Surprisingly fun card on Fox Sports, despite having to listen to Oscar de la Hoya repeat "Yeah, uhh...so these guys are hungry. It's like, one guy can win, or he could lose, and then the other guy's tough too" while waiting for medical personnel to arrive at the venue.
What's sad is that Oscar actually had a point, apparently buried somewhere under all the convoluted bulljive he was forced to spew forth while wearing an extremely loud button-up shirt that would make Joe Goossen blush. These Club Nokia shows really have matched fighters ambitiously, if not dangerously.
The first scrap between Ramon Valadez and Oscar Andrade was highly entertaining. Even as Valadez looked to be out-gunned and out-sized early on, his pride wouldn't let him be taken out of the fight. There were a few spots of sustained trading, both guys dispensing with the defense and chucking away. Dougie Fischer kept referencing Erik Morales' style and overall look when talking about Andrade. Not sure if I see it much, but both guys should make for some fun bouts in the future, and both earned at least one more TV opportunity, in my opinion.
Nestor Rocha's blowout of Benji Garcia was forgettable. Rocha looked like he was at least a division bigger than Garcia by fight time, and Garcia's scrappy nature couldn't overcome that disparity, though it should be noted that there was also a significant class and skill gap.
Gary Russel Jr. overwhelmed Mauricio Pastrana and walked through him. Not much more is needed in terms of description. I wasn't even aware Pastrana was still fighting until I'd heard about this fight. The guy has been around a long time - he upset Michael Carbajal at flyweight in 1997. This loss makes it 5 in a row for Pastrana.
The last two swing bouts that made their way onto the broadcast were interesting, if nothing else. A young prospect named David Morales had his way with a funny character named John Willoughby. Morales smothered Willoughby a bit, knocked him down in the first as he was squared up, and overcame a bit of an awkward style disruption in the third round to take a unanimous decision.
The second swing bout featured San Diego's Angel Estrada displaying a very professional and mature style, especially for a prospect with only 5 fights in as many years, in generally outdoing scrappy journeyman Raul Tovar. Estrada showed good head movement, versatility and a cerebral approach during the short bout. The 23-year old with a degree in psychology could be a kid to look out for.
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