Lightweight top contender and Olympic gold medalist Andy “Diamante” Cruz, 7-1 (4 KOs), became the first to stop previously indestructible Abraham “Fily” Montoya, 24-8-1 (14 KOs), knocking him out in round two.
Fighting in the co-main event of the Matchroom Boxing card headlined by the Diego Pacheco-Immanuwel Aleem super middleweight main event at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, and live on DAZN, Cruz’s mix of speed and power proved a stylistic nightmare for Montoya.
Looking to return to the win column after losing a majority decision in a challenge for Raymond Muratalla’s IBF lightweight title in January, 30-year-old Cruz came out using his elite skills to stay elusive and circle around the awkward and typically relentless Montoya in the first. The Miami-based Cuban was able to slug Baja California, Mexico’s Montoya to the body with enough regularity to comfortably take the round.
31-year-old Montoya’s career-long streak of never having been stopped immediately looked to be in danger after IBF No. 3- and WBC No. 4-ranked Cruz dropped him with a perfect right hook at the end of the second. Montoya rose with a grin, but the normally iron-chinned veteran began to look very much in over his head.
Referee Thomas Taylor had Montoya examined for a possible broken jaw before the start of round three. Once the round started, Cruz continued the onslaught until referee Thomas Taylor jumped in to stop the carnage at :54 seconds of the round.
A late-sub opponent because of Albert Bell’s move to face Abdullah Mason in July, Montoya was coming off a split-decision victory over previously unbeaten Antonio Perez in April.
It didn’t matter. Cruz completely outclassed Montoya and showed he remains an elite in his division.
“I like challenges,” said Cruz post-fight through a translator, “Last fight didn’t go my way, but I was able to demonstrate what I had this time. My opponent was very confident, just like all Mexicans who have stepped into the ring. I love Mexicans. I love stepping into the ring with them, and I know what they bring every time they fight.”
Featherweight Albert “Chop Chop” Gonzalez, 18-0 (11 KOs), put in a quick night’s work, knocking out Aaron Lopez Alameda, 31-4 (18 KOs), with a searing body shot in round two.
24-year-old Gonzalez, who fights out of trainer Robert Garcia’s stable, spent the first round studying his foe and then, in round two, spotted his opening: a digging right hand to the body that the never-previously-stopped Alameda tried to tough out, but couldn’t. He took referee Ray Amendariz’s 10 count doubled over in pain on the canvas.
Sonora, Mexico’s 32-year-old southpaw Lopez Alameda went the distance with two-weight world champion Luis Nery, losing by unanimous decision for the vacant WBC 122-pound title in 2020, and fought to a narrow majority decision loss to current IBF champ Angelo Leo, but was no match for the speed and power of Moreno Valley, California’s Gonzalez.
The time was 1:52 of the second. Gonzalez picked up the NABF featherweight title with the impressive victory.
“I know what I want. That’s to be a world champion,” said Gonzalez. “I’m not here to just pick up checks, man. I’m here to be a world champion… (pointing to the NABF belt) This is great, but it’s not a world title. I’m not stopping until I get one.”
In the opening fight of the main card, unheralded bantamweight contender Bruno “Speedy” Rios Jnr won a fight fan’s dream of a battle against Saul “The Beast” Sanchez by action-packed 10-round unanimous decision.
A surprising oddsmaker’s favorite in the fight despite a huge gap in comparative experience, Rios Jnr, 9-0 (7 KOs), came out looking confident and landed a clubbing right to the side of the head that seemed to bother Sanchez, 21-5-1 (12 KOs), in a good round one.
Pacoima, California’s Sanchez, who dropped a controversial majority to decision to then-WBO bantamweight champ Jason Moloney in 2024, stormed back to win a competitive second round by knocking Rios down with a left hook against the ropes in the last 10 seconds of round two.
Energized, the 29-year-old Sanchez peppered the body of 20-year-old Rios in a rugged third round that saw both men throwing with full power on most punches.
Compton, California’s Rios regained the momentum by badly hurting Sanchez with a series of body shots that doubled him over and then battered him for most of an electric round four.
Sanchez had good rounds five and six, both of which featured quieter action than in the previous rounds, as both men seemed to start feeling the grueling pace.
Rios hurt Sanchez by digging to the body again in round seven, and continued to punish his abdomen in round eight, but the veteran Sanchez managed to fight his way out of both rounds.
Showing the effects of the two-round beating and bleeding from the nose, Sanchez came out looking faded in round nine but still found the energy to go back-and-forth with Rios in a tremendous round nine.
Round 10 was a fitting one for an outstanding fight, as the two brought the house down with three more minutes of heart-fueled, free-swinging combat.
The scores were 96-93, 96-93 and 95-94, all for Rios Jnr.
Headlining the four-fight preliminary portion of the card, promising UK-based heavyweight Leo Atang showed why the buzz around him continues to grow by scoring a second-round knockout over Houston’s Glen “Gorilla” Williams.
Making his fighting debut in the United States, the athletic and quick-fisted Atang, 8-0 (7 KOs), stumbled Williams, 2-2 (1 KO), with a left hook at the end of the first round and then finished him with a brutal display of power in the second.
The 30 lbs heavier Williams did well to absorb Atang’s punishing barrages for the first round and a half, until a whipping left hook visibly took the remaining will to fight out of him. A follow-up salvo forced Williams to sag into the ropes, and referee Ray Amandariz ruled it a knockdown.
At the end of the mandatory eight count, Amandariz asked Williams if he wanted to continue? His wise answer was “no.”
The official time was 2:50.
“It was unreal. Everything I wanted from it,” said a happy Atang of his US fighting debut. “You know, the buildup to the fight was lovely. I loved looking around… all you Americans, you’re tough, so it was hard to get him out of there, but we ended up getting it in there.
“I didn’t want to force it tonight, you know? I hit him with a few big shots early, which, normally, would have taken people out, but he stood there unfazed, so I knew, I had to save myself, just in case, you know, we went the full way.”
Lightweight prospect Samuel Contreras of Los Angeles won a tougher-than-expected, six-round unanimous decision over a Beto “The Shark” Ayala.
Over the first two rounds, a patient Contreras, 8-0 (3 KOs), fought cautiously and stuck to the boxing skills that made him an amateur standout and undefeated professional to outwork Ayala, 2-3, scoring with a number of hard right hands behind an accurate jab.
The game 25-year-old Ayala landed some power shots of his own but was consistently outworked by his 22-year-old foe.
Queretaro, Mexico’s Ayala bravely chose to start coming forward in round three and had some success, bloodying Contreras’ nose with an active left hand.
Regaining clear control in round four, Contreras clubbed Ayala with several haymakers that the tough Mexican did well to endure.
However, Ayala resumed coming forward in rounds five and six, enjoying enough success to keep the fight competitive and entertaining. Contreras’ nose continued to bleed freely until the end of the fight.
The two warriors ended the fan-friendly battle going toe-to-toe to the crowd’s delight.
The scores of 60-54, 59-55 and 59-55 weren’t an accurate representation of the bout’s competitiveness.
He gave me a good match,” admitted Contreras, post-fight. “He was a tough opponent, so, much respect for him and his team. You gotta keep working hard, though, you know? I made a lot of mistakes, too, but I gotta go back to a drawing board and fix them.”
Middleweight prospect Frank “Knuckles” Espinoza of Sacramento, California, put in an impressive showing, knocking out Luis “Corazon de Oro” Caraballo of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, at the end of round three.
As two fighters with 100 per cent knockout ratios tend to do, Espinoza, 4-0 (4 KOs), and Carballo, 8-8-1 (8 KOs), went straight to work in round one, swinging heavy shots at each other with the younger and faster 20-year-old Espinoza getting the better of the fiery exchanges.
Round two saw more of the same toe-to-toe combat with Espinoza continuing to enjoy the advantage over 33-year-old Caraballo.
In round three, Caraballo began to show signs of wear from the body attack and relentless pressure of Espinoza, forcing him to use veteran tricks to survive. So frequent were Caraballo’s clinching attempts that referee Ray Armendariz deducted him a point for excessive holding.
Mercifully, on the advice of the ringside physician, Caraballo was not permitted to come out for round four.
Trained by Ray Woods, stepfather and former trainer of the late, great Diego “Chico” Corrales, Espinoza said he thoroughly enjoyed his effort.
I was very proud of my performance,” he said in-ring after the fight. “I went in there to do my thing. I did what my coach told me to do, and I got the job done. He left the ring, so that’s what I’m supposed to do.”
A bicep injury spoiled a potentially competitive six-round heavyweight bout, as Los Angeles-based Federico Pacheco Jnr, 11-0 (8 KOs), scored a second-round TKO over Nick Jones, 9-6 (6 KOs), of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
22-year-old Pacheco Jnr, the 231-lbs and 6’ 5” younger brother of main event participant Diego Pacheco, looked to be studying the shorter 6’ Young in a cautious first round.
Pacheco started zeroing in with the right hand through the first half of round two, when Jones abruptly stopped fighting, turned and indicated his right bicep had been injured.
Jones indicated he wanted to continue, but Referee Thomas Taylor saw the extent of the injury and waved it off at 1:31.
“Hey, I’ll take the win,” said Pacheco Jnr, post-fight. “I had the first round to feel him out a little bit. Second round, I started feeling my right hand on the money. The first right hand I threw, it landed flush, so I just knew it was going to be a matter of time now, and I think he knew that as well. So, you know, that was it.”
