HERRERA RETURNS WITH VICTORY

Mauricio Herrera & Chamaco Lopez Gain KO Wins
By David A. Avila

ONTARIO-Mauricio Herrera returned to the ring after five months and needed about three rounds to shake the rest against former contender Efren Hinojosa (30-8-1, 17 KOs) at the Doubletree Hotel on Friday.

About 2,000 people packed the venue to watch the Thompson Boxing Promotions fight show that has produced a number of current stars including Timothy "Desert Storm" Bradley, Yonnhy Perez and Chris "The Nightmare" Arreola who was present at the activities. Also present was Jack Mosley, Kaliesha West and Danny Hernandez who miraculously survived a gunshot wound to the head after days in critical condition.

It was Herrera’s show.

Herrera’s jab was not very available for the first three rounds and he seemed more inclined to find spots for the right hand. Hinojosa, a ring veteran of many wars, used all of his tricks to offset Herrera’s speed including holding.

Finally in the fourth round Herrera found his jab and began firing combinations that landed with a lot more accuracy. Hinojosa seemed a little lost when Herrera fired more than two punches.

Herrera began pulling away in the fifth round with accurate punching. Some right hands found the mark. At the end of the fifth Hinojosa’s corner stopped the fight at the end of the round for a technical knockout victory for Herrera.

"I was going for a knock out," said Herrera (14-1, 7 KOs). "I felt he couldn’t hurt me."

It’s on to another challenge.

La Puente’s Abraham "Chamaco" Lopez (11-0, 9 KOs) withstood some windmill punches from North Carolina’s Jason Rorie (5-7-2) who entered the ring looking to score a knockout. But Lopez coolly waited for the openings with occasional counters and spotted an opening. A fuselage of punches found Rorie’s head though he tried to dip and move away. After six punches found the mark and Rorie turned his back, referee David Mendoza stopped the fight at 2:18 of the first round for a technical knockout victory for Lopez.

Venezuela’s Patrick Lopez (19-2, 11 KOs) started slowly and methodically against rugged Mexican veteran Cristian Favela (17-25-6). Though clearly superior in speed it wasn’t until an accidental head butt by Favela that Lopez stepped into another gear and began to let loose with combinations. All three judges scored the junior welterweight fight 80-72 for Lopez.

Carson’s Efrain Esquivias (8-0, 5 KOs) battered Fairfield’s Danny Pantoja (0-3) four rounds but a lesser fighter would have been stopped. Combinations rained on Pantoja but he slugged his way out when possible but just took far more than he gave in the featherweight fight. All three judges scored it 40-36 for Esquivias.

After a slow first round heavyweight Bell’s Enrique Lobatos (1-0-1) resorted to slamming body shots to turn up the heat and win a four round bout by unanimous decision against Lakeside’s Charles Tucker (1-1). Judges Marty Denkin and Raul Caiz Jr. had it 39-37 and Danny Sandoval scored it 40-36 for southpaw Lobatos. It was Sandoval’s first pro judging event.