Friday Night Fights in Frisco, a Mendelson Entertainment production, gave boxing fans everything they could’ve wanted.  There were knock-outs, shut-outs, a close decision and a huge upset.  Last Friday night was the first in a series of twelve professional boxing cards, of which 8 will be in Frisco and the other 4 in Austin.  Featuring a former Olympian and two highly decorated amateurs, Mendelson’s Friday Night Fights proved to be a good show.  If you missed it, here’s my perspective on how things went down.

Bout 1 –
In the first bout we were entertained with a very close fight involving Miguel Delgado from Ciudad, Mexico and Albert Romero out of Austin, Texas.  I gave the first round to Delgado based on his ability to get inside on the taller Romero working the body with hard hooks.  However, it was a very close round because of Romero’s fluid combinations.  Romero turned things around dramatically in the second round landing many unanswered shots.  He started working behind his jab more which helped him set up crisp combinations.  Romero continued boxing effectively in the third round, but I noticed he got a little sloppy as he ate an overhand right from Delgado.  It seemed to wake him up and he convincingly closed out the third. I have it two rounds to one for Romero at this point.  In the fourth and final round Delgado seemed to be coming on while Romero was fading.  Delgado closed the distance with his jab and bob and weave then landed many hard hooks to the body of Romero. Although Romero answered most of the shots, he lacked power, so I gave the last round to Delgado.  The judge’s decision was a majority draw.

Bout 2 –
In the second fight of the night, we saw Austin’s undefeated Casey Ramos against San Antonio’s Justo Vallencillo.  Ramos wasted no time proving dominance over the out-gunned Vallencillo; from the get go it was apparent Vallencillo was going to have a long night.  Throughout the six rounds Ramos landed in volleys of shots all over Vallencillo’s body.  He won every exchange of punches when Vallencillo stepped inside, hitting him with everything but the proverbial “kitchen sink”.  Although Ramos dominated, he showed signs of fatigue from the fourth round on and lost much of his pop.   Vallencillo showed himself to be a rugged fighter who can endure a tremendous amount of punishment and still keep coming.  Casey Ramos proved to be an excellent prospect utilizing both effective punching and defense, sweeping every round on the judge’s and my scorecard.

Team Marroquin

Bout 4-
In the fourth bout we saw former Olympian, Luis “The Latin Legend” Yanez, out of Dallas versus Joseph Rios from San Antonio.  As Yanez approached the ring he was met with a small segment of the crowd who paid him no respect.  They chanted for Marroquin as he smiled and even taunted them to continue.   After taking off his “Superman” cape, Yanez started off the first round with blazing hand and foot speed.   He also threw in a bit of showmanship as he posed like “Superman”.  The first round went to Yanez, easily. The second round was much closer with Rios being the aggressor, but in my opinion, Yanez out worked him, so I scored it two rounds to zero for Yanez.  Round three brought more posing from both fighters with Yanez initiating and again, Rios mocking.  The only highlight was when Yanez caught Rios with a jab to the body which sent him off balance.  It was followed up with two straight lefts.  By the fourth round the crowd’s disdain seemed to spark Yanez and he came out firing away at Rios.  After being knocked around for the better portion of the round Rios became less committed to lead off, opting to counter punch.  Regardless of the change, Yanez’s speed was too much for Rios so I gave him the round.  In round five Yanez continued to outpace Rios but showed signs of vulnerability as he was caught several times in the exchanges.  For the sixth and final round Yanez rattled off many unanswered punches.  He pushed Rios back with an amazing assortment of combinations and ended the last ten seconds with a flurry that must have been thirty punches.  Yanez is extremely talented and has all the abilities to become a champion.  He lacks power at 115 pounds but his speed makes up for it.  I hope in the future he will give us more rounds like we seen in four and six, but much less showmanship. I believe most people love a humble champion.  I have personally met and judged Yanez in the amateurs and was always impressed with his humility, kindness and skills.  His alter ego is just for show to elicit a response from the crowd and really shouldn’t reflect on his character. He also earned applause from the initially heckling crowd. In the end, Yanez swept on two of the three judge’s scorecards and mine as well.

Bout 5-
In the main event we were captivated by welterweights Gilbert Vera from Austin and hometown favorite, Jesse “The Kid” Lara, from Dallas.  I chose this bout as “Fight of the Night” because it brought every element you want to see in a fight, including a knock-out.  In the first round there was very little action produced because of the “feeling out” process.  This round was up in the air and could have gone either way.  Both fighters started bringing the heat in the second round with Lara timing Vera as he came in, landing several hooks and upper cuts.  Vera answered back with powerful hooks to Lara’s soft body following up with hooks to the head.  I gave this round to Lara, but still thought Vera would win by a knock-out.  Lara did well in the third round landing several volleys of punches, but he never really committed to the punch.  Vera was honed in on Lara’s gut and pressed him to the ropes for a body beating that lasted about half the round, yet Vera still didn’t win the round in my eyes.  In the fourth, Lara showed signs of the beating by Vera and as a result his punches became less effective arm punches.  Vera had no problem walking through the weak punches and again mercilessly punished Lara to the body and head, easily winning the round.  Lara was bleeding over his right eye as he stumbled his way back to his corner.  The sixth round brought more relentless body work by Vera as Lara continued to fade.  About midway through the round, Lara hit Vera with another low blow (number four by my count).  Apparently, this was the one that fired him up.  Vera unleashed havoc all over Lara until he collapsed into the ropes with Vera standing over him.  I considered this a real “Barn Burner” as it ended with just one second remaining in the sixth round.  This was a great fight. 

Friday Night Fights in Frisco is a family friendly event showcasing exceptional talent and the hottest prospects in North Texas boxing today.  If you’re a “Fight” fan you shouldn’t miss the next one.