By: Sean Crose
The PBC returned to Fox Sports 1 on Tuesday with an under the radar card at the Shrine Exhibition Center in LA. First up, Ezequiel Flores impressed in his pro debut with a UD win over Juan Miro, who was also making his pro debut. The fight went the full four rounds in the bantamweight division. Up next was the super welterweight Travon Marshall, who was making his own debut against the 0-1 Christian Marron. Marshall made a notable entrance into pro boxing by knocking out Marron in the first.
Super lightweights Amon Rashidi and Jesus Silverya followed. The 8-6-2 Silverya may not have been favored to win the scheduled eight rounder against the 8-1-1 Rashidi, but the 26 year old was impressive early on. He continued to put pressure on Rashidi, who didn’t seem to have an answer for Silverya’s strategy. Ultimately, Ashidi, who was unquestionably game, was unable to do any effective work consistently until the later rounds. There is no doubt, however, that Ashidi was able to close the gap at least a bit as the fight wound down. Still, the judges ruled in favor of Silverya via unanimous decision.
A scheduled 6 round super middleweight affair was the next fight in line. The 8-6-3 Cameron Sevilla Rivera faced the 6-1 Burley Brooks. Rivera worked to get his way inside on the taller Brooks in the first. Brooks was able to employ his jab effectively in the second. He was also able to land some impressive power shots. Burley continued to land extremely well in the third. Rivera went down hard from a low blow in the fourth, and was given time to recover. What’s more, both men accidentally cracked heads at the end of the round.
Sevilla landed very effectively in the fifth, so well that it looked as if the tide of the fight might be turning. Servilla banged away at his man in the sixth, even tossing him onto the ring. Brooks responded by banging away to his man’s body. Yet another low blow on Servilla halted the action. This ended up costing Brooks a point. The round ended with each man teeing off. Sevilla ended up walking out of the ring via UD win (the low blow made the difference). Needless to say, Brooks was deeply distraught by the decision.
Middleweights Jose Armando Resendiz and Quilisoto Madera were up next in a scheduled 8 rounder. The 12-2 Madera and and the 11-0 Resendiz engaged in an exciting first round. Resendez landed well in the second. After working his way through the third, Resendez tried finishing his man in the fourth, but was unable to do so. Resendez continued to bang away in the fifth. Madera was able to have his moments in the sixth, and continued to fight gamely in the seventh. Things remained at a fast pace in the eighth and final round. Resendez was able to walk out with a split decision win.
It was time for the main event. The 12-0 lightweight Frank Martin put his undefeated record on the line against a fellow undefeated fighter, the 13-0 Jerry Perez in a scheduled 10 rounder. The opening round was fast paced, but relatively uneventful. Martin, a southpaw, was able to move and land effectively in the second. In the third, Martin was able to employ range dominance. Perez was able to land to the body in the fourth. Perez tried roughhousing in the fifth. Martin’s use of distance worked well in the sixth. A thunderous shot put Perez down late in the seventh. He bravely got to his feet, but could not survive the round, as the referee wisely stopped the fight amid a torrent of punches.
