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Harutyunyan tops Hayashida!
April 2, 2005
By Francisco Salazar at ringside
Photos: Marcus Lopez
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Eight months ago, Kahren Harutyunyan left the ring in disillusionment and
disappointment. He was in complete control and on his way to unanimous
decision victory when a cut over his eye caused by a punch prompted a
stoppage and a knockout loss against him.
Friday night saw a complete reversal of that outcome when Harutyunyan
controlled and dominated his way to a 12 round unanimous decision victory
over Tatsuo Hayashida before almost 1,100 at the Quiet Cannon in Montebello,
CA. With the victory, Harutyunyan wins the vacant NABO Junior Bantamweight
championship.
The bout headlined a six-bout “Battle of the Rising Stars” card, presented
by All Star Boxing.
It was an almost flawless performance by Harutyunyan, who boxed brilliantly
for the duration of the fight. Harutyunyan set the tempo of the fight by
landing strong combinations and getting in and out of Hayashida’s punching
range.
Harutyunyan scored a knockdown in the third round. Harutyunyan landed a
counter right cross that dropped Hayashida to the canvas. Undeterred,
Hayashida got up and fought on.
Hayashida turned up the pressure in the fifth round. He succeeded in landing
more punches and backing up Harutyunyan. However, it was not enough to
offset Harutyunyan’s offense.
The eighth round was the best in the fight. Harutyunyan put more pressure on
Hayashida and landed more vicious punches than he had in previous rounds.
Hayashida bravely fought back, despite the fact he suffered a cut over his
left eye from a headbutt.
After a right hand staggered Hayashida in the 10th round, Harutyunyan boxed
well until the final bell. Harutyunyan let up on the pressure, but did
enough to score to win the last couple of rounds.
All three judges scored the bout in favor of Harutyunyan, 120-107, 120-107,
and 119-108. Fightnews.com scored the bout in favor of Harutyunyan, 120-107.
Harutyunyan felt blessed with the support he had from family and friends who
were at the fight. It was great sharing a dream of becoming champion. Still,
he has higher aspirations.
“I am working hard to become a world champion,” said Harutyunyan, who has
contributed to Fightnews.com before. “I am a thinking person. I was ready to
go all of the way. I wasn’t content with a decision because I had him down.
I was going for the KO if it was there. But, my main focus was staying with
my game plan throughout the fight.”
Harutyunyan was down after the bout in August, which he was winning against
Gilberto Bolanos. A cut over his eye allegedly caused by a punch prompted
the ringside physician for that fight to stop it with a round to go, giving
Bolanos the victory over Harutyunyan.
Now, he is content. All of that hard work paid off and earned him a title.
“I was winning the Bolanos fight until they stopped it. But, my management
made this fight for me. I became more motivated and I put everything behind
me.”
Harutyunyan, from Glendale, CA by way of Yerevan, Armenia, improves to
12-2-3. Hayashida, from Tokyo, Japan, drops to 17-6-1, 8 KO’s.
In the co-feature, Super Welterweight Santiago Perez outworked Felipe
Santana over six rounds to win a unanimous decision.
Perez was the busier fighter who landed the more effective punches
throughout the fight. Perez was content to allow Santana to come towards
him, thus allowing him to counter Santana.
Santana was busier in the third and landed more punches than in previous
rounds. He was finally able to get in Perez’ range and land straight right
hands.
However, Perez controlled the action in the rest of the fight Santana
suffered a cut in the fifth round, prompting Perez to come straight at
Santana and land more punches in the round.
Perez finished the bout strong as Santana slowed down considerably. Due to
him not being in the ring for years, Santana rarely landed a punch and
allowed for Perez to press the action.
All three judges scored the bout 60-54 in favor of Perez. Fightnews.com
scored the bout the same for Perez.
Perez, from El Monte, CA by way of Copala, Guerrero, Mexico, goes to 9-0-1,
2 KO’s. Santana, from Yucatan, Mexico, falls to 2-1.
Super Middleweight Joey Aragon knocked down Chris Moorings once and settled
for a four round unanimous decision.
Aragon used angles throughout the fight to avoid any of Moorings punches.
Aragon would tie up Moorings as he would charge into him.
The stockier Aragon found a home for wide right hands to the head of
Moorings. One of those right hands was an uppercut that landed flush on
Mooring’s chin, dropping him to the canvas in the second round. Moorings got
up immediately and was not visibly shaken.
Moorings, a former kickboxing champion, came out more aggressive in the
third round. Moorings came straight at Aragon, but could not put his punches
together. Aragon still found a home with a right hand, with left hooks.
Moorings landed more punches in the fourth round. Aragon slowed down and was
able to clench whenever he felt Moorings would have had the upper hand.
All three judges had Aragon winning the bout, 40-35, 39-36, and 38-37.
Fightnews.com had Aragon winning 39-36.
Aragon, from Rosemead, CA, improves to 6-2, 2 KO’s. Moorings, from Long
Beach, CA, loses his professional debut.
Welterweight George Moreno scored an upset when he knocked down Francisco
Zepeda twice, the last one for good in the first round of a scheduled six
round bout.
A left hook to the head dropped Zepeda to the canvas. Zepeda got up and
fought back bravely. During an exchange, a right hand by Moreno dropped
Zepeda to the canvas again.
Dazed, Zepeda stood up, but referee Raul Caiz, Jr. stopped the bout at 1:38
of the first round.
Moreno, from Azusa, CA, improves to 3-7, 2 KO’s. Zepeda, from Los Angeles by
way of Michoacan, Mexico, drops to 3-3-2, 1 KO.
In other bouts:
– Super Featherweight Jorge Espinoza knocked out Shane Langford with a left
hook to the head at 18 seconds of the first round. Langford had gotten up
from the knockdown but fell in the arms of referee Tony Crebs. Espinoza,
from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, goes to 3-0, 1 KO. Langford, from Los
Angeles by way of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, drops to 1-7-1.
– In the walkout bout of the evening, Super Welterweight Aaron Martinez won
a four round decision over Salomon Tellez. Martinez, from East Los Angeles,
CA, goes to 2-0. Tellez, from Anaheim, CA, drops to 2-2.
Notes:
– Faces in the crowd: former world champion Bobby Chacon, Middleweight
Sergio Mora (also on NBC’s “Contender”), undefeated fighters Z Gorres and
Rey Bautista.
– All Star Boxing is back at the Quiet Cannon in Montebello on Friday, May
20th with another installment of “Battle of the Rising Stars.” To purchase
tickets, call All Star Boxing at (323) 816-6200.
– Harytyunyan is being trained by Freddie Roach.
– Ring announcer was Jim Fitzgerald.
Questions? Comments? Email Francisco Salazar
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress