SecondsOut
Nov 2 2008
Arce Halts Garcia, Peterson, Martirosyan Win in Vegas
By Mike Sloan at ringside
Ask and you shall receive. That’s exactly what happened to veteran
Isidro `Chino’ Garcia in his action-packed battle with fellow super
flyweight Jorge Arce on Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Resort &
Casino in Las Vegas, USA. Garcia continuously taunted Arce after he’d
receive a few punches from the Los Mochis resident, begging and daring
`Travieso’ to keep coming and urging him to throw more punches. Arce
obliged and eventually his crippling body assault sapped the energy
from Garcia and the fight was over shortly after the fourth round
began.
Garcia was brazen with his offense and welcomed everything Arce
threw. He figured he’d be able to withstand Arce’s firepower and
eventually score a victory of his own, but Arce’s tremendous punching
prowess was too much for Garcia to handle. Arce focused almost solely
on Garcia’s body with his power shots and it seemed like a matter of
time before the resident of Hacienda Heights, California, folded like
a business selling Y2K merchandise.
An Arce left hook to the body stiffened Garcia late in the second and
finally another left to the liver sent Garcia to his knees early in
the fourth. He was able to climb back up to his feet but once referee
Tony Weeks allowed the action to resume, Arce finished it moments
later.
Arce unfurled a vicious tsunami of punches but although virtually no
solitary punch landed cleanly on Garcia’s head, Weeks stopped it. The
official time was :48 of the stanza. With the sensational stoppage
win, Arce jumped to 51-4-1 with his 39th knockout. Garcia fell to
25-6-2 (8).
Unbeaten junior welterweight contender Lamont Peterson had his work
cut out for him against the tough-as-nails Lanardo Tyner. Peterson did
enough to hold off Tyner and win a comfortable unanimous decision, but
Tyner was in Peterson’s face from the outset. He’d plug away at
Peterson with rapid body shots and flurries to the face, but he was a
bit too slow and predictable for Peterson to be taken advantage of.
Peterson utilized his reach and size o offset whatever Tyner tried to
throw his way and even though the Washington, DC native was penalized
a point for repeated low blows in the fourth, he walked away with a
lopsided victory in terms of scoring. Official scores of 98-91, 99-87
and 99-90 backed Peterson’s dominance, but the fight itself was a bit
closer than the scores suggested. Still, Peterson kept his unblemished
pro ledger in tact with what will look like a walk in the park, though
he had to earn the near shutout decision. Where Peterson ascended to
26-0 with 12 KOs, Tyner, from Detroit, Michigan, descended to 19-2
(11).
Two time Russian amateur champion Matt Korobov made his professional
debut a good one as he stopped game but overmatched middleweight
opponent Mario Evangelista in the third round. It took Korobov two
rounds to figure out Evangelista but when he did, he quickly
dispatched him. A left hook and follow-up right hand wobbled
Evangelista and the neutral corner held him up. Referee Russell Mora
counted to eight and when Evangelista was unresponsive to his
questions (more out of frustration than damage); the fight was called
off without protest. The official time of the TKO came at 2:01 of the
third, allowing Korobov, from Orotukan, Russia, to begin his pro
career with a bang. Evangelista, who hails from Mazatlan, Mexico,
dropped to 1-2-1 (1).
Junior middleweight Vanes Martirosyan made a statement as he
obliterated opponent Charlie Howe early in the first round.
Martirosyan needed a spectacular showing like this as he’s largely
been relegated to toiling in near obscurity in off-TV bouts on major
pay-per-view events. Martirosyan, from Armenia but fighting out of
Glendale, California, dropped Howe moments into the contest with a
stiff overhand right. Howe, who previously lasted a full ten rounds
with John Duddy, beat the count but `The Nightmare’ had just begun for
the Grelton, Ohio native.
Martirosyan, sensing an early kayo, swarmed his foe and pummeled him
along the ropes. Dishing out more punishment than a sadist at a
petting zoo, Martirosyan unloaded a barrage of punches until referee
Toby Gibson had no choice but to stop the mugging. The official time
of the technical knockout came at just 1:20 and Martirosyan bolstered
his pro ledger to 22-0 with 14 KOs. For his efforts, Howe dipped to
16-6-2 (6). On a side note, it’s now time for Martirosyan’s handlers
to consider stepping up the level of this talented boxer’s opposition.
Ty Barnett eked past Johnny Edwards via majority decision after six
back and forth rounds. At 5’4′ Edwards had a difficult time getting
inside on the lanky Barnett for much of the fight but he seemed to do
enough damage to steal a few rounds. However, only Lisa Giampa saw the
fight that way as she scored it 57-57. Her scores were offset by Al
Lefkowitz and CJ Ross, who saw it 59-54 and 59-55, respectively.
Barnett, a super lightweight from Washington, DC, improved to 16-0-1
(11) with the win while Edwards, from Aiken, South Carolina, dipped to
14-3-1 (8).
In the opening bout of the evening, Eldersburg, Maryland’s Mark `TNT’
Tucker went the distance for the first time in his blossoming career
as he won a unanimous decision over Terrance Wilson. Tucker used his
power and speed to outwork Wilson and though Tucker seemed to fade a
little in rounds five and six, the middleweight still was always a
step ahead of his opponent. Tucker won the decision on scores of 60-54
on all three judges’ scorecards and improved to 6-0 (5). Wilson, from
Fort Smith, Arkansas, fell to 5-4 (3).
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