By Dave Wilcox
Photos: Ray Flores

A sold out crowd at Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California welcomed Al Bernstein and Steve Farhood as they were set to call the action for the latest addition on ShoBox- The Next Generation.

In the main event, the NABO and NABF lightweight belts would be at stake. (No, I haven’t a clue what they are either)

The young and undefeated John Molina JR. Of Covina, California would be up against veteran Martin Honorio of Mexico City. Up to this point, Molina has been hand fed opponents and this contest would prove to be too big of a jump against the rugged Honorio.

Honorio holds victories over then undefeated and former champion Steven Luevano and the very tough Rogers Mtagwa, so going in, we knew Molina would have his hands full.

Not much happened in round one, but the coin said “tails” so I gave the opener to Molina. As it turns out, that would be the last I would give him for awhile

As rounds passed early on, Molina continued to chase Honorio, but he didn’t throw enough punches. Honorio kept banging away at Molina’s body and anytime Molina landed a single punch, Honorio would return fire with combinations. In the sixth round, a cut opened on the face of Molina from an accidental head butt. It would not be a problem for Molina as the fight moved on. What would be a problem was his continued inability to throw enough punches, while the tough Mexican from Azteca Boxing Club in Bell, California would continue his very impressive beating of the young Molina.

In between rounds nine and ten, the trainer of Molina, Joe Goossen gave his young fighter some very stellar advice. “You’ve got to f***ing knock him out now”

As it would turn out Molina came out for round ten and actually had his best round as he finally pressed the action and threw punches. It seemed obvious that Martin Honorio was comfortably ahead on the cards and would only need to hold on and stay away to secure his decision win. The tough Mexican would have none of it. When it appeared that Molina stunned him with a right hand, Honorio decided slugging it out in the center of the ring with the desperate youngster was a better idea and the sold out crowd at Pechanga showed their appreciation with a loud standing ovation as the bell sounded to end round ten.

The dapper and respected Jimmy Lennon Jr. had totals from the judges and we had no surprises this time. Judges Ray Corona and Pat Russell came back with a count of 98-92, while the legendary Marty Denkin had it scored 99-91, all in favor of Martin “El Brochas” Honorio.

Martin weighed in for this bout at 133 pounds and his record improves to 27-4-1 (14KO)

It’s back to the drawing board for the formerly undefeated John Molina JR. As he drops to 18-1 (14KO)

In the co main event that was also televised on Showtime, another undefeated prospect would step up his level of competition. In an eight round Super Bantamweight for something called the NABO Youth Championship belt, undefeated Rico “Suavecito” Ramos from Los Angeles, California would take on the very tough Alejandro Perez from Salinas, California.

The bell for round one sounded and Ramos started using his superior hand and foot speed to be more active in the first round. Perez landed the harder shots and I gave him the opener.

In round two, both guys picked up the pace and this one was turning into a dandy. As Perez backed Ramos into the corner and started banging the youngster’s body, out of nowhere came a huge right hand that crumbled Perez and with eight seconds left in the round, he looked in bad shape. He would indeed make the count and continue on.

As the rounds passed, Ramos seemed to take control, but the tough Perez always had us on our toes and the fight was always in doubt, although Ramos was clearly winning the majority of rounds. Ramos kept pounding the head of Perez. I wonder if Alejandro has cement in his chin.

In the seventh and eighth rounds, Ramos really laid a beating on Perez, but the gritting Perez continued to try and push forward. Ramos landed a very hard right hand at the bell of the eighth and final round to punctuate his very impressive performance.

Judges Pat Russell and Marty Denkin scored the bout 80-71, while Ray Corona came back with his tally of 78-73. Yours truly was in fuego with Corona at 78-73.

Rico Ramos improves to 14-0 (8KO) and Alejandro Perez falls to 14-2-1 (9KO)

Rico Ramos is a guy to keep your eyes on. He shows speed, power and smarts in the ring.

I’ll get back to you on what the hell an NABO Youth title is.

The Undercard:

-In a four round Welterweight affair, 2008 Olympian Javier “El Intocable” Molina of Norwalk, California squared off against Miguel Garcia of Zacatecas, Mexico. This one was no contest from the opening bell. Molina battered Garcia with hard jabs and left hooks to the body and head until the corner mercifully threw in the towel and Referee Lou Moret called a halt to the bout at 2:42 of round two.

Molina improves to 3-3 (3KO) and Garcia drops to 0-2

-In an eight round Jr. Middleweight bout, Repo Rick continued his streak of losing every single fight that he is in the corner of. Repo Rick for those who might not know, is a flamboyant and boisterous trainer that seems to show up at all the cards out here to promote himself and lose fights.

For this fight, he would lead Chad “Tazz” Greenleaf to defeat against veteran Charles Whitiker from the Cayman Islands. Whitaker won the first two rounds easily and score a knockdown in round two from a right hand. In round three, Whitaker picked up the pace and scored two knockdowns from body shots. Repo Rick threw in the towel and Referee Lou Moret called a stop to the fight at 2:28 of round three.

Whitaker improves to 35-12-2 (23KO) and Chad Greenleaf keeps going the other way with a 11-14-1(5KO) record.

Repo Rick falls to 0-however many fights he has been in the corner of.

-The circus came to town as heavyweights were in action for a scheduled four round contest. Ernest “Zeus” Mazyck of Los Angeles, California brought his 7' tall and 324 pound body to the ring to square off against Ethan “Cowboy” Cox of Long Beach, California.

This one was, for lack of a better term, was absolutely pathetic. Neither guy has any boxing ability whatsoever. Poor old Zues can hardly move and I could have sworn I had a beer with Cox at the bar earlier in the night. Thank god it was only four rounds. After four rounds, I had it a draw at 38-38. I wish I could have scored it 0-0.

Judge Ray Corona had it the same at 38-38 and Marty Denkin and Pat Russell scored it 39-37 to give a majority decision victory to Ernest “Zeus” Mazyck. 

“Zeus” improves to 7-1 (2KO) and Ethan Cox fell to 2-6-1 (1KO) and I fell asleep

-In the opening bout of the card, a four round flyweight bout was in order. Malcom “Fast Hands” Frankin of Rialto, California won a unanimous decision over Ludwin Mondragon of Santa Ana, California.

In an interesting first round, Franklin seemed to be dominating the action until lightning struck and a big right hand from Mondragon also struck the chin of Franklin and put him down in the final ten seconds of the round. He would get and recover well. I gave Frankin the final three rounds in route to a unanimous decision victory All three judges scored it the same, as did I at 38-37 for Malcom Franklin.

Franklin improves to 2-0 and Mondragon drops to 0-3

Random Thoughts:

- I saw Chris Arreola ringside at Pechanga last night. He looks trim and ready to go. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that Chris has learned his lesson and will take training more seriously. I want my David Haye-Chris Arreola fight in 2010! The Heavyweight division will be a better place with Arreola in it and successful

-Super Middleweight Lucian Bute impressed me last night with his four round knockout win in the rematch against Librado Andrade in Canada last night. Hey Showtime, better get your boy back from HBO and put him in the Super Seven!

-Sorry MMA and Dana White, Boxing is not dead, it is as strong as ever and getting stronger every day!

Keep punching

Don’t forget to listen to The “Talkin Boxing with Billy C” Radio Show. Go to www.talkinboxing.com for all info on the show that runs live for two hours a day, five days a week. It is also available on podcast anytime. Dave Wilcox is the West Coast Coordinator/Correspondent for the show and appears every Monday on the show with Billy C. To Talk Boxing.