Written by Nelson Oliva’s first fight at 154 pounds was a success.
Oliva defeated Alfonso Olvera Saturday night at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California. Scores were 79-73, 79-73 and 78-74 for Oliva, who improved to 12-0, 8 knockouts.
Olvera was game and won the opening round, but Oliva was the more-effective and accurate fighter throughout the rest of the fight. The southpaw Oliva outboxed Olvera from distance or on the inside, repeatedly landing with lead or counter left hands to the head.
Anytime the taller Olvera attempted to mount an offense, Oliva swung the momentum back his way by putting him on the defensive with two-punch combinations. Oliva clearly won the fight, but trainer Henry Ramirez thought Oliva could’ve fought a more-fluid and complete fight.
“(Nelson was) very sluggish in there tonight, but (got) good rounds of experience,” said Ramirez after the fight.
In his previous fight on March 30, Oliva, who grew up in Los Angeles, defeated Franyerson Puerta by unanimous decision. On November 4, Oliva scored a one-sided decision victory over Dario Guerrero-Meneses.
All three fights Oliva has fought within the last year have taken place at Thunder Studios. Oliva has fought under the Thompson Boxing Promotions banner, and the CBN Promotions banner since making his pro debut in February 2021.
The 28-year-old is trained by Henry Ramirez.
Olvera, who is originally from Nogales, Mexico and now resides in Tucson, Arizona, falls to 13-9-3, 5 KOs. In his previous fight on May 13 of last year, Olvera knocked out Ousmane Sylla.
Prior to the win over Sylla, over an 11-month span, the 34-year-old lost back-to-back fights against Quinton Randall and Delonte Johnson.
In a clash between unbeaten junior featherweight prospects, Hector Lopez defeated Noah Contreras by majority decision. One judge scored the bout 57-57, while the other two judges scored the bout 60-54 and 58-56 for Lopez, who improved to 6-0, 4 KOs.
After the first two rounds, which produced solid exchanges, Lopez began asserting control in the ring, outboxing Contreras during the middle rounds. Contreras would switch to southpaw, which played into the hands of Lopez, stunning Contreras on a handful of occasions.
Even by distance, Lopez connected with the more-effective combinations as Contreras punch output during the final two rounds.
Contreras, who resides in Fort Mohave, Arizona, falls to 9-1, 4 KOs.
In junior flyweight action, amateur standout Terry Washington of San Bernardino was successful in his pro debut, knocking out Ezequiel Robles (1-2) of Tepic, Mexico in the opening round.
After the midway point of the first round, Robles attempted a two-punch combination that missed. Washington countered with a left-right combination, followed by a left uppercut that dropped Robles to the canvas. Referee Raul Caiz, Jr. counted Robles out at 1:55.
Washington was recently named ‘Most Outstanding Boxer’ at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials.
In lightweight action, Eric Mondragon improved to 11-1, 4 KOs, defeating journeyman Jose Valenzuela (3-16-1, 2 KOs) of Puebla, Mexico by unanimous decision. Scores were 59-55, 59-55, and 58-56 for Mondragon, who resides in nearby Maywood.
Middleweight Blazen Rocili won by knockout after round two after Selim Martinez (6-8, 2 KOs) of Matamoros, Mexico chose to not continue. Rocili, who is originally from Waipahu, Hawaii and now trains in Las Vegas, improved to 7-0, 6 KOs.
In the opening bout of the CBN Promotions card, featherweight Kenario Davidson dropped India’s Gurjant Singh (2-1, 1 KO) in round three en route to a decision win. Scores were 38-37, 38-37 and 39-36 for Davidson, who was making his pro debut.
The post Nelson Oliva defeats Alfonso Olvera by unanimous decision in Long Beach appeared first on The Ring.