Fighters willing to trade power punches, tons of heart and eye-opening performances were plentiful at the Toscano Boxing Promotions card in Jamestown at Chicken Ranch Casino on Thursday night. The card featured local and international fighters, and they gave the fans what they came to see in the form of six action-packed bouts on the card, culminating in an exciting main event between undefeated Mexican featherweight Noli Valenzuela(12-0) and Stockton’s own Irving Xilohua, who came into this matchup on a 4-fight win streak and sporting a 9-1 record overall.
Valenzuela came out early landing clean right hands, with a power punch catching Xilohua and sending him to the canvas in the very first round. Xilohua beat the count but was in trouble and did well to get out of the first round and to his corner for adjustments.
More of the same awaited Stockton’s Xilohua in the 2nd, but he was renewed by the rest and started to slowly mount offense, blunted by the undefeated Mexican fighter power arsenal. Through the middle rounds, Xilohua began to gain steam, while Valenzuela’s power seemed to be waning at times. Xilohua’s rough start disastrous start forced him into an offensive aggression which brought him back into contention, using a low crouch and combinations which gained power as the fight continued. Valenzuela was able to use precision shots to keep the fighter in the red “Stockton” shorts at bay, often using Xilohua’s low posture to rain down shots from above before Xilohua could get his shots off. This brawl was going the distance.
At the end of 8 rounds, both fighters were ready to celebrate a win, but all 3 judges saw the fight the same, keeping Noli Valenzuela’s perfect record intact by a score of 77-74 across the board. While disappointing to the local fans, the bout may be repeated down the line, as both fighters acquitted themselves well.
In a huge upset, Turlock’s Marco Delgado(8-6) beat Mexico’sJuan Martinez(6-2) in a bout featuring plenty of aggression, both before and after the bell. Delgado, 33, came out from the beginning to muddy the action by crowding, pushing and employing all manner of mind games to get in the head of the 23-year-old from Rosamorada. Delgado’s chances took a hit as a hematoma formed under the right eye of the super-middleweight. It eventually swelled to the point where the ringside doctor was asked to examine it. However, the physician ruled Delgado could continue and continue he did.
Martinez at times looked lost up against the ropes and was continuously on his back foot when not feeling the immediacy of the ring barriers. Delgado pushed Martinez. Martinez appeared to be the fitter fighter, but Delgado’s gas tank was more than sufficient to stick to his pressure-based gameplan for the full 6 rounds. The fight went to the judges, and the only surprise from the crowd seemed to be that it was a split decision, and the worse-for-wear Delgado gained a 55-59, 58-56, 59-55 win over the up & coming Martinez.
There were some lightning-fast knockouts in addition to the brawling. Modesto lightweight Nicholas Saavedra scored a first-round finish of Tijuana-based fighter Juan Guillermo Montero. The local product improves to 4-0 with the win andappears ready to move to the next level of competition soon.
French Camp’s Pedro Juarez turned in a vicious 1st round KO of Reno’s Harley Sampson. Juarez(2-0) sent fellow lightweight Sampson to the mat 3 times in the first, landing clean head shots, repeatedly being the quick fighter against the stout Sampson.
Other fights on the card:
Ceres super flyweight Damian Flores(3-0-1) scored a unanimous decision win over Nevada product Adrian Mendoza, who suffered the loss in his professional debut.
Stockton’s Benigno Diaz(1-2) dropped a unanimous 4-round featherweight decision against Lai Thang out of Texas that featured two late knockdowns by Thang to seal Diaz’s fate.
Story, Photos by Dan Rogers
