The historic Belasco Theater was once again on fire for the fourth installment of Golden Boy Promotions' LA FIGHT CLUB on June 4. The sold-out crowd included some exciting celebrity appearances by actors Jeremy Sisto, Kate Del Castillo and the "Golden Boy" himself, Oscar De La Hoya, who was on hand to meet fans for a special "Knockout Experience" event. Live on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Deportes fans are beginning to see why LA FIGHT CLUB is not to be missed.
The main event featured Jayson "Star" Velez (23-0-1, 16 KOs) who took on Daniel "Hurakan" Ramirez (11-3, 5 KOs) in a high-octane 10-round super featherweight bout. After a fairly sedate round one, Velez came out strong in round two landing an impressive ring cross that had Ramirez on the ground. Ready for redemption, Ramirez dominated round three with two flurries of combos that knocked Velez off his game. Showing no signs of fatigue though, Velez entertained the crowd with his dance moves between rounds seven and eight, leading into a tough round for Ramirez. In the end, Velez's consistent accuracy, power and stamina earned him the win in a unanimous decision.
"I thought Daniel was good fighter," said Velez. "He came prepared to fight. After the first knock down I thought I had him, but he came back and did not give up. I'm ready for the next fight and ready to be a champion."
"He has good power, but I thought I hit him pretty well," said Ramirez. "I definitely thought the fight was closer than the judges had it. I'll have to go back and look at the tape, but I look forward to my next fight."
In the co-main event of the night, Emmanuel Gonzalez (14-2, 7 KOs) of Bronx, New York faced Angeleno Carolos "The Solution" Morales (9-1-3, 3 KOs) in an exciting eight-round super featherweight bout. The fight began to heat up when Morales dealt Gonzales a devastating flurry that had Gonzalez on the ropes in round three. Nevertheless, both fighters ended strong with powerful blows hoping to seal the deal with a knockout but to no avail. This hard fought match-up ended with another win for Morales in a unanimous decision.
"I'll have to go back and watch the tape, but overall I'm really happy to get the victory," said Morales. "I wanted to take him out in the third round and I knew I had him hurt a couple of times throughout the fight but it still worked out."
"The fight went at a really good pace for me; I had trouble with the weight and it showed," said Emmanuel Gonzalez. "Carlos came to fight and he was stronger than I thought he would be. I'm just glad to be back after a year layoff and hopefully I'll be back in the ring in a few months at 135. That's the weight I feel comfortable at."
In the first televised bout of the night, crowd favorite, Christian "Chimpa" Gonzalez (10-0, 9 KOs) faced Darryl Hayes. (3-5, 1 KO) of Houston in a scheduled six-round lightweight bout. Cheered on by die-hard "Chimpa" fans, Gonzalez put Hayes on the defense early on in the match up. No match for Gonzalez's well-calculated jabs, Hayes resorted to techniques that earned him penalties in both the second and fifth rounds. Gonzales won the bout by unanimous decision in six rounds.