This past Friday on Thompson Boxing’s “Path to Glory” event at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, CA, welterweight Louie Lopez (13-1-1, 4 KOs), of Corona, Ca, defeated Adrian Gutierrez (12-1-1, 6 KOs) of Chula Vista, Ca, by way of majority decision.
Both fighters had their moments throughout the fight, but it was Lopez who was landing harder punches. Every round was close, but Lopez outworked Gutierrez for a majority of the scheduled 8-round bout. Lopez’ hand speed was a major factor as he landed his flurries with precise accuracy. Scorecards read 80-72, 79-73, and 76-76.
“Winning this fight against another undefeated prospect, my third in a row, has got my confidence level to an all time high,” said Lopez. “I knew if I stuck to my game plan and just boxed, I would come out on top. I’m hoping I’ll be making my entrance into the top fifteen of one of the sanctioning organizations, with the hopes of fight for a regional title next year.”
In the 8-round bantamweight co-main event, Manuel “Gucci Manny” Flores (14-0, 12 KOs) of Coachella, California, destroyed Armando Torres (26-23, 19 KOs), of Mexico City, in the first round. Flores sent Torres to the canvas three times before the fight was stopped. The first two were body shots, and the last was a left hook, right hook combo. The fight was halted at the 1:35 mark of round one.
In bout number three, middleweight Nelson “Nuckle” Oliva (5-0, KOs), of Rialto, CA, annihilated Mike Plazola (2-3, 1 KO) of Waterloo, IA. The scheduled 6-round bout only made to the .59 mark of round one. Oliva dropped Plazola three times before the fight was stopped.
In the second bout of the night, a scheduled 6-round lightweight contest, Erick “Aidahoe” Garcia Benitez (4-3, 1 KO) of Guadalajara, Mexico, upset Ioannis “The Greek Assassin” Manouilidis (3-1) of Los Angeles, CA.
Benitez was relentless in his attack and dropped Manouilidis with a right hook in round one. Manouilidis was cut under the left eye in round four by a punch but continued. Both fighters were engaging, throwing hard shots throughout the entire fight, but it was Benitez that was getting the best out of the exchanges. Scorecards read 59-54, 59-53, 58-54.
In the opening bout of the evening, super lightweight Juan Sanchez (5-0, 5 KOs), of Buena Park, CA, scored a second-round knockout over Miguel Angel Barajas (3-2, 2 KOs), of Guadalajara, Mexico.
Sanchez showed great composure as Barajas was throwing wild punches but couldn’t land anything meaningful. Sanchez kept coming forward and landed a powerful right hook to the temple, sending Barajas to the canvas in round two. Moments later, Sanchez landed a flurry of punches to the head of Barajas forcing the referee to stop the fight at the 2:34 mark of round two.
