By Bill Tibbs
Gilberto Ramirez battled Jesse Hart in the WBO, 168-pound, world title main event Friday night, on ESPN, in Corpus Christi, Texas. But, before the hotly contested main event, things kicked off with some good undercard action.
Undefeated super lightweight Arnold Barboza Jr. (20-0, 7 KO’s) outpointed Manny Lopez (14-3-1, 7 KO’s) to pick up a UD 10. After the fight he called out WBC champion Jose Ramirez “or any of the other champions at 140”.
Bantamweight Joshua Greer Jr. (19-1-1, 11 KO’s) stopped Daniel Lozano (15-6, 11 KO’s) in the 7th round. Greer dropped Lozano in round 7 and the corner decided to halt it after the round was over.
Olympian female featherweight Mikaela Mayer (9-0, 4 KOs) swept the scorecards against Calixta Silgado (17-11-3, 12 KO’s) winning a UD 8.
USBA super featherweight belt holder Jamel Herring (19-2, 10 KO’s) won a UD 8 over Adeilson Dos Santos (19-6, 15 KO’s). Herring was cheered on at ringside by stablemate Terence Crawford. Both Timothy Bradley and Joe Tessitore of ESPN referred to Crawford as “the best fighter in boxing” when discussing boxing’s mythical P4P list before the main event.
Unbeaten bantamweight Ruben Vega (11-0-1, 5 KO’s) and Oscar Mojica (11-5-1, 1 KO) were neck in neck over 6 rounds with their bout ending in a draw.
Welterweight “son of the legend” Roberto Duran Jr. (2-0, 2 KO’s) drilled Leonardo Pena (0-3) in less than 60 seconds picking up a KO 1.
Unbeaten, teenage super featherweight Gabriel Flores Jr. (11-0, 5 KO’s) swept Edward Kakembo (10-6, 3 KO’s) over 6 rounds winning a unanimous decision.
Unbeaten bantamweight Jesus Arechiga (7-0, 6 KOs) stayed unbeaten with a UD 4 over David Martino (6-6, 4 KO’s).