Referee Bert Serrano raises Jose Ruiz’s hand as Jared Dooley announces that he defeated Duston Drinkut in the main event of Friday’s Night of Fights at the Rafter 3C Arena.
Photo by Thomas Ranson.
A boisterous crowd cheering on their favorite boxers at the annual Night of Fights rocked the Rafter 3C Arena’s rafters Friday as an estimated 2,000 fans were treated to 21 bouts capped by the main event with two focused and determined brawlers.
Sponsored by the Greenwave Takedown Club, the Night of Fights is a major fundraiser for the high school’s wrestling program.
Jose “Smokie” Ruiz rode to a split-decision win over Duston “Demolition” Drinkut with two strong rounds, but Drinkut rallied with a furious challenge in the third and final round to make it a close bout.
During the first round, Ruiz dominated his opponent by using a left hook followed by a lead to back Drinkut into the ropes. Both boxers traded punches in the second round with neither fighter landing a hard blow.
Despite having Ruiz pinned in his own corner, Drinkut couldn’t put away his opponent. A tired Ruiz leaned over after the bout to wait for the decision.
The semi-main event pitted two hard-hitting brawlers. Jaden “Whiteboy” McFadden and Colin “Hooligan” Homer broke open a close bout midway through the second quarter. Homer captured a decision.
Both boxers raced out of their corners in the first round. McFadden and Homer exchanged hard punches, but Homer backed McFadden into the ropes.
Near the end of the third round, Homer relied on series of punches and caused McFadden to drop to one knee after he delivered a right hook to stagger his taller opponent.
Primary matches:
• Bout 1: Macray “Fightin Finny” O’Neill vs. Connor “O’Hanley” Johnson — O’Neill roared out in the first round with a flurry of punches, one that knocked off Johnson’s headgear. Johnson tried to step back to assess the situation.
Johnson began having problems with his right shoulder, and the bout was called in the second round on a medical default.
• Bout 2: Oscar “Ace” Ventura vs. Yahir “The Bambino” Ugalde — From the first round, Ugalde boxed more aggressively. Both boxers, though, came out swinging, but neither connected.
In the second round, Ugalde relied on his jabs and cross punches to keep the pressure on Ventura, who tried to counter but fell short with several wild swings. Ventura dominated the third round, and after the match, he leaned back into his corner before learning he won by decision.
• Bout 3: Jaycer “95” Downs vs. Cyprus “Cytheslaya” Yungk — Downs came out as the aggressive boxer by delivering shots to Yungk’s head. Near the end of the round, Yungk turned the table and showed more aggressiveness.
Each boxer added a bounce in their steps, but the bout was stopped on a medical default when referee Bert Serrano waved off the winning Downs and kept Yungk in his corner.
• Bout 4: Everdmar “Activated” Garcia vs. Rafe “Clyde” Brown — Brown controlled the tempo for most of the bout by keeping Garcia on the defensive in the first round. Brown was more aggressive with his flurry of punches to Garcia’s body.
Brown relied on several uppercuts in the second round, but Garcia sucked up on his stamina and gave Brown a fast and furious third round.
Brown won on a split decision, which surprised the crowd.
• Bout 5: Carlos “Carlitos” Valenzuela vs. Ryan “Whitelightning” Judd — This bout could’ve gone either way, but in the end, Valenzuela’s aggressiveness delivered the decision.
Valenzuela showed his aggressiveness in the first round and caused Judd to back up into his corner, Judd tried to connect on a few punches to Valenzuela’s head, but Valenzuela thwarted the punches.
Valenzuela, though, took charge in the second round by stalking Judd. Valenzuela kept Judd on his toes with a number of body punches. Judd looked tired in the third round, and Valenzuela, relied on a few body punches. At the end of the bout, Judd was hanging onto the ropes. Judges declared Judd the winner with boos serenading the decision.
• Bout 6: Aaron “Too Quick” Ledezma vs. Sean “Sledge Hammer” Reeder — This bout featured two comparable boxers, but near the end of the first round, Reeder displayed more aggressiveness. He connected with a right hook that caused Ledezma to slip.
Reeder backed Ledezma into the ropes with a few cross punches, but Ledezma tried to counter with several punches. In the third round, both boxers appeared tired, but Reeder persevered to take the decision.
• Bout 7: Dorien “Silverwing” Warstler vs. Grayson “GoldenBoy” Openshaw — Warstler set the tone with a left, then right hook to Openshaw in the first round, sending him into the ropes.
Warstler appeared to be more alert in the second round and calculated his punches, while Openshaw was missing with a flurry of punches. In the final round, Warstler kept the pressure on Openshaw with a combination of punches, but Openshaw struggled to land a glove on Warstler. Judges awarded Warstler with a unanimous decision.
• Bout 8: Benito “Biggy Cheese” Cortez vs. Baylor “Sandman” Sandberg — Sandberg relied on body punches in the first round, and Cortez tried to counter. In the next round, Sandberg delivered a roundhouse body punch to Cortez’s ribs that slowed his opponent, but Cortez responded with a couple of counterpunches.
In the third round, neither boxer could land a staggering shot. After the round, Sandberg won by decision.
• Bout 9: Bailey “Toe Tag” Thompson vs. Kacin “Rog Dog” Rogne — “Wild” was an exciting four-letter word in the evening’s ninth bout.
Both boxers came out of their corners in the first round swinging wildly, but Rogne settled down and measured his aggressiveness. Rogne ducked a few punches in the second round, but a few stinging punches kept Thompson closer to the ropes.
Rogne continued his tenacity in the final round, pushing Thompson into his corner and delivering a few body punches. Near the end of the round, Rogne staggered Thompson with a couple of upper cuts to earn a decision.
• Bout 10: Manuel “Quick Hands” Rangel vs. Jeremiah “Dirty Hands Clean Money” Prinz — Prinz controlled the tempo in the first round by flinging punches and backing up his foe. In the second round Prinz continued to control the tempo.
Both boxers traded punches as time expired in the first round, but Prinz still controlled the second round. After Prinz unleashed a left, then right hook, Rangle retreated to his corner. Prinz aggressively pursued Rangel in the third and final round to earn a decision.
•Bout 11: Kade “Body Snatcher” Morales vs. Joseph “Goku” Romero — The 11th match of the evening resulted in a split decision going to Morales much to the dismay of the boo birds. Romero dogged Morales in the first round by pushing his opponent in the corner, and he delivered a few shots to the head and stomach in the second round.
Romero changed the momentum in the third round and took control of the bout. With Morales hanging on, Romero delivered three punches.
• Bout 12: Kambrie “The Killer" Thorn, Mattea “The Menace” Cortez and Issis “The Queen” Vann had a round-robin bout with each boxer seeing action for two rounds.
Thorn and Cortez faced each other in the first round. Near the end of the opening round, Cortez unleashed several hook shots to the right side of Thorn’s head.
Cortez faced Vann in the second round. Both boxers traded punches early in their round, but Cortez began showing tiredness near the end of the round.
In the third round, both Vann and Thorn came out swinging wildly, but Thorn rocked Vann with a left hook.
Judges awarded Cortez with the overall win.
• Bout 13: Troy “The Boy” Shelton vs. Rollie “Spicoli” Grondin — Both boxers saved their best for the third round in an evenly matched bout.
Shelton and Grondin traded a few punches in a decision that could’ve gone either way. Judges declared Grondin the winner by decision.
• Bout 14: Ashton “The Assassin” Mccourtney vs. Hugo “Sangre” Tapia — Mccourtney came in with a definite height advantage. Both boxers eyed each other for most of the first round, and with 10 seconds left, they wildly swung at each other.
In the second round Tapia smacked Mccourtney with a one-two combination to the head. Mccourtney stayed out of Tapia’s reach for most of the third round, but with 10 seconds left in the bout, Mccourtney connected on several punches.
Mccourtney picked up the unanimous decision.
• Bout 15: De’onte “Sweet Feet” Wallace vs. Andre “Black Bean” Green — Wallace and Green scoped each other out in the first round, but Green landed several punches with seconds left in the second round.
Green showed more aggressiveness against Wallace with a flurry of punches in the final 20 seconds and took the win with a unanimous decision.
• Bout 16: Isiah “Too Sharp” Diaz vs. Manny “Asian Persuasian” Karaway — Karaway had the punch heard ‘round the Rafter 3C Arena by nailing Diaz with a well-placed punch to the head.
Diaz laid motionless but tried to stand up. He couldn’t stand on his wobbly legs, and paramedics were called to attend to Diaz in this knockout bout.
• Bout 17: Sofia “Brown Barbie” Basurto vs. Darci “Not So Sorry” Owens — Basurto finished Owens quickly with a medical default decision.
Owens was unable to continue after hurting her left shoulder.
• Bout 18: Lupe “Perro” Lopez vs. Rigo “Lil Perm” Galeno — Lopez and Galeno went the full distance after two previously shortened rounds.
Lopez took the first round with his aggressiveness and backed Galena into his corner several times. Galeno looked sharper with his punches while Lopez had slower reactions. In the final round, both boxers engaged in a slugfest, but Galeno ended the. Out with several punches to the head.
Judges awarded the bout to Galeno by decision.
• Bout 19: Edwin “El Rey” Ugalde vs. Francisco “The Kid” Cortez — The final bout before the semifinals resulted in a decision for Cortez.
In the first round, Cortez hurried out of his corner and was more aggressive until Ugalde changed the momentum late in the bout with several punches. Ugalde connected with the first two punches in the second round, but both boxers looked tired in the third round.