Jhonny B. Goode!
Former champ Jhonny Gonzalez too good for Pastrana, takes ‘em out in four; Escalante stops Martinez in three

Ringside by Chris Cozzone and Edgar Gonzalez
Photography by Chris Cozzone
- FightWireImages.com

Racking up their fourth straight victories since suffering setbacks, 122-pounders Jhonny Gonzalez—a former champ at 118—and Antonio Escalante, former contender, proved to a feisty pack of fight fans, last night at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa, in Cabazon, Calif., that they are, once again, ready for a top shelf showdown.

Headlining the Golden Boy-promoted card, televised on Telefutura, Gonzalez, of Mexico City, four wins after losing his bantamweight belt to Gerry Penalosa, took out Colombian Mauricio Pastrana in four rounds.

Bouncing back from his fight with Pastrana—an upset kayo loss last year—Escalante, of El Paso, made Albuquerque’s David Martinez his fourth straight ‘W’, with a body attack in the third, in last night’s semi-main.

The bout began with Gonzalez and Pastrana analyzing one another for much of the first. Giving up five inches, Pastrana was more than game—or Gonzalez was just cautious. With Pastrana bulling his way forward, Gonzalez was content to wait out the round while jabbing away at the Colombian, trying to evade the shorter man’s overhand rights. Halfway through the round, the two met in the center and traded shots, both landing equally.

Gonzalez started to move forward in the second, landing quick left and right hands while forcing Pastrana back. Jabbing at Pastrana and watchful of the overhand counter shots thrown by his foe, the somewhat cautious Gonzalez was still hit by Pastrana, but, in the final minute, Jhonny got his guns and blazed away. Double left hooks, top and bottom, hurt Pastrana, and encouraged the former champ to blast away at the body until the bell rang.

Gonzalez started to dominate the fight in the third, with his left while working the body. Big rights by Pastrana kept him in the game, but, again, in the final minute, the two duked it out, both landing left hooks but Gonzalez giving better than getting.

Boxing beautifully, Gonzalez took over in the fourth, jabbing and coming at Pastrana, rocking him with big right hands, then flooring him with an uppercut for the one and only knockdown of the fight. When Pastrana got up, Gonzalez unleashed a barrage of punches, forcing Referee Ray Corona to  stop the fight at 2:32.

“I watched and study Pastrana’s fights, which help me dominate the fight,” said Gonzalez, now 38-6, 32 KOs. “We knew working the body would weaken Pastrana’s defense.

“I will fight anyone at 122 or 126—I’m explosive!”

Pastrana, dropping to 34-9-2, 22 KOs, contemplated retirement after the fight.

“He landed some great shots,” he said. “He has a bright future. For more, I think one more fight and I might retire.“

Escalante takes out Martinez in three

In a Southwest super bantamweight showdown, El Paso, Texas, sized up against Albuquerque, N.M., the banger from the border, Antonio Escalante, proved too big and quick for his Duke City foe, David “Finito” Martinez.

Martinez kept to the outside in the opening round, jabbing on the move while Escalante patiently stalked. The one solid punch of the round was a right from Escalante, taken well by Martinez.

The El Pasoan took over in the second, first ripping open a cut at the corner of Martinez’s right eye, then blasting the smaller boxer to the body with a series of left hooks and one big right hand. Martinez came back at the end of the round, landing jabs and a right, none of which had any effect on Escalante.

Abandoning his game plan to box from the outside, Martinez stood in front of the bigger, faster Escalante for too long, in round three. Escalante ripped Martinez to the body, nearly putting him down, halfway through the round. Then, pouring it on and digging into ribs, forced Martinez to take a knee near the neutral corner.

Though the count was beaten, Referee Raul Caiz, Jr., stopped the bout at 2:08, despite protests from Martinez.

“They stopped it too quick,” said Martinez, now 18-4-1, 3 KOs. “I took a knee because I was hurt, but they should not have stopped it.”

“I knew in the first, he was gone,” said Escalante, now 18-2, 11 KOs. “He talked all that smack about punishing me—I was not really impressed. I thought he’d show more than he did.”

Escalante would like a rematch with Pastrana, but says they’ve been told that the Colombian’s camp already said no. Instead, Escalante says he’s ready to fry bigger fish—like Jhonny Gonzalez.

Escobedo stops Cintron

In the walkout bout of the evening, Mexico City featherweight Eduardo Escobedo, 21-3, 15 KOs, bouncing off a decision loss to champion Daniel Ponce De Leon, made short work of Puerto Rico’s Javier Cintron, 14-10-2, 10 KOs.

Escobedo was in control throughout the one and only round, jabbing at Cintron and landing right hands—one of which sent the Puerto Rican reeling against the ropes for what could have been ruled a knockdown. Cintron tried to make a fight of it, but was unable to get inside Escobedo’s range.

Then, between rounds, time was called and the fight was suddenly waved off before the second round bell could ring. Losing by TKO, Cintron claimed a shoulder injury prevented him from continuing. 

Castro debuts in U.S. with easy victory

Fighting for the first time outside of Mexico, jr. welterweight Javier “Zorro” Castro, 16-1, 14 KOs, of Juarez, Mexico had an easy time with game-but-outmatched Dominican Ramon Guevara, 8-16-2, 6 KOs.

Guevara was game in the opening minute, rushing at Castro, even landing a few shots, like a big left hook that left a red mark on the Mexican’s chin.

But that was it: Gueva went down three times, from two rights and a short hook, in the next minute-and-a-half, before the ref called off the slaughter at 2:32.

Cervantes returns with win

In the curtain raiser, junior welterweight Daniel Cervantes, 10-0-1, of Oxnard, returning from a two-year layoff, scored a unanimous decision over game Cuban Alex Perez, 23-28-4, 18 KOs.

Perez, who was 1-8-1 in last ten, was game, but outclassed by Cervantes.

Playing the aggressor in round one, Cervantes jabbed at Perez while stepping in with left hooks. In the second, he had Perez in trouble early, then late. A right hand staggered Perez in the first minute, and, in the last minute, it was a left hook.

Perez had his best moments in the third. Cervantes played the role of counterpuncher as Perez came forward, making it a closer round. But, in the fourth and final frame, each fighter took turns moving forward. Cervantes, missing as often as he landed, was still able to outhustle Perez.

Franco outslugs Abraham

In a televised swing bout scheduled for six, local favorite, bantamweight Michael Franco, 11-0, 8 KOs, of Riverside, Calif., forced Benito Abraham, 9-11-4, 6 KOs, to quit, after two solid rounds of action.

The crowd was happy with the display of fireworks from both fighters, but it was Franco’s impressive overhand right that got the most attention. Though Franco was the aggressor, Abraham stood in the pocket, center ring, for much of the fight, especially through round two, throwing down, toe-to-toe.

In the last minute of the second, however, a right hand staggered Abraham. Franco moved in and, with a flurry, put his foe down. Abraham beat the count but, just seconds before the bell rang, sagged under another assault by Franco.

Shaking his head, “no mas,” the TKO win was awarded to Franco at 2:59.

Villareal outpoints foe

In another televised swing bout, scheduled for four, flyweight Anthony Villareal, 8-2, 4 KOs, won a unanimous decision over Jaime Gutierrez, 3-2, of Los Mochis, Mexico.

Gutierrez was on his way to winning the first round by making Villareal miss several windmill shots, when, in the last 20 seconds, the local favorite sent Gutierrez back with a big right.

It was all Villareal in the second, outboxing, outpunching the game Gutierrez. From a left hook, Gutierrez went down around 2:55 and almost looked like he wasn’t going to make it up.

Game but outclassed by Villareal, Gutierrez fell into survival mode, but had a better fourth round as Villareal tired. Gutierrez tried to desperately rally in the last minute, trapping Villareal in his own corner, even knocking out his mouthpiece, but was unable to turn the fight around.

All three judges scored it for Villareal, 40-35 twice, and 39-36.

Bonus shots