Jesus Saracho, Tarik Zaina fight to majority draw

This past Friday at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, CA, super lightweights Jesus Saracho (13-1-1, 11 KOs) of Guanajuato, MX, and Tarik Zaina (12-0-1, 8 KOs) of Tijuana, MX, fought to a majority draw in Thompson Boxing’s Locked 'N Loaded 10-round main event. Saracho, who was defending his WBO Latino title, lost his belt at the scale, giving Zaina a golden opportunity to capture his first belt. The title is now vacated.

The fight started off slow as both fighters were feeling each other out in the early rounds. Saracho, a southpaw, started off as the aggressor, coming forward with a lot of pressure. The taller Zaina countered by circling away from Saracho’s power hand, using his reach and length to land from a distance. Midway through the fight it was hard to say who was on top as both fighters had their moments in each round, making each round hard to score. Zaina seemed to be edging out Saracho in the final rounds, but it was still close. After the final bell rang two judges scored it 95-95, while the other had Zaina winning 96-94, declaring the fight a majority draw.

In the 8-round middleweight co-main event, Nelson Oliva (7-0, 6 KOs) of Los Angeles, CA, triumphed over Miguel Angel Barajas (3-4, 2 KOs) of Guadalajara, Mexico. Nelson landed three vicious blows that sent Barajas to the canvas. The first a right hook to the body, then a straight left to the head, and finally a left hook ended the bout at the 2:25 mark of the opening round.

In bout number four, a scheduled 6-round welterweight bout, Levy Josue Garcia (3-0-1, 2 KOs) of Guadalajara, Mexico defeated, Jesus Gonzalez (6-1-1, 2 KOs) of Santa Anna, CA, in an all-out slugfest. Both fighters were throwing bombs from the opening round to the final bell. Gonzalez was landing the cleaner shots throughout the fight. Garca landed some heavy shots as well, but it wasn’t enough to win the fight. Scorecards read 60-54, 59-55, 58-56 giving Garcia the unanimous decision victory.

In bout number three, a scheduled 4-round lightweight bout, Tayden Beltran (6-0-1, 4 KOs) of Huntington Beach, CA, defeated Gerardo Alberto Fuentes (2-8-1, 2 KOs) of Matamoros, Mexico by way of second round knockout. After controlling round one, Beltran came out in round two and dropped Fuentes with two devastating left hooks to the body. The bout was stopped at the 1:29 mark of round two.

In the second bout of the night, a scheduled 8-round super lightweight clash, Emiliano Moreno (6-0, 4 KOs) of Long Beach, CA, defeated Cristian Dominguez (11-6, 6 KOs) of Las Vegas, NV. Moreno came out guns blazing in the opening round, and sent Dominguez to the canvas, both by way of left hooks to the body. Moreno continued to dominate the fight with constant pressure. Dominguez had a few shining moments where he landed some nice overhand rights, but Moreno was never in danger. The fight went the distance and Moreno won by unanimous decision. Scorecards read 80-70 twice, and 79-71.

In the opening of the evening, a 8-round welterweight bout, Angel Beltran (17-1, 9 KOs) of Mexicali, Mexico, defeated Abraham Afful (12-5-1, 12 KOs) of Accra Ghana. From the opening sound of round one, Beltran applied tremendous pressure, battering Afful around the ring hurting him at midway point. Afful survived the bell but was unable to continue and the fight was waved off before the start of round two.