Boxing and legendary trainer Emanuel Steward return to the Pechanga!

Ringside by Miguel Maravilla
Photos by Melissa Jewel Photography (Courtesy of Pechanga Resort & Casino)

Emanuel Steward in association with Roy Englebrecht Promotions kicked off the boxing season at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, CA entertaining a packed ballroom of 800-plus with a crowd-pleasing "Kronk Boxing" event.

The headliner featured Walter “School Boy” Sarnoi of Monterrey Park, CA taking on Mexicali’s Jose Miguel “El Pocho” Cota in a featherweight bout scheduled for six rounds.

Sarnoi used his jab and circled the ring testing his opponent during the opening round.

Cota came out aggressively in round two pressuring Sarnoi but Sarnoi used his jab to keep Cota at a distance.

The jab and foot movement of Sarnoi began to frustrate Cota in the third round. Cota slowed his offense and began to concentrate on his defense due to the crafty ring generalship of Sarnoi.

In round four, the elusive Sarnoi continued to circle the ring and use his jab while Cota began to fade and grow desperate. At one point during the round, the bewildered Cota hit Sarnoi as the referee stepped in to separate the fighters.

Sarnoi continued to utilize his superior ring skills to control the aggressive Cota in round five.

In the sixth and final round, Sarnoi boxed and cruised to a unanimous decision. The judges scored it 58-56 twice and 59-55. Sarnoi improves his record to 10-2 with 5 KOs and Cota drops to 15-7 with 6 KOs.

MELLONE & CERVANTES SLUG IT OUT!

In a women’s bantamweight attraction, Susanne Mellone out of New York City made her debut against Elizabeth Cervantes of Durango, Mexico.

The ladies kept the crowd on their feet throughout the contest as they slugged it out toe-to-toe. Cervantes pulled it off with a split decision as two judges scored the bout 39-37 for her while the other judge scored the action at 39-37 in favor of Mallone.

Cervantes goes to 3-10 with 1 KO and Mellone loses her debut.

BALESTRA AND HERNANDEZ BATTLE TO A DRAW!

Nicholas Balestra of Sacramento, CA went toe-to-toe with Tijuana’s Eduardo Hernandez in a jr middleweight four-rounder..

The fighters exchanged punches throughout the contest much to the delight of the crowd. The 6' 2" Balestra utilized his height working his jab from the outside while the much shorter Hernandez attempted to get inside to work the body of his lanky opponent.

After four rounds of entertaining action, all of the judges scored the bout as draw at 38-38. Balestra's record goes to 2-1-1 while the record of Hernandez stands at 0-1-1.


HOSKINS DEMOLISHES TORRES

Kevin Hoskins nearby Moreno Valley wasted no time stopping Angel Torres of Yonkers, NY in the opening stanza of a scheduled four round junior lightweight bout.

Toward the end of first minute, Hoskins landed a vicious right uppercut followed by a left hook knocking down Torres. Torres recovered but Hoskins immediately continued his attack on the inside with uppercuts compelling referee Wayne Hedgepeth to step in to stop the action at 2:08 of the first round. Hoskins improves to 5-0 with 3 knockouts. Torres drops to 2-7-2 with 1 knockout.


SORIANO DECISIONS LOEZA

Ulises Soriano Richmond, CA and Alonso Loeza Gilroy, CA went the distance in a four round jr welterweight bout.

Soriano scored the more effective punches the first couple of rounds but in round three Loeza began connecting on the inside. It was an action-packed round as the fighters exchanged heavy punches in the center of ring. Soriano changed his tactics for the fourth and final round as he cunningly boxed his opponent from the opening minute to the final bell. Soriano won a majority decision with the scores of 40-36 and 39-37 while one judge scored it a draw 38-38. With the win Soriano now stands at 2-0 and Loeza slides to 1-3-1 with 1 knockout.

RINGSIDE NOTES:

The main event was originally scheduled to showcase super middleweight Tony Harrison (4-0, 4 KOs) out of Detroit's Kronk Gym taking on Cleven Ishe (3-5, 1 KO) of Long Beach, CA but the doctor pulled Ishe from fight earlier that evening when he discovered that the fighter was suffering from an abscessed tooth.

Always the gentlemen, the renowned trainer and popular HBO analyst Emanuel Steward entered the ring to inform the audience that the Tony Harrison vs. Cleven Ishe bout was cancelled. Later that evening, the Hall of Famer Steward met with the fans for a "Meet & Greet" at the Hummingbird Ballroom. Fans had the opportunity to take pictures and get autographs with the legendary trainer.

“I am crushed we were unable to make this fight," said Steward. "Tony represents what is great about the sport and he loves knocking people out!”