By: Sean Crose
Premiere Boxing Champions returned to Fox on Sunday with a card broadcast live from the Minneapolis Armory and featuring the rising super welterweight Jesus Ramos. First up, however, was a scheduled 10 round middleweight throwdown between the 12-0 Armando Resendiz and the 14-4-2 Marcos Hernandez. Both men appeared confident and attempted to land clean in the first. Both men got caught up at the end of the second, and Resendiz went down by the ropes in what was ruled a knockdown. The fighters traded well in the third. Hernandez stayed competitive – at the least – in the fourth. He then continued to fight well against the undefeated Resendiz in the fifth.
Hernandez remained impressive in the sixth, and landed effectively in the seventh. Resendiz, however, was aggressive throughout the bout and was landing shots of his own. Hernandez timed his man well in the eighth, though Resendiz landed strong shots in the ninth. Resendiz went for broke in the tenth and final round. Was it enough, though? Apparently not, for the judges gave Hernandez the nod via unanimous decision.
Next up, the 15-0 lightweight Starling Castillo faced off against the 34-5-2 Juan Carlos Burgos in a scheduled ten rounder. The first round was a fast paced affair. Castillo employed his southpaw jab to good effect in the second, though Burgos landed well, too. The undefeated Castillo continued to sharp shoot on his man in the third. The fourth saw Castillo continue to effectively employ his craft. Around the midway point of the fight, however, Burgos began to truly show some effective aggression. After a point, it looked like Castillo might actually be losing control. Things were quite tight when the final bell rang. The judges ultimately ruled in favor of Castillo by unanimous decision.
It was time for the main event. The 16-0 Ramos was pitted against the 19-1 Brian Mendoza in a scheduled 10 round junior middleweight showdown. The first round was a feeling out process for both men. Mendoza worked to maintain his distance in the second. Mendoza continued to attempt to avoid his man in the third, but he wasn’t throwing a large number of punches. Ramos began to catch up with his man more in the fourth. He also landed fairly well. By the fifth, it was becoming obvious that Ramos was the stronger of the two men, and that Mendoza’s keep away defensive strategy was losing its effectiveness.
The sixth was a competitive and exciting chapter, with both men firing well. Ramos slipped and fell towards the end of the seventh, but the fight remained fairly close, the pace fast. Ramos moved forward at a furious pace in the eighth. Mendoza took to holding in the ninth, a practice he had begun in previous rounds. Meanwhile, Ramos continued to toss off power shots. In between rounds, Mendoza looked rather beaten up as he sucked in air from round after round of fast paced action. Still, he nodded in determination before the bell to signal the final round. And, to be sure, Mendoza performed well in the tenth.
The judges ended up ruling in favor of Ramos.