Results:
Arroyo overcomes Rodriguez’s late replacement
McWilliams Arroyo had the entire training ground. He had all the preparation. And in less than five rounds, he became interim WBC flyweight champion in the main event for Canelo Alvarez-Avni Yildirim at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on Saturday.
It was clear from the start that Arroyo also had a realistic advantage against Abraham Rodriguez, a late replacement who arrived in Miami on Friday.
And in the fourth round, he appeared. Arroyo (21-4, 16 KOs) punched Rodriguez (27-3, 13 KOs), from Tijuana, Mexico, throughout the round, eventually forcing him to one knee and knocking him over. The attack continued in the fifth round, although Rodriguez held up well considering the lack of time to train properly. This led to Rodriguez’s singing dispensing with the white towel in the middle of the fifth round to stop the one-sided fight.
Arroyo, from Fajardo, in Puerto Rico, was dominant in a fight that was supposed to be against Julio Cesar Martinez.
Martinez had to withdraw from the fight on Thursday with a small fracture to his right hand suffered during a sparring session. He hoped to continue training, but the injury worsened 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 to Angel Acosta, also the last time he fought in the United States. That fight was for the WBO junior flyweight title. This time, for another belt, the result was similar.
This fight represented Arroyo’s fourth straight victory.
Forrest gets a majority draw against Zhang
Jerry Forrest fell once. Twice. Three times in three rounds. And yet, the heavyweight continued to rise. It maintained Zhilei Zhang’s initial attack and power. It continued to arrive in Zhang – and eventually Forrest struggled to return to a tie that looked like a victory.
Forrest and Zhang ended in a majority draw, with judges Rocky Young and Fernando Barbosa scoring the fight 93-93 and Rose Lacend giving the fight to Forrest 95-93. After the fight, Forrest celebrated as if he had won and – even before the score was announced – he took a somersault back in the ring.
Zhang, who looked like he was about to win easily with a big advantage in the first three rounds, kept the unbeaten record. For very little.
What looked like an explosive fight at first turned into a hugfest in the middle rounds, with Zhang (22-0-1, 17 KOs) and Forrest (26-4-1, 20 KOs), looking quite exhausted in the middle of the sixth . This continued into seventh, when Forrest landed 26 punches compared to nine for Zhang, according to CompuBox.
Forrest, from Newport News, Virginia, recovered after a few difficult first rounds, in which he was knocked down three times. Zhang, from Zhoukou, China, was hit by a header in the eighth.
Despite the great punches absorbed by Forrest and the first knockdowns, Forrest seemed to be the most active and conditioned fighter late.
Forrest was also aided by a point deducted from Zhang in the ninth round for holding Forrest’s neck. That point turned out to be a big difference in the fight and was apparently the result of what seemed like an exhaustion for Zhang in the last four rounds.
Pacheco dominates Gomez in unanimous decision
Maybe Diego Pacheco wanted the knockout. The 19-year-old had to settle for a unanimous decision victory over veteran Rodolfo Gomez Jr. by a 79-73 margin closer than expected on the judges’ scoreboard in a super middleweight fight.
Pacheco (11-0, 8 KO), from Los Angeles, landed some good punches, including some good uppercuts throughout the fight, but this was only the third time he went away and only the second time in his career he was beyond the fourth round.
Gomez (14-5-1, 10 KO), from Laredo, Texas, was a good test for Pacheco. Gomez landed some strong blows and seemed to frustrate Pacheco intermittently. It was also a good round job for Pacheco in his first full fight of eight rounds. Gomez gave Pacheco enough to look back as he prepared for his next fight.
It was Gomez’s first defeat since September 24, 2016, when he lost to Roberto Ramirez Uriarte via unanimous decision.
Castro demolishes Moraga in two rounds
Marc Castro needed a punch, eight seconds and a left jab. That was all the junior prospect could take to take UFC veteran John Moraga down in the first round. From then on, it was a matter of time for Castro, the amateur fighter much praised in his second professional fight.
Castro (2-0, 2 KOs), from Fresno, California, knocked Moraga (1-3, 1 KO) three times in two rounds to register the knockout, ending the fight with a left uppercut.
Phoenix’s Moraga had an impressive MMA career, with a 19-7 record and a 2013 UFC flyweight title shot, which he lost to Demetrious Johnson. His first knockout loss in boxing was Moraga’s third loss in four professional fights.
Castro, 21, is still very, very early in his professional career, but fighter friend Ryan Garcia facilitated the work of a defeated opponent.