Results of Champions of Tomorrow at Four Points by Sheraton in San Diego
After her fight with Katarina De La Cruz was cancelled, Amaris "Diamond Girl" Quintana (center) graciously did a little promo work for a local distributor of the 5 Hour Energy Drink. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Sorry to say, Thursday night’s Bobby D. Presents in association with Jorge Marron Productions boxing show was a bit of a downer. First off, Katarina De La Cruz ended up being a no-go and her opponent in the main event, Amaris Quintana, was visibly upset by this development. With her friends and family already in attendance, news came late in the day that De La Cruz had refused to have her eyes properly checked, something that should have been done well in advance of her coming to town.
Whether eye dilation was necessary or not, that’s what the local doctor requested Thursday morning. During such an exam, doctors use special eyedrops to cause eye dilation. The drops cause the black portion at the center of your eye (iris) to widen, allowing the doctor a good view of the back of your eye. Eye dilation helps the doctor diagnose many conditions, such as eye tumors, high blood pressure, infectious diseases, macular degeneration and for boxers – retinal detachment.
Eye dilation can be inconvenient since it makes it difficult to focus on close objects and interferes with your ability to see properly for a few hours. Eye dilation also makes your eyes more sensitive to bright lights. Alternative tests are available, but none have proven as effective as an exam that involves eye dilation.
With the entire day to take care of the matter, De La Cruz refused to have the procedure done, even after being offered additional compensation. So, with the headliner pulling out, the fight card was reduced to just five – four round matches.
The infamous Joshua Clottey cover-up was demonstrated by Cornell Davis (r) in his bout against Lionel Davis (l). Photo: Jim Wyatt
In the Co-main event, heavyweight Lionel T. Davis (8-0, 6 KOs) of Hawthorne, CA looked quite pedestrian in his complete domination of Cornell Davis (3-14-2) who rarely if ever threw a punch or came out of his protective shell. For four rounds Lionel Davis jabbed and then jabbed some more at the grossly overweight Cornell Davis who either covered up or quickly got into the hugging mode with his 6’7” opponent. With the crowd poking fun at their inactivity, the farce continued until the final 10 seconds of Round #4 when a momentary exchange occurred. Why Lionel Davis didn’t abandon his head-hunting and go to the wide open midsection is the big mystery.
In six months, it will be five long years since Cornell Davis won a match. The best query I heard from onlookers, “If Cornell Davis is this bad, how bad are the three fighters he beat?”
Referee Jose Cobian calls a halt to the bout between the fallen Alejandro Garcia and Adrian Vargas (far left) after Garcia went down from a powerful blow to the midsection. Photo: Jim Wyatt
In a light welterweight match, Adrian Vargas (2-0-0, 1 KO) of Undisputed Downtown San Diego, spent a few minutes sizing up his opponent and then let loose with some of the most powerful body shots ever delivered. The partisan Vargas crowd went wild when Alejandro Garcia (0-3-1) of Tijuana fell backwards onto the canvas. The referee, Jose Cobian, saw no need to give any 10 count, as Garcia laid there grimacing in pain.
After his TKO of Franky Martinez, Emmanuel Robles (center) is joined by the show's ring card ladies. Photo: Jim Wyatt.
Another local favorite, southpaw Emmanuel Robles (3-0-0 1 KO) from Old School Boxing, had no trouble with Franky Martinez (0-5-0). Robles kept landing the crisp combinations punctuated by solid left hooks. After being beaten to the punch repeatedly his face became so red, the fight doctor checked him after each round. At 1:03 of the third round, referee Pat Russell declared it was a no contest and pulled the plug. Advice to Martinez: Stay away from the lefties until you have a clue how to stay away their power alley.
After hearing the judges' scores from ring announcer Benny Ricardo, Brandon Adams (r) expresses his thankfulness to his Lord and Savior. Erin Beach (l), the man he defeated looks on. Photo: Jim Wyatt .
Throughout the Erin Beach, Oceanside, CA versus Brandon Adams, Los Angeles, CA match-up, it was like waiting for an explosion to occur. Both fighters were wired to unload the knockout blow. While Beach measured his opponent with the jab, Adams managed to steal the first two rounds with late flurries. Knowing full well that one punch could end it, each had their moments in round three. Beach landed two big overhand rights and Adams caught Beach with a nice combination and two powerful left hooks.
Throughout the match, Beach became quite adroit at trapping and holding Adams‘ right arm and it was always away from the referee’s line of sight. Adam’s corner warned their boxer about letting it go to the scorecards, “Do whatever you have to! Break loose from his clenching! Stay busy!”
That’s just what Adams did, especially in the final round. His off-balance overhand rights were more like desperate lunges. Every time Beach tried to tie him up, he went almost berserk to get himself free. The number of punches thrown by Adams in that final frame established that he wanted the win more.
Being out-of-towners and positioned in the infamous blue corner, Adams and his corner people were ecstatic when the heard the judges’ tallies. All three declared Adams, now 1-0, the winner in his debut over Beach who gets his first loss and goes to 1-1.
Salvador Cifuentes (r) of Chula Vista had his hands full in the all out battle with Federico Martinez of Santee. Photo: Jim Wyatt
In the final match-up, we had two more local boxers, Frederico Martinez of Santee and Salvador Cifuentes of Chula Vista. Although both fighters were busy throughout and landing a ton of body shots, Cifuentes demonstrated he wanted it more by landing the majority of the heavier blows. With the win, he goes to (1-1), while Martinez drops to (0-3)
