Ruben Torres remains unbeaten with unanimous decision win over Jose Luis Rodriguez

Lightweight prospect Ruben Torres remained unbeaten Sunday evening, defeating Jose Luis Rodriguez by unanimous decision at the Omega Products International in Corona, California. Scores were 80-72, 80-72, and 79-73 for Torres, who improves to 14-0, 11 knockouts. Torres, who resides in Santa Monica, California, took the fight on three weeks’ notice after stablemate and lightweight […]

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Lightweight prospect Ruben Torres remained unbeaten Sunday evening, defeating Jose Luis Rodriguez by unanimous decision at the Omega Products International in Corona, California.

Scores were 80-72, 80-72, and 79-73 for Torres, who improves to 14-0, 11 knockouts.

Torres, who resides in Santa Monica, California, took the fight on three weeks’ notice after stablemate and lightweight prospect Michael Dutchover withdrew from the fight due to a back injury. In his last bout on July 26, Torres knocked out gatekeeper Oscar Bravo in round 6, his fourth consecutive win by knockout.

Rodriguez had not fought since March 30 of last year, losing by unanimous decision to former world junior welterweight title challenger Antonio Orozco.

Midway through round 4, Torres landed a vicious right uppercut to the head that shook Rodriguez, but was not able to follow up as Rodriguez utilized his experience and ring savvy to tie up. Torres again stunned Rodriguez with a right hand during the opening minute of round 5, but Rodriguez again was able to hold on, preventing Torres from following up.

Despite being down on the scorecards, Rodriguez continued to close the distance between him and Torres. He would switch from southpaw back to conventional and vice versa, but with little success as Torres utilized his speed and reach to rain punches down on Rodriguez. 

“I felt like I did a good job tonight,” said Torres after the fight “I maintained my composure. I got the win and that’s what counts.

“I definitely wanted to get the knockout. He’s a veteran. I got a little wild. I hurt him a couple of times. He knew what he was doing. He held until he got his balance (back). Credit to him.”

Rodriguez, who resides in Monterrey, Mexico, drops to 25-14-1, 13 KOs. 

In a clash of junior bantamweights, Saul Sanchez won a hard-fought unanimous decision over Mario Hernandez.

Scores were 78-74, 78-74, and 79-73 for Sanchez, who improves to 15-1, 8 KOs.

Sanchez, who resides in the Los Angeles suburb of Pacoima, last fought on October 9, stopped junior featherweight Daniel Lozano in the opening round. The 23-year-old entered the fight having won his previous two bouts since losing by split-decision to Edwin Rodriguez of Puerto Rico.

After Sanchez won the opening round, Hernandez utilized his aggression to initiate exchanges, at times outboxing Sanchez. The tactic worked for a round or two as Sanchez began timing Hernandez’s offense, landing the sharper punches to the head and body. Hernandez continued to be game during the second half of the fight, but Sanchez was the more-effective fighter, landing the more-telling punches. 

Hernandez, who is originally from Jalisco and now resides in the Southern California city of Santa Ana, drops to 10-2-1, 3 KOs. 

In the opening bout of the Thompson Boxing Promotions card, junior middleweight Richard Brewart, Jr. (8-0, 4 KOs) of nearby Rancho Cucamonga overcame a knockdown in the opening round to knock out Louis Hernandez in round 2. 

Hernandez (8-0-1, 6 KOs), who resides in Mississippi, was the aggressor from the opening bell, going on the attack and attempting to put Brewart on the defensive. Hernandez dropped Brewart to a knee with a left hook to the body, but Brewart was not visibly hurt from the punch. 

After getting through the round, Brewart began scoring with lead and counter right hands to the head in round 2. Midway through the round, an overhand right cross to the head dropped Hernandez to the canvas. Referee Raul Caiz, Jr. immediately stopped the bout at 1:42.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing

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The post Ruben Torres remains unbeaten with unanimous decision win over Jose Luis Rodriguez appeared first on The Ring.