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Kelsey Jeffries Wins GBU Featherweight Title
in Oregon
By Ricardo Ibarra
(NOV 7) Fighting in her forty-ninth bout as a professional prize fighter,
Kelsey Jeffries (39-9-1 3KOs 121lbs.) added the women’s GBU featherweight
title to her collection with a unanimous 10 round decision over Elizabeth
Villarreal (4-5-2 125 lbs.) in southern, Oregon this past Saturday November
03. The battle for the vacant GBU title was the main event of a stacked
seven bout card promoted by Patrick Ortiz’ Ringside Ticket Inc.
Jeffries got off to a slow start in the first round of the bout as she
struggled to get around her opponents long, rangy jab. Villarreal
effectively kept Jeffries off balance and unable to get a rhythm going. In
the second round Jeffries slowly began to assert herself, finding angles and
landing repeatedly with precise jab-right hand combinations. Using good
lateral movement and quick, straight punching Jeffries effectively stopped
Villarreal from getting off first. A big double right hand combination from
Jeffries stunned her opponent in the third round. Villarreal made it out of
the round, moving out of harms way and snapping her jab to keep her opponent
from landing anything of consequence. Jeffries used her jab and effective
right hands to easily outbox her opponent throughout the remainder of the
fight. Villarreal mounted a small comeback in the fifth round, landing
repeatedly with hard one-twos as Jeffries slowed her output. Jeffries came
back strong and stunned her opponent once again in the seventh round,
snapping her head back with a straight right-left hook combination.
Villarreal proved to be a tough fighter and fought back gamely throughout
the fight, but she was in with a different level of fighter. Final judges
scores 98-92, 98-92, 98-92 all for the new GBU titleholder, Kelsey Jeffries.
.
The evening’s semi-main event featured a long awaited match-up between two
of Oregon’s most experienced lower weight fighters, Lebanon’s Rafael Ortiz
(14-12-2 13KOs 141 lbs.) and Portland’s Michael Lucero (11-12-1 2KOs 144 ½
lbs.). Unfortunately for fight fans the scheduled eight-round welterweight
bout ended in premature and controversial fashion. The bout began at a quick
pace with Lucero stepping in with his left hook and landing on a consistent
basis. Ortiz retaliated and landed the hardest punch of the round, a left
hook, but Lucero was the busier fighter and seemed to have a slight edge.
Ortiz came out strong in the second round, opening up with hard shots to the
head. A big left hook stunned Lucero and sent him reeling back to the ropes.
Ortiz stepped in and opened up on his opponent, as he did so the two
fighters clashed heads. The clash opened up a cut along the right eyebrow of
Ortiz and a stream of blood immediately started to run down the side of his
face. After examining the cut, the doctor advised the referee to stop the
fight. Unfortunately for Ortiz the referee apparently did not see the
head-butt and ruled the cut was caused by a punch, awarding the TKO victory
to Michael Lucero at :24 seconds of round two. Both fighters stated they
would like a rematch. That’s great news for northwest fight fans as this
could be one of the best action fights to be made in the region.
In a four round welterweight fight Omar Nunez(144 lbs.), the youngest member
of Oregon’s fighting Nunez family, made his professional debut against
Khalik Memminger (1-7-1 1KO 144 ½ lbs. ) of Killeen, Texas. Memminger turned
out to be tougher than his record indicated, managing to hold the young
fighter to a draw. Both fighters began the bout at a slow pace, jabbing and
gauging what the other had brought to the fight. Memminger broke the lull in
the fight in the second round with a big right hand that wobbled Nunez and
sent him falling back to the ropes. The Texan immediately pressed and opened
up with hard hooks and uppercuts along the ropes. Nunez fought his way out
of trouble, pushing his opponent back with a left hook followed by a right
uppercut. The pace picked up once again in the third round as Nunez stepped
in behind his jab. Memminger fired back with his own left. A hard hook from
Memminger forced an exchange in the center of the ring with both fighters
landing heavy leather. A big right hand by Nunez punctuated the round. In
the fourth round Nunez went back to jabbing early on. A right hand from
Memminger momentarily stopped Nunez in his tracks. Memminger followed up
with another hard right hand, this time hurting his opponent. Nunez elected
to trade rather than hold and gave the crowd a stirring flurry of action to
close out the fight. Final judges scores 38-38, 38-38, 38-38.
Fighting in a four round women’s Jr. Lightweight bout, local favorite Merced
Nunez (5-1 2KOs 124 lbs.) scored her fifth straight win since losing her
professional debut. Nunez pitched a shutout on all judges’ cards against
undefeated Clara Delatorre (1-1 124 lbs.) of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Nunez
controlled the bout throughout, landing consistently with snapping, precise
jabs. Her improved right hand hurt Delatorre in the first, second and third
rounds. Delatorre was a tough fighter and fired back throughout; making the
match an exciting one. But, Nunez was too quick and too strong for her on
this night. All scores read 40-36. Nunez has shown tremendous improvements
since her last outing, punching in combinations more often and snapping her
jab with authority. At this point she’s a tough fight for any women fighter
around 126 pounds. She proved her toughness and potential in her first pro
outing, giving current GBU lightweight title holder Melissa Hernandez a
tough fight. Her team is in no rush and they plan on moving her along slowly
and allowing her time to learn her craft.
Ben Aragon (5-6-1 4KOs 152 lbs.) and Leshon Simms (4-7 3KOs 157 ½ lbs.)
fought in a closely contested four round bout that saw Simms pull away with
a majority decision victory. Aragon charged out for the first round,
aggressively pressing his opponent with hard shots to the body. Simms fired
back with his jab, but he was not landing with any regularity and seemed to
be losing the round by a wide margin when a big left hook caught Aragon
flush as he stepped forward. A left-right uppercut landed squarely on the
jaw of Aragon to close out the round. In the second rounds Simms began to
land his jab with regularity. Aragon managed to land a few effective left
hooks to the body, but the flow of the round belonged to Simms as he boxed
behind his jab. In the third round Aragon came back with a strong body
attack. As Simms’ output slowed, his opponent stepped in with more
confidence and landed with hard left hooks the ribcage. Coming into the
fourth round both fighters seemed to understand the fight was on the table.
Simms opened up early with a big left hook on the chin. Aragon came back
with a hard hook to the body, backing his opponent off. The shot slowed
Simms down once again and Aragon pressed with constant body work. Aragon was
on his way to securing the round in the final seconds, when Simms let his
hands go and landed with a final flurry of punches, making the round a tough
one to score. Final judges scores 38-38, 39-37, 39-37 awarding the majority
decision to Simms.
Former kick boxer Satya Williams (2-0 1KO 183 lbs.) of Denver, Colorado had
an easy night, scoring a first round TKO over Roseburg, Oregon’s Shaun
Nicholson (0-3 185 lbs.). Working behind his right hand jab, the southpaw
Williams followed up fairly quickly, landing with a hard left cross.
Williams followed up with another left hand, hurting his opponent. The next
left hand to land sent Nicholson crashing to the canvass hard. Nicholson
would get up in time to beat the count, but he was clearly in no condition
to continue as he wobbled around the ring. The referee wisely waved off the
fight at :52 seconds of the first round.
In the evening’s opener, former amateur standout Jennifer Barber (3-0 1KO
126 lbs.) scored her third straight victory with a second round TKO over
Central Point, Oregon’s Maira Cabrera. Barber asserted control over the
fight early on, snapping her jab and stepping in with quick right hand-left
hook combinations. A swift left hook followed by a hard right hand buckled
the knees of Cabrera in the closing moments of the first round. In the
second round Barber went back to jabbing early on, patiently looking for an
opening. She found that opening with a big left hook. A follow-up right hand
wobbled Cabrera once again. Barber didn’t waste any time and swarmed her
opponent, landing repeatedly with a barrage of punches in the corner. The
referee mercifully stepped in and stopped the fight at :30 seconds of the
second round. Barber ups her record to 3-0 with 1 knockout. Cabrera drops to
0-1. By: Ricardo "Ricky" Ibarra - Boxing Prospects |
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