By Francisco Salazar
Roman Morales keeps winning.
Although his latest victory on Friday night may make some people question whether he is legit prospect, especially against the fighter he should have made quick work against.
Morales had to survive a knockdown to win a 10 round unanimous decision against Roberto Castaneda at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, CA.
The bout headlined a six-bout “Central Coast Championship Boxing” card, presented by Gary Shaw Productions.
Morales has been brought slowly against average to modest opposition throughout his young career. He has two solid victories over Jesus Antonio Hernandez and Jonathan Arrellano, but holds victories over journeymen fighters such as Jose Iniguez and Lorenzo Trejo.
Castaneda was not supposed to put up much of a challenge, considering he had lost his previous three fights in a row by knockout.
Morales was in control from the opening bell, beating Castaneda to the punch. Morales did not allow Castaneda to mount much of an offense early on, keeping him on the defensive during the first four rounds.
Sensing he was down, Castaneda let his hands go more. The plan backfired in the fifth round, as he was dropped to one knee by a barrage of punches by Morales. Castaneda looked all but done, especially in the sixth round
But Castaneda occasionally landed a counter left hook to the head, due to Morales dropping his hands or being too wide with his punches. In the seventh round, Castaneda timed a left hook perfectly while Morales’ hands were down, dropping Morales onto the canvas. Morales got up on wobbly legs, barely making it to the end of the round.
Morales was able to get his feet under and boxed from a distance throughout the rest of the fight. Castaneda tried to trade with Morales in the final round, but was momentarily stunned with a right hand and ended up with a cut over his right eye in the process.
All three judges, including krikya360.com, scored the bout 97-91 in favor of Morales, who improves to 17-0, 9 KOs. Castaneda has now lost his last four bouts in a row and falls to 20-5-1, 15 KOs.
Notes:
- Super bantamweight Vic Darchinyan, welterweight contender Jesus Soto-Karass, super featherweight Art Hovhannisyan, unbeaten Jose Aguiniga, and welterweight Francisco Santana.
- Gary Shaw Productions will present another card at the Chumash Casino Resort on December 6th.
Super featherweights Gabriel Tolmajyan and Edwin Solis fought to a surprising eight round majority decision draw.
The southpaw Tolmajyan landed the more accurate punches early and often in the first half of the fight. Tolmajyan was able to land lead or counter left hands to the head of Solis during the first half of the fight.
Solis came on in the second half of the fight, but Tolmajyan still landed the telling blows in the fifth and sixth round.
Solis had his best rounds in the seventh and eighth rounds. Solis was able to get close enough to land right uppercuts to the head and hooks to the body of Tolmajyan. In the final round, Solis attacked Tolmajyan aggressively, throwing and landing punches, although his punches began to lose steam as the round progressed.
One judge scored the bout 77-75 in favor of Tolmajyan, while the other two judges scored the bout 76-76. krikya360.com scored the bout 78-74 in favor of Tolmajyan, who goes to 13-3-2, 3 KO. Solis goes to 5-2-2, 3 KOs.
Featherweight Rufino Serrano stopped Pablo Batres in the fourth round of a scheduled six round bout. Batres (4-8-1, 1 KO) dropped Serrano with a counter right hand to the head near end of the first round. Serrano was able to recover, beating Batres to the punch throughout the rest of the bout. In the fourth round, Serrano (14-5, 1 KO) pinned Batres in a corner and landed an accumulation of punches, dropping him to one knee. Batres made no effort to get up, prompting referee Dr. Lou Moret to wave the fight over at 2:37.
Junior middleweight Julian Cruz (2-2) won a hard-fought four round unanimous decision over Eric Prado. It was a rematch of a bout earlier this year won by Prado. Cruz pressed the action from the opening bell, backing Prado up against the ropes. Prado (2-4-1) was able to counter Cruz well in the second round. The rally was short-lived as Cruz landed the more telling hooks and counter right hands during exchanges in the second half of the fight. All three judges, including krikya360.com, scored the bout 39-37 in favor of Cruz.
Light heavyweight Il’shat Khusnulgatin stopped Arsenio Terrazas after the fourth round of a scheduled six round bout. Khusnulgatin (11-0 6 KOs) had a sizeable height and reach advantage over Terrazas, keeping him at a distance with a modest jab. Terrazas (9-6, 8 KOs) attempted to get on the inside, but would end up grabbing Khusnulgatin behind the head. The action was somewhat sloppy, but Khusnulgatin landed the more telling blows. In the third round, Terrazas’ right eye began to close. By the end of the fourth round, his eye was completely shut, prompting his corner to tell referee Jack Reiss that he was not able to continue after the round ended. During the fight Terrazas was deducted a point for holding.
Lightweight Daniel Franco stopped Manuel Romero in the fourth and final round. Franco (5-0-2, 3 KOs) simply countered every time the southpaw Romero pressed the action. As Romero (0-2) recklessly attacked, he would occasionally land a punch. Romero would leave himself open though, allowing Franco to land two or three punches, especially to the body. Romero came out aggressively in the fourth round, but again left himself open to get hit. A right hand followed by a left upper cut to the head dropped Romero to the canvas. Referee Dr. Lou Moret waved the fight over at :44.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for krikya360.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. He also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, Knockout Nation, and Ring Magazine. He could be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on twitter at FSalazarBoxing