(AUG 20) On Saturday night at the “Battle at the Boat” boxing event, promoted by Halquist Productions, there was plenty of action in the six men’s bouts featured on the card. In the first bout of the evening, they featured a couple of pro debuters opening the night. Frank Mendez, of Longview, Washington, took on Andres Ramos in a four-rounder at 132 lbs. Even though this was the first time these two newcomers came in as pros, they wasted little time in making the bout a non-stop action bout. In the second round, Mendez received an eight-count by the ref, and in the third, Ramos the fight when Mendez in trouble by Ramos’ relentless attack, and the fight was stopped at 1:23 by TKO.
Photo credits: Mike Blair
Ramos wins by third round TKO
In the second bout of the evening, Garbriel Pineda, of Hillsboro, Oregon, faced Matthew Flores, who was making his pro debut in a four round 136 lb. competition. The bout was a slow burner with both fighting in close. The decision went to the scorecards, where Pineda won by a close majority decision, with 39-37, 38-38, and 39-37.
Pineda wins by a four-round majority decision
In the third bout, Omar Avelar, of Moses, Washington, fought William Fernandez in a four-round junior welterweight (140 lbs) bout on the undercard. Omar won by a unanimous decision with scores of 40-36, 40-36, and 40-37.
Omar wins by a four-round unanimous decision
In what turned out to be the most exciting match of the evening (fourth bout), Visalia, CA’s Jose Leon scored a gutsy second round TKO over Kalispell, MT resident Jesse Uhde. Uhde appeared en route to scoring an impressive victory early on, decking Leon with a hard hook in the opening round. Early In the second, Leon was rocked again with another hook and his glove touched the canvas, but the tides ultimately turned. Moments later, Leon connected with a strong shot to Uhde’s face that put him down. Uhde got up on unsteady legs and stumbled into the referee, forcing him to stop the bout at 43 seconds of round number two.
Crazy bout! Ramos wins by TKO in the second round
In the six-round semi-main event featuring Osvaldo Rojas vs. Nate Serrano: Osvaldo Rojas, 7-2-2 (2 KO’s), of Portland, Oregon, took an impressive decision over fan favorite Nate Serrano, 4-2-1 (3 KO’s) in the six round welterweight co-feature. Rojas and Serrano, of nearby Yakima, WA, previously fought to a scintillating six round draw on June 2, but this time the visitor took control. Rojas, who brought a group of vocal fans down Interstate 5 with him, fought most of the contest from the outside and did so successfully against his shorter foe. Serrano did his best to keep the fight in close quarters however Rojas had a good amount of momentum. In the fifth, Serrano was buzzed by a multi-punch combo but battled back hard in the sixth. All three judges ruled in Rojas’ favor by the tally of 59-55.
Rojas wins by a six-round unanimous decision
In the main event, Robert Osiobe of Nigeria made his debut at the casino, was a successful one by scoring a razor-thin majority decision over Forth Worth, TX’s Jose Hernandez Saturday evening in Tacoma. An evenly-matched contest between tough lightweights, both men boxed patiently during the first nine rounds, counterpunching for the majority.
Osiobe won by a 10-round majority decision.
Osiobe and Hernandez each landed some solid shots, most notably a hard jab that knocked out the Texan’s mouthpiece. In the closing stanza, an aggressive Osiobe and efficient Hernandez fought in close quarters hoping for a knockout, but the final bell left the bout in the judges’ hands. Scores were 96-94 twice and 95-95. Osiobe improves to 13-5-4 with 6 knockouts. Hernandez, who dropped a number of close decisions, falls to 13-6-1 with 5 wins by knockout. Other source/PR
Published on WBAN. We cover women’s boxing and men’s boxing.