(NOV 7) Fighting in her forty-ninth bout as a professional prize fighter, Kelsey Jeffries (39-9-1 3KOs 121lbs.) added the women’s GBU featherweight title to her collection with a unanimous 10 round decision over Elizabeth Villarreal (4-5-2 125 lbs.) in southern, Oregon this past Saturday November 03. The battle for the vacant GBU title was the main event of a stacked seven bout card promoted by Patrick Ortiz’ Ringside Ticket Inc.

Jeffries got off to a slow start in the first round of the bout as she struggled to get around her opponents long, rangy jab. Villarreal effectively kept Jeffries off balance and unable to get a rhythm going. In the second round Jeffries slowly began to assert herself, finding angles and landing repeatedly with precise jab-right hand combinations. Using good lateral movement and quick, straight punching Jeffries effectively stopped Villarreal from getting off first. A big double right hand combination from Jeffries stunned her opponent in the third round. Villarreal made it out of the round, moving out of harms way and snapping her jab to keep her opponent from landing anything of consequence. Jeffries used her jab and effective right hands to easily outbox her opponent throughout the remainder of the fight. Villarreal mounted a small comeback in the fifth round, landing repeatedly with hard one-twos as Jeffries slowed her output. Jeffries came back strong and stunned her opponent once again in the seventh round, snapping her head back with a straight right-left hook combination. Villarreal proved to be a tough fighter and fought back gamely throughout the fight, but she was in with a different level of fighter. Final judges scores 98-92, 98-92, 98-92 all for the new GBU titleholder, Kelsey Jeffries. .

The evening’s semi-main event featured a long awaited match-up between two of Oregon’s most experienced lower weight fighters, Lebanon’s Rafael Ortiz (14-12-2 13KOs 141 lbs.) and Portland’s Michael Lucero (11-12-1 2KOs 144 ½ lbs.). Unfortunately for fight fans the scheduled eight-round welterweight bout ended in premature and controversial fashion. The bout began at a quick pace with Lucero stepping in with his left hook and landing on a consistent basis. Ortiz retaliated and landed the hardest punch of the round, a left hook, but Lucero was the busier fighter and seemed to have a slight edge. Ortiz came out strong in the second round, opening up with hard shots to the head. A big left hook stunned Lucero and sent him reeling back to the ropes. Ortiz stepped in and opened up on his opponent, as he did so the two fighters clashed heads. The clash opened up a cut along the right eyebrow of Ortiz and a stream of blood immediately started to run down the side of his face. After examining the cut, the doctor advised the referee to stop the fight. Unfortunately for Ortiz the referee apparently did not see the head-butt and ruled the cut was caused by a punch, awarding the TKO victory to Michael Lucero at :24 seconds of round two. Both fighters stated they would like a rematch. That’s great news for northwest fight fans as this could be one of the best action fights to be made in the region.

In a four round welterweight fight Omar Nunez(144 lbs.), the youngest member of Oregon’s fighting Nunez family, made his professional debut against Khalik Memminger (1-7-1 1KO 144 ½ lbs. ) of Killeen, Texas. Memminger turned out to be tougher than his record indicated, managing to hold the young fighter to a draw. Both fighters began the bout at a slow pace, jabbing and gauging what the other had brought to the fight. Memminger broke the lull in the fight in the second round with a big right hand that wobbled Nunez and sent him falling back to the ropes. The Texan immediately pressed and opened up with hard hooks and uppercuts along the ropes. Nunez fought his way out of trouble, pushing his opponent back with a left hook followed by a right uppercut. The pace picked up once again in the third round as Nunez stepped in behind his jab. Memminger fired back with his own left. A hard hook from Memminger forced an exchange in the center of the ring with both fighters landing heavy leather. A big right hand by Nunez punctuated the round. In the fourth round Nunez went back to jabbing early on. A right hand from Memminger momentarily stopped Nunez in his tracks. Memminger followed up with another hard right hand, this time hurting his opponent. Nunez elected to trade rather than hold and gave the crowd a stirring flurry of action to close out the fight. Final judges scores 38-38, 38-38, 38-38.

Fighting in a four round women’s Jr. Lightweight bout, local favorite Merced Nunez (5-1 2KOs 124 lbs.) scored her fifth straight win since losing her professional debut. Nunez pitched a shutout on all judges’ cards against undefeated Clara Delatorre (1-1 124 lbs.) of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Nunez controlled the bout throughout, landing consistently with snapping, precise jabs. Her improved right hand hurt Delatorre in the first, second and third rounds. Delatorre was a tough fighter and fired back throughout; making the match an exciting one. But, Nunez was too quick and too strong for her on this night. All scores read 40-36. Nunez has shown tremendous improvements since her last outing, punching in combinations more often and snapping her jab with authority. At this point she’s a tough fight for any women fighter around 126 pounds. She proved her toughness and potential in her first pro outing, giving current GBU lightweight title holder Melissa Hernandez a tough fight. Her team is in no rush and they plan on moving her along slowly and allowing her time to learn her craft.

Ben Aragon (5-6-1 4KOs 152 lbs.) and Leshon Simms (4-7 3KOs 157 ½ lbs.) fought in a closely contested four round bout that saw Simms pull away with a majority decision victory. Aragon charged out for the first round, aggressively pressing his opponent with hard shots to the body. Simms fired back with his jab, but he was not landing with any regularity and seemed to be losing the round by a wide margin when a big left hook caught Aragon flush as he stepped forward. A left-right uppercut landed squarely on the jaw of Aragon to close out the round. In the second rounds Simms began to land his jab with regularity. Aragon managed to land a few effective left hooks to the body, but the flow of the round belonged to Simms as he boxed behind his jab. In the third round Aragon came back with a strong body attack. As Simms’ output slowed, his opponent stepped in with more confidence and landed with hard left hooks the ribcage. Coming into the fourth round both fighters seemed to understand the fight was on the table. Simms opened up early with a big left hook on the chin. Aragon came back with a hard hook to the body, backing his opponent off. The shot slowed Simms down once again and Aragon pressed with constant body work. Aragon was on his way to securing the round in the final seconds, when Simms let his hands go and landed with a final flurry of punches, making the round a tough one to score. Final judges scores 38-38, 39-37, 39-37 awarding the majority decision to Simms.

Former kick boxer Satya Williams (2-0 1KO 183 lbs.) of Denver, Colorado had an easy night, scoring a first round TKO over Roseburg, Oregon’s Shaun Nicholson (0-3 185 lbs.). Working behind his right hand jab, the southpaw Williams followed up fairly quickly, landing with a hard left cross. Williams followed up with another left hand, hurting his opponent. The next left hand to land sent Nicholson crashing to the canvass hard. Nicholson would get up in time to beat the count, but he was clearly in no condition to continue as he wobbled around the ring. The referee wisely waved off the fight at :52 seconds of the first round.

In the evening’s opener, former amateur standout Jennifer Barber (3-0 1KO 126 lbs.) scored her third straight victory with a second round TKO over Central Point, Oregon’s Maira Cabrera. Barber asserted control over the fight early on, snapping her jab and stepping in with quick right hand-left hook combinations. A swift left hook followed by a hard right hand buckled the knees of Cabrera in the closing moments of the first round. In the second round Barber went back to jabbing early on, patiently looking for an opening. She found that opening with a big left hook. A follow-up right hand wobbled Cabrera once again. Barber didn’t waste any time and swarmed her opponent, landing repeatedly with a barrage of punches in the corner. The referee mercifully stepped in and stopped the fight at :30 seconds of the second round. Barber ups her record to 3-0 with 1 knockout. Cabrera drops to 0-1.  By: Ricardo "Ricky" Ibarra - Boxing Prospects

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