much swelling under the eyes. It was a good round for Foster. In the twelfth and final round, Foster continued to chase Vargas, outworking him throughout the round.
Scores were 116-112, 117-111, and 119-109, with 116-112 by this writer.
Former WBA World Super Lightweight champ Mario “El Azteca” Barrios, 27-2 (18), #146.8, of San Antonio, TX, stopped Jovanie “El Lobito” Santiago, 14-3-1 (10), #145.8, of Dorado, PR, at 1:42 of the eighth round of a scheduled 10 rounds, for the WBC Continental Americas Welterweight title.
In the first five rounds, Barrios had the edge in outworking the shorter Santiago. Both were coming off a pair of losses. Half a minute into the sixth round, a flurry of punches from Barrios had Santiago in trouble. Barrios landed the final punch a left to the chin of Santiago, whose corner threatened to stop the fight between rounds.
Thirty seconds into the seventh round, Barrios landed a right on the chin that had Santiago rocked and almost dropped. In the eighth round, Barrios dropped Santiago with a right on the chin for an 8-count. Barrios was all over him, landing a flurry of punches when the corner of Santiago advised referee Mark Calo-oy to call a halt.
2016 Olympic Heavyweight southpaw WBC No. 6 ranked Lenier “El Justiciero” Piero, 9-0 (6), #242.8, of Camaguey, Cuba and Miami, FL, stopped Viktor “Faust” Vykhryst, 11-1 (7), #234, of Svitlovodsk, UKR, and Las Vegas, NV, at 2:28 of the eighth round of a scheduled 10 rounds.
In the third round’s final seconds, Faust rocked Piero with a left hook to the head, knocking him off balance. From the fourth through the seventh rounds, Faust continued to outland Piero with effective jabs and following rights to the chin while southpaw Piero landed lead lefts to the body.
In the eighth round, Piero landed a right to the body and left to the head, making Faust turn away and getting hit three times, including a left uppercut to the chin before Referee Rafael Ramos finally got in to wave it off. Faust was ahead at the time of the stoppage on all of the judge’s scores.
Middle southpaw Eumir Felix Marcial, 4-0 (2), #161.4 of Zamboanga City, PH, stopped Ricardo “Bebo” Ruben Villalba, 20-8-1 (8), #162, of Hurlingham, Bueno Aires, ARG, at 0:48 of the second round of a scheduled 8 rounds.
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n the first round, Marcial knocked Villalba down for an 8-count from referee Mark Calo oy. In the second round, Marcial knocked Villalba down twice, causing referee Calo-oy to end the fight.
Former IBO World and WBA Interim Feather champ, Super Feather southpaw Claudio “The Matrix” Marrero, 27-5 (19). #135, of Santo Domingo, DR, knocked out Gonzalo “Maravilla” Fuenzalida, 12-2 (3), #134.8, of Santiago de Chile, Chile, and Las Vegas, NV, at 0:43 of the fifth round of a scheduled 8 rounds.
In the third, fourth, and fifth rounds, Marrero scored knockdowns, with the final a knockout counted out by Referee Jon Schlore.
Lightweight Fabian Diaz, 4-0 (2), of Edinburg, TX, stopped Eleazar, 0-1 (0), of Kingsville, TX, in the first round of a scheduled 4 rounds.
2021 Olympian heavyweight Dainier Pero, 3-0 (2), #244 ¼, of Camaguey, Cuba, and Miami, FL, defeated Daniel Zavala, 2-2 (0), #237 ½, of Del Rio, TX, over 4 rounds.
Scores were 40-36 twice and 40-35. Ref Rafael Ramos
Super Welterweight David Whitmire, 1-0 (0), #148 ¾, of Wash., DC, knocked out Keith Foreman, 0-1-1nc (0), #149, of Harlingen, TX, in the first round of a scheduled 4 rounds.
In the first round, Whitmire scored two knockdowns over Foreman, with the second one for the count by Ref Mark Calo oy.
Ring Announcer Jimmy Lennon, Jr.