Brawl at the beach

Area fighters defend their turf



Photos by PATRICK SHELBY/Acorn Newspapers THROW DOWN-Above, Oxnard's Anthony

Photos by PATRICK SHELBY/Acorn Newspapers THROW DOWN-Above, Oxnard’s Anthony “The Tiger” Garcia lands a stiff left jab to the face of Alan Flores. Despite the big blow, Garcia lost a unanimous decision. Below, Jose Aguiniga backs Andres Ledesma into the ropes. Aguiniga won a 10-round decision to improve his record to 30-0.

It wasn’t the Rumble in the Jungle or the Thrilla in Manila, but last Friday’s six-match boxing card at the Oceanview Pavilion in Port Hueneme had its own clever nickname, and some hardhitting action to boot.

 

 


Billed as the “Commotion by the Ocean,” the event featured four area fighters, all of whom hail from Oxnard. About 700 fans, some paying as much as $100 per seat, jammed the cozy seaside venue to see the brawlers duke it out.

In the night’s headline bout, Jose Aguiniga improved his record to 30-0, 14 KO’s, by winning a 10round unanimous decision over Andres Ledesma (13-3-1).

Aguiniga was the aggressor throughout the fight and was able to score a knockdown in the eighth round when he caught Ledesma with a thunderous body shot.

The judges scored the bout 9693, 96-93 and 97-92 in favor of Aguiniga.

Speaking through his translator, Marco Contreras, Ledesma, who was born in Colombia, said the pro-Aguiniga crowd didn’t affect the outcome of the fight.

Aguiniga won because he utilized his skills better in the ring, Ledesma said.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s in his backyard or anybody’s backyard,” Ledesma said. “Today it went the other way. The best fighter won today. But I’ll come back strong.”

In the night’s most lopsided match, David Rodela scored a first-round knockout over Mexico’s Jose Luis Huerta.

Rodela put Huerta flat on the canvas 20 seconds into the fight with a powerful right cross.

Huerta recovered, but the referee stopped the action less than two minutes later when Rodela landed a tremendous body shot that again buckled Huerta’s knees.

“It felt great,” Rodela said. “I’m in my hometown in front of my family. It means a lot to me.”

“I didn’t look for the knockout, but it came,” he said. “I was very surprised he got up after the first punch. I felt that one.”

Rodela, a 23-year-old graduate of Channel Islands High School, improved his record to 51-1 with four KO’s. Huerta, from Tabasco, Mexico, saw his record fall to 0-2.

In other bouts featuring Oxnard fighters, Heavyweight Victor Barragan easily disposed of Wyoming’s Justin Wrede. The fight was scored a TKO for Barragan when referee David Denkin put an end to the match 51 seconds into the second round.

Middleweight Anthony “The Tiger” Garcia (1-4) was the only Oxnard fighter who didn’t walk out of the ring victorious. Garcia lost a unanimous decision to La Puente’s Alan Flores. Judges scored the bout 39-37, 39-37 and 40-36.

The match was Flores’ first as a professional boxer. He previously spent time on the professional kickboxing circuit.

“It was a big rush,” Flores said. “Everyone wants to win their first pro fight. I went out there to win, and I came out on top.”

There was a pair of matches featuring boxers without local connections. In the co-headlining fight, Welterweight Michael Rosales (15-0, 14 KOs) scored a unanimous decision over Fernando Mena (17-9-2). Both fighters are from Mexico.

In another bout featuring Mexican-born fighters, Francisco Maldonado (11-22-4) logged a four-round unanimous decision over Carlos Escobar (3-9-2).

-Francisco Salazar of www.fightnews.com contributed to this report