Marriaga Goes To The Body, KO’s Estrella In Four

By Marc Livitz: Manuel Marriaga patiently waited for his absolute best opportunity to dispose of Jose Estrella to present itself in their featherweight bout, which had been scheduled for ten rounds. It took him just over fifteen minutes of ring work until he connected with a left hook to the liver as part of the co-main event preceding the showdown between Miguel Berchelt and Mickey Roman at the Don Haskins Event Center in El Paso, Texas. 

Marriaga (27-3, 23 KO’s) found early success with his lead left and did well to hold his guard high when Estrella looked to return fire. Manuel seemed content to sit and wait though much of the first round as his jab began to create better space. Jose remained aggressive in the second, which allowed his Colombian opponent to counter as well as cut off parts of the ring. Estrella (20-15-1, 14 KO’s), of Tijuana, B.C., MX. closed the period with a reddened face and absorbed a hard body shot. 

He came out a different man as the third was underway, as he threw wide ranging head shots, yet found little pay dirt. As he did his best to put together combinations, he found himself on the canvas with just over a minute to spare. Whatever caused it, which turned out to be a quick left hook to the chin, allowed him to slip to the mat and luckily avoid a looping right didn’t exactly look like a difference maker. Once he rose to his feet, Marriaga connected with several unanswered jabs and head punches.

Jose was on the retreat for the majority of the fourth until a well placed left, directly to the liver would end the night. It certainly held it’s share of mustard, as Estrella remained on the canvas for an extra minute as he rolled and writhed in obvious agony. The referee had long since reached the ten count to award the knockout win to Manuel “The Scorpion” Marriaga at the 2:43 mark of round four. 2018 has treated the Cartagena resident much better than the previous year, as he suffered back to back losses to Oscar Valdez and Vasyl Lomachenko, respectively. 

Additional Results from El Paso

Super Lightweight  Saul Rodriguez w ko 2 Claudio Tapia

Super Featherweight  Robson Conceicao w pts 8 Joey Laviolette -

Middleweight  Zach Prieto w ko 1 Michael Andrews -