By Miguel Maravilla at ringside
WBA world featherweight champion Puerto Rico’s Jesus Rojas (26-2-2, 19 KOs) lost a twelve round unanimous decision against Joseph Diaz Jr. (27-1, 14 KOs) of South El Monte, California on Saturday night at the Avalon Theater in Hollywood, California in the inaugural edition of Golden Boy Fight Night live on Facebook.
The bout was originally scheduled to be for Rojas’s WBA featherweight belt, however, Diaz’s failure to make the featherweight limit forced the bout to become a non-title affair and Rojas retains the world title despite the loss.
Diaz let his hands go from the start as Rojas pressed and stayed close in the opening round. Staying close inside in round two Diaz ripped away and backed Rojas to the ropes, Diaz began to bleed from his nose. Fighting on the inside in the third round, Diaz unloaded as Rojas stood his ground exchanging. Rojas continued to stay close to Diaz in the fourth but Diaz continued to stay busy letting his hands go.
At the halfway point in round five, the southpaw Diaz circled the ring as Rojas stalked with power shots. Halfway through in round six, Diaz kept busy unloading combinations but the Puerto Rican kept coming. Rojas stalked in the seventh as Diaz circled the ring boxing away and staying busy. Despite the combinations, Diaz could not keep Rojas off of him in round eight as Rojas kept pressuring.
Late in the fight in the ninth, Diaz tagged Rojas with combinations but the Puerto Rican kept coming as they traded. Diaz stuck to the plan boxing away and mixing it up with Rojas in the last couple of rounds. The twelfth and final round Diaz kept his distance circling the ring as Rojas sensing the urgency searching for the knockout pressing.
In the end, the judges scored the bout 117-111, 116-112, and 115-113 for Joseph Diaz Jr.
In a fight between two undefeated super lightweight prospects Jonathan “Thunder” Navarro (15-0, 8 KOs) of East L.A. stopped Philadelphia’s Damon “No Smilin” Allen Jr. (15-1-1, 5 KOs) in the co-main event. Boxing behind the jab in the opening round, Navarro was the aggressor as Allen displayed the flashy style. In round two, Navarro backed the flashy Allen up to the ropes with a series of straight punches as Allen quickly grabbed on to Navarro. Allen hit Navarro with a low blow in round three as the referee gave Navarro time to recover. Following the low blow, Navarro traded with Allen and suffered a cut on his left eye from a head butt. A flush one-two from Navarro backed Allen to the ropes early in the fourth as Navarro kept the pressure.
Navarro was on the receiving end of another head butt to start the fifth but the East L.A. fighter kept fighting, staggering Allen and keeping the pressure. Working behind the jab to start the sixth, Allen and Navarro closed the round trading away as Allen went down, the referee ruled that the punch was after the bell. Navarro’s trainer Robert Garcia was furious as he had to be restrained by a California State Athletic Commission inspector. Allen did not seem to recover as a series of punches from Navarro backed him to the corner forcing the referee to stop the fight at 1:33.
Welterweight Ferdinand Kerobyan (9-0, 5 KOs) of North Hollywood, California_ Jose Rivera (6-3, 4 KOs) of Mexico in a scheduled six round bout. Welterweight Ferdinand Kerobyan (10-0, 5 KOs) of North Hollywood, California pounded Jose Rivera (6-4, 4 KOs) of Mexico for six rounds in winning a unanimous decision. The Armenian, Kerobyan attacked landing big punches in the opening round backing Rivera and digging to the body. Kerobyan continued to go forward in the second round, letting his hands go backing Rivera to the ropes. Having his way in round three, Kerobyan kept backing Rivera. Ripping to the body in the fourth, Kerobyan showed no mercy attacking Rivera and staying on top. Keeping up the pressure late in the fight, Kerobyan annihilated Rivera finishing strong in route to a decision win as all three judges scored the bout 60-54.
Irish prospect Aaron “Silencer” McKenna (5-0, 3 KOs) of Monaghan, Ireland won a unanimous decision over Rolando Mendivil (10-5, 3 KOs) of Mexico in a four-round welterweight fight. McKenna boxed patiently in the opening round stalking Mendevil working the jab and backing him later in the round. Mendevil’s face was banged up to start round two as the Irishmen was on the attack connecting solidly. Standing and trading in the third McKenna landed the solid straight right hand continously in the round as he continued to press Mendevil. The young prospect continued to work in dominating his Mexican opponent in route to a decision win. All three judges scored the bout 40-36.
In the opening bout from the Avalon Theater in Hollywood, featherweight Jose Vargas (5-0, 4 KOs) stopped Leonardo Reyes (7-18, 3 KOs) of Tijuana, Mexico in three rounds in a four round bout. A left hook to the body by Vargas followed by a right to the head, sent Reyes to the canvas in the opening round as he got up and was dropped a second time, saved by the bell to close. Reyes was down a third time from a right to the body as that did it, the referee stopped the fight 38 seconds of the third.