‘Kid from Avenal’ Defends Championship in Fight For Water 7

The Central Valley is a hot bed for combat sports, with many martial arts gyms, local fight promotions, rising athletes and die hard fans.  

So it’s no wonder the Save Mart Center was filled to the brim with spectators Nov. 11. when Bob Arum’s Top Rank Boxing promotion brought the Fight For Water 7 event to Fresno.

Fan favorite boxer Jose Ramirez successfully defended his WBC Continental Americas super-lightweight championship against top 10 contender Mike “Yes Indeed” Reed in the night’s main event.

Fans screamed as Ramirez delivered one of the most impressive performances of his career, scoring a second round knockout over Reed after knocking him down twice in the same round.

The entire night delivered similar crowd-pleasing fights from the opening bell of the first fight.

Featherweights Fernando Fuentes and Vislan Dalkhaev fought six hard rounds that ended in a unanimous decision for Fuentes, giving Dalkhaev the first loss of his career.

Fuentes came out swinging from the opening bell and eventually scored a knockdown, dropping Dalkhaev in the fifth round with a vicious right uppercut followed by a left hook.

The crowd was riled up and ready for more, and the fighters were ready to deliver.

In the night’s second fight, Amir “Young Master” Imam defeated Johnny Garcia in a completely one-sided fight.

Garcia could not find an answer to Imam’s jab, which dictated the the fight.

However, early in the fight Garcia suffered a jab to the eye, possibly impairing him for the rest of the bout.

Regardless, Imam put on a show, scoring a fourth round stoppage after dropping Garcia with a straight right.

Though Garcia was able to make the count of 10, referee Marcos Rosales decided Garcia could not continue onto round five and stopped the fight.

The next fight went the full distance in the middleweight division as Quilisto Madera took on Even Torres in a closely contested battle.

Madera was aggressive throughout the entire bout but Torres’ accurate and powerful counter punching proved to be enough to take home the split decision victory, giving Madera his first career loss.

The following fight was scheduled for eight rounds in the super-lightweight division, but it seems no one told the fighters.

Maxim Dadashev and Clarence Booth fought aggressively in the first round, both attempting to establish dominance.

While Booth’s early aggression made for a hotly contested opening to the bout, Dadashev’s accurate punching and impressive movement slowly began to turn the fight in Dadashev’s favor.

Dadashev’s movement in particular was visibly the most difficult thing for Booth to contend with.

The movement closely resembled that of WBO super-featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko, who was at ringside cheering Dadashev on.

Dadashev was able to stop the fight in the fourth round, scoring a technical knockout over Booth.

The night’s excitement only continued as undefeated super-lightweight Alex Saucedo knocked out Gustavo Vittori in the third round with a huge left hook after knocking Vittori down twice before in the same round.         

Rising lightweights Bryan Lua and Eric Rodriguez took the center of the ring next in a hard fought bout.

Lua was making his second appearance as a pro and Rodriguez was making his debut against  hometown fighter Lua, who resides in Madera.

The two fighters wanted to make a statement and were both looking for the knockout the entire fight.

However, it was Lua who scored a huge knockdown, flooring Rodriguez in round four and going on to earn the unanimous decision victory.

In the night’s co-main event, Artur Beterbiev challenged Enrico Koelling for the IBF World light-heavyweight championship.

It was very much a thinking man’s fight as Beterbiev put pressure on Koelling early on, hoping to land a big shot and Koelling showing smart defense and throwing punches opportunistically.

Fans were quick to voice their opinions, booing loudly as the two fighters seemed to nullify the other’s intent.

Eventually Beterbiev was able to penetrate Koelling’s defense scoring a knockdown with a furious flurry in round 12, and then scoring the knockout in the same round.

The main event of the evening saw Jose Ramirez stop the formerly undefeated Mike Reed dead in his tracks with an early knockout.

“I had a job to do when I came to the ring and I did my business,” Ramirez said. “This is truly a blessing and a dream come true. I’m just a kid from Avenal.”