Results:
Arroyo overwhelms late substitute Rodriguez
McWilliams Arroyo had the entire training camp. He had all the preparations. And in less than five rounds, he became the WBC’s interim flyweight world champion at the Canelo Alvarez-Avni Yildirim co-main event at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on Saturday.
It became clear early on that Arroyo also had a realistic lead against Abraham Rodriguez, a late replacement who arrived in Miami on Friday.
And by the fourth round it turned out. Arroyo (21-4, 16 KOs) beat Rodriguez (27-3, 13 KOs), from Tijuana, Mexico, throughout the round, eventually forcing him to one knee and knocking him down. The attack continued into the fifth round, although Rodriguez held up well given the lack of time to train properly. It led to Rodriguez’s corner giving up the white towel midway through the fifth round to stop the one-sided fight.
Arroyo, from Fajardo, Puerto Rico, was dominant during a fight that should have been against Julio Cesar Martinez.
Martinez had to withdraw from the fight on Thursday with a minor right hand fracture sustained during a sparring session. He had hoped to continue training, but the injury got worse earlier this week.
After Arroyo’s powerful victory, he may be able to fight Martinez later this year.
It was Rodriguez’s first defeat since 2018 against Angel Acosta, also the last time he fought in the United States. That fight was for the WBO junior flyweight title. This time for a different belt was a similar result.
This fight represented Arroyo’s fourth straight victory.
Forrest saves a majority draw against Zhang
Jerry Forrest went down once. Twice. Three times in three rounds. And yet the heavyweight kept on rising. Continued to withstand Zhilei Zhang’s early assault and power. Keep getting to Zhang – and eventually Forrest fought his way back to a draw that felt like a win.
Forrest and Zhang ended in a majority draw, with judges Rocky Young and Fernando Barbosa scoring the fight 93-93 and Rose Lacend scoring the fight to Forrest, 95-93. After the game, Forrest celebrated as if he had won and did a backflip in the ring even before the scores were known.
Zhang, looking like he would go to an easy win with a big advantage in the first three rounds, held onto his unbeaten record. Barely.
What seemed like an explosive fight early on turned into a hugging party through the middle rounds, with both Zhang (22-0-1, 17 KOs) and Forrest (26-4-1, 20 KOs) looking reasonably well halfway through the day. exhausted. the sixth. That continued into the seventh, when Forrest landed 26 punches compared to nine for Zhang, according to CompuBox.
Forrest, of Newport News, Virginia, rallied after a rough first few rounds in which he was knocked down three times. Zhang, from Zhoukou, China, was headbutted in the eighth.
Despite Forrest’s big punches and early knockdowns, Forrest the more active and conditioned fighter seemed late.
Forrest was also helped by a run that was deducted from Zhang in the ninth round for holding Forrest’s neck. That point eventually became a big difference in the fight, seemingly the result of what appeared to be exhaustion for Zhang during the last four rounds.
Pacheco unanimously dominates Gomez
Diego Pacheco might have wanted the knockout. The 19-year-old had to settle for a unanimous decision to let veteran Rodolfo Gomez Jr. to win by a more than expected 79-73 margin on the judges’ scorecards in a super middleweight bout.
Pacheco (11-0, 8 KO), from Los Angeles, landed some good punches, including some nice uppercuts during the fight, but this was only the third time he threw the distance and only the second time in his career that he went after the fourth round.
Gomez (14-5-1, 10 KO), from Laredo, Texas, was a good test for Pacheco. Gomez made contact with a few big punches and seemed to frustrate Pacheco intermittently. It was also good rounding for Pacheco in his first full eight-round fight. Gomez gave Pacheco enough to look back to now as he prepares for his next fight.
It was Gomez’s first defeat since September 24, 2016, when he lost to Roberto Ramirez Uriarte by unanimous decision.
Castro destroys Moraga in two rounds
Marc Castro needed one punch, eight seconds and a left shot. That’s all the junior lightweight prospect needed to take down UFC veteran John Moraga in the first round. From then on it was a matter of time for Castro, the acclaimed amateur fighter in his second professional fight.
Castro (2-0, 2 KOs), of Fresno, California, eliminated Moraga (1-3, 1 KO) three times in two rounds to register the knockout and ended the fight with a left uppercut.
Moraga, from Phoenix, has had an impressive MMA career, with a record 19-7 and a 2013 UFC flyweight title losing to Demetrious Johnson. His first knockout loss in boxing was Moraga’s third defeat in four pro bouts.
21-year-old Castro is still very, very early in his pro career, but starfighter Ryan Garcia’s friend easily managed an overmatched opponent.