Super featherweight George “El Yuyu” Acosta (15-1, 2 KO), of Whittier, Ca, defeated Cesar Villarraga (8-3, 4 KOs) of Bogota, Colombia, by way of unanimous decision to keep his 8-fight winning streak alive.
The 8-round bout served as the main event headliner on Thompson Boxing’s “New Blood” card this past Friday at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, CA.
From the opening round, Acosta was in control of the action as he landed more punches and stayed busier throughout the fight. Acosta, after moving down super featherweight in his last few fights, showed he is a stronger fighter at his new weight class. Villarraga did his best to outbox Acosta but couldn’t get away from the constant pressure. Acosta used his jab and combination punching to keep Villarraga on his back foot the entire fight. Scorecards read 78-74 and 80-72 twice.
“This was another good fight where I feel I got better in the ring,” said Acosta. “Villarraga was using a lot of lateral movement, so I had to keep the pressure on him. I was in great shape and all the hard work I put in training camp showed. I’m hoping this is the year I make a run to the top 10 rankings. I’m happy that I’ve been staying busy, it’s a tremendous blessing.”
In the 8-round super featherweight co-main event, Rigoberto Hermosillo (13-4-1, 9 KOs) of Los Angeles, CA, triumph over Blas Ezequiel Caro (9-6, 4 KOs) of Santa Fe, Argentina. Hermosillo, a southpaw, dropped Caro with a left hook to the body in round five. Throughout the fight Hermosillo landed the harder shot, though Caro had some shining moments. The scorecards read 79-72 and 78-73 twice, all in favor of Hermosillo.
In bout number three, a scheduled 6-round lightweight bout, Anthony Chavez (10-3-1, 3 KOs) of Redlands, CA, defeated Diuhl Olguin (15-31-6, 10 KOs) of Jalisco, Mexico. Chavez took control of the early rounds by landing the cleaner shots. Both fighters were landing counter punches and midway through the bout, Chavez landed some nice right hands. At the end, Chavez won by majority decision. Scorecards read 60-54, 59-55, and 57-57.
In the second bout of the night, a scheduled 4-round heavyweight clash, Bryan Hall (1-0) of Fresno, CA, defeated Arnulfo Cazares (2-4, 2 KOs) of Tecate, Mexico, by way of majority decision. Hall, who is six inches taller than Cazares, used his height and reach advantage to control distance and won on two of the judges cards. Scorecards read 39-37 twice, and 37-37.
In the opening of the evening, a 4-round welterweight bout, Kevin Salgado (2-1) of Mexico, defeated Steven Walker (0-1) of Long Beach CA. Salgado outworked Walker for most of the fight. Walker landed some nice shots early, but came up short as Salgado won by majority decision.