Alan Sanchez, Will Tomlinson, Elias Espadas all victorious on Golden Boy Live! from Del Mar

It is now onward and upward for welterweight sensation Alan Sanchez of Fairfield, CA after his defeat of the formidable Ed “The Lion” Paredes of Hollywood, Fla. on Thursday night at the Bing Crosby Hall, Del Mar, CA. Photo: J. Wyatt

In Thursday evening’s Main Event at the Bing Crosby Hall on the Del Mar Fairgrounds, it was Fairfield, CA’s Alan Sanchez coming away with the decisive victory over Ed “The Lion” Paredes with scores of 97-92, 98-91, and 98-91. The lopsided scores, though well earned, are not indicative of how contentious, how spirited this match was.

For the majority of this fight, Paredes was out hustled and out-landed by Sanchez who put the icing on the cake when catching Paredes with a straight right followed by a left hook to send Paredes not only to the canvas but almost clear out of the ring.

That being said, Paredes, who has dynamite in each hand pressed the action throughout. As you will see, he cut the distance and forced the action. He had the Sanchez faithful a nervous wreck wondering if he was going to land that one counter left hook or combination that would put their hero on his back.

What the Paredes’ faithful were not privy to, was how hard Sanchez had worked for this evening. To win on Thursday night, his conditioning had to be superior in order to keep moving about the way he did, out of harm’s way, so he could eventually clobber Paredes before Paredes could clobber him. For boxing fans, this was an outstanding match to watch, especially the ninth round when each boxer landed a big overhand right.

With the win, Sanchez improves to 15-3-1 (8 KOs) while Paredes drops his second straight to land at (35-5-1, with 23 KOs). In July Paredes lost to Alfonso Gomez and as a result has now gone 13-2 in his last 15 bouts and finds his fringe contender status in jeopardy. Sanchez’s future appears rosy as long as he can maintain his superior conditioning supplanted by the hill climbing, half-marathons and sparring with the right people. As his trusty manager, Jorge Marron, stated recently: “Alan’s boxing skills are nearing their peak.”

Before the opening bell, Ed Paredes looked across the ring at Alan Sanchez with a menacing look that said, ‘You sir are dead meat.’  Photo: J. Wyatt

Both boxers, Sanchez (black trunks), Paredes (white trunks) used every trick in the book to gain an advantage. Photos: J. Wyatt

Here we see Alan Sanchez (r) inches away from landing a big overhand right to the side of Ed Paredes’ head. Photo: Paul Gallegos

Alan Sanchez ducks under an Paredes offering. Photos: Paul Gallegos

Sanchez lands another left hook. Photo: Paul Gallegos

After Sanchez’s short right came the left hook to send Ed Paredes into the ropes. Photos: Paul Gallegos

The knockdown in the closing seconds of round 10 made the Sanchez victory over Paredes a certainty. Photos: Jim Wyatt

Proud father Amado Sanchez and proud brother Luisao look on as Alan Sanchez has his arm raised in victory by referee Wayne Hedgepath. Photo: J. Wyatt

The lovely young ladies (l to r) Jess Koehne, Alan Sanchez’s girlfriend and Jessica Sanchez, Alan’s sister-in-law await their opportunity to congratulate their hero.

Alan Sanchez and his gorgeous girlfriend Jessica Koehne pose for photos after the big win. Photo: Jim Wyatt

Bubbling over with pride is Jorge Marron (l), Alan’s Manager and confidant.

In the co-main event, Bout #4, “Wild” Will Tomlinson of Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia dominated Los Mochis, Mexico’s Miguel Zamudio en route to a final round stoppage. Since Tomlinson (23-1-1, 13 KOs) hadn’t scored a stoppage win in over three and a half years, it sure looked like that was his intent on Thursday night.

Zamudio (31-6-1, 18 KOs) was a slick and durable opponent but ineffective. He even had trouble getting an attempted head butt past the alert Tom Taylor who was refereeing the contest. In round one referee Taylor not only reprimanded Zamudio, he took a point away. To his credit, Zamudio kept exchanging blows even though “Wild Will’s” had so much more power – they were of the all-or-nothing variety.

Early in round eight, after being corralled in his corner, Zamudio was again getting the worst of it. This is when Tomlinson went with another of his big overhand rights followed by a powerful uppercut to force the onlooking referee to step in and call a halt to the punishment.

(top, left) Miguel Zamudio of Los Mochis, Mexico gets set to face “Wild” Will Tomlinson from Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia. Photos: J. Wyatt

Here we see the uppercut that finally did Miguel Zamudio in. Photo: Paul Gallegos

After the stoppage, ref Tom Taylor raised Will Tomlinson’s arm in victory.

In the TV opener, Bout #3, middleweight Elias “the Latin Kid” Espadas from Merida, Yucatan, Mexico (7-1, 3 KOs) won a razor thin victory over Puerto Rico’s Carlos “Macho” Lopez (5-2-1, 3 KOs) via a six-round majority decision on contradictory scores of 60-54, 58-56, and 57-57.

Siding with this observer were the show’s announcers, along with the punch stats that reportedly had the punches landed almost dead even. The fighters’ faces can also be an indicator. At the close of the fight, Lopez was exuberant in regards to his performance while Espadas seemed quiet with his finger’s crossed. Truth be known, Espadas looked slightly better in round one. Back came Lopez in round two. Espadas did well in round three. Lopez did slightly better in round four. Espadas landed the cleaner shots in round five. Then Espadas finished the fight on his bicycle. If you’re scoring at home, that would be three rounds a piece – a draw.

(left) Another of the all action bouts had Elias Espadas (r) doing battle versus the very tough Carlos “Macho” Lopez (l). Photos: J. Wyatt

These amazing actions shots were taken by Paul Gallegos, one of the best sports photographers in the business.

After the final bell, no one knew who was going to get the nod in this tightly contested battle. Many said they were expecting a draw. Photos: J. Wyatt

In the opening match, Bout #1, a four-round welterweight clash, it was Brian Nevarez of Oceanside, CA, a boxing instructor at Rhino’s Boxing Club, Vista, CA improving his record to 2-0 by having his way with Mario Angeles (1-6-2) of San Diego. The Nevarez household has an unfair advantage over most pugilists, with Pops, Bernie Nevarez, a well respect boxing coach and sons, Brian and stepson Johnathan “Johnny Boy” Quiroz both being successful boxers. 

(photo, left) shows Mario Angeles of San Diego looking across the ring at his opponent Brian Nevarez of Oceanside, CA. Photos: Jim Wyatt

At the conclusion of their contest, it was Brian Nevarez earning an unanimous decision over Mario Angeles. Photo: J. Wyatt

Bout #2 was a four-round featherweight match featuring San Diego’s Jorge “Tito” Ruiz (6-2, 2 KOs) and a slick, deceptive southpaw from the Los Angeles area by the name of Raymond “Bad Boy” Chacon (5-11).

In his first fight back after being knocked out by Walter Melchor Santibanes, Ruiz backers plus his new trainer, Jose Cital, were anxious or should we say fretful to see how Ruiz would perform. In round one, Ruiz dominated his opponent and caught Chacon with several heavy blows. Chacon made a comeback in round two and looked like he was going to make it a fight. Once again, Ruiz dominated in round three and it appeared Chacon was more into defense than offense. In round four, Ruiz seemed to coast which to some observers meant he was comfortable with leaving the decision up to the whim of the judges. Both judges Tony Crebs and Alejandro Rochin thought Ruiz dominated every round and scored the bout a surprising 40-36 while judge Jose Cobian had it closer at 39-37.

Bout #2: Raymond Chacon (r) of Los Angeles went up against Jorge Ruiz of San Diego. Photo: Paul Gallegos

After his victory over “Bad Boy” Chacon, the gals seemed to be attracted to Jorge Ruiz and began flocking around him in hopes of having their photo taken with him. Photos: Jim Wyatt

Back in the dressing area, the requests for photos were nonstop. Here we see Ruiz with his trainer Jose Cital and Cital’s wife, nutritionist Brandy Augustine (r) who has successfully altered Ruiz’s diet. Photo: Lou Messina

In attendance at Thursday night’s show was one of the top featherweights in the land, Chris Martin and his wife. Martin will be heading north to the Little Creek Casino Resort in Shelton, Washington on December 19, 2014 for the weigh-in for his fight against Gary Russell Jr. No doubt Martin was in attendance to show his support for close friends Adrian Vargas, Ulises Sierra and Jorge Ruiz. Photo: J. Wyatt

On Thursday night it appears Mike Millsap was having similar problems with the ladies. They were hanging all over him and at a one point getting a little defensive.

By the end of the night, Mike had everyone smiling and in a festive mood.

Within the first minute of Bout #6, it appeared Adrian Vargas (12-0-1, 7 KOs) from National City was about to receive an early Christmas present when his opponent Mario “Popeyin” Hermosillo (12-16-4, 2 KOs) pulled up limping after twisting his ankle. After talking things over with the referee and his manager, “Popeyin” convinced both that he could finish the fight. “The crowd came to see a fight and I’m not going to disappoint them.”

With Hermosillo’s record being 0-6-1 over his last seven contests, and five of those losses coming by way of knockout, he was most likely afraid this would be his last fight if he didn’t finish it. During the first break between rounds, not one can of spinach was seen or digested.

In addition to this irregularity, Vargas, who was looking impressive, suddenly hurt his right hand when hitting Hermosillo’s hard head. With neither boxer wanting to quit, Hermosillo started this strategy of holding Vargas and pinning him in a corner or against the ropes. On and on they went, often grimacing in pain, until the final bell. 

At the end of the fourth round, the decision was never in doubt. The gutsy Vargas had landed far more punches and those of the meaningful variety.

Right out of the shoot, Mario Hermosillo ends up limping after spraining his left ankle. After the fight doctor was called, Hermosillo insisted on continuing.

Hermosillo then went from having no chance of winning to having a distinct advantage over Vargas. Late in round one, Vargas fractured his right hand on the top of Hermosillo’s head. Vargas then had to go the final three rounds with only his left hand. (right photo, bottom) We see the painful expression on Vargas’ face after he tries to use his right hand to hit Hermosillo. Ouch!

In the end, the sad faced Adrian Vargas earned an unanimous decision victory. Hopefully referee Tom Taylor knew not to squeeze his hand.

In the final bout of the evening, Bout #7, San Diego light heavyweight Ulises Sierra (8-0-2, 5 KOs) had what it takes to maintain his unbeaten record in a four-round rematch with fellow San Diegan Loren Myers (9-19-1, 2 KOs). Back in February at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Mission Valley, the gents found themselves in a heated battle which was stopped after Myers suffered a nasty cut to his lip that required more than a few stitches.

Generally speaking, the rival who gets beat in the first go around does much better in the second meeting. Loren Myers was in that position when facing Sierra. Even though he had prepared even harder for Thursday night’s match, Sierra realized how tenacious Myers was in their first meeting and he too prepared even harder.

In other words, Myers was in even better condition to take even more punishment. It was like watching one of those slapping contests where Sierra’s hand speed was so fast that Myers was getting frustrated. After their bout, Sierra wanted to pay tribute to his opponent, “That guy can really take a punish.”

Bout #7, boxer Loren Myers (center) makes his ring entrance. Photo: J. Wyatt

Myers’ opponent, Ulises Sierra makes his way to the ring.

(bottom, right) After earning his 8th victory, Sierra is joined by his sister and proud parents. Photos: J. Wyatt

To the victor go the spoils – Ulises Sierra is joined by his special lady.

This special edition of Golden Boy Live! on the Ringside at Del Mar Boxing Series calendar was presented by A&T Gym, Golden Boy Promotions, Don Chargin Productions, and Paco Presents. No date was given for their next show. Most likely late January or early February.