Rafael Espinoza is set to defend his first title. The 6’1” featherweight from Guadalajara is putting his WBO belt on the line against countryman Sergio Chirino. Their scheduled twelve-round contest airs Friday live on ESPN+ from the BleauLive Theater at Fontainebleau Las Vegas.
Espinoza (24-0, 20 knockouts), No. 6 at 126 by The Ring, defeated Robeisy Ramirez by majority decision on Dec. 9 past Miami. Chirino (22-1, 13 KOs) enters his first title fight. He aims to be the first from the Mexican state of Oaxaca to win a major belt.
ISLEY OUTLASTS MARTINEZ, SURVIVES THE BATTLE OF THE PINK SLIP
Troy Isley used Javier Martinez to take a unanimous decision in what was a lost city affair. The scores were 97-91, 97-91 and 96-92 for Isley in a tightly packed middleweight fight.
Top Rank has sent notice to two unsuccessful prospects in a fish-or-cut-bait matchup. Isley, a 2020 US Olympian, jumped out to an early lead as Martinez refused to let his hands go, a career-long mistake.
Martinez was urged by head coach Robert Garcia to lead and not wait for Isley. The Milwaukee southpaw did just that in the third round, and it worked well to the body and upper body.
Isley escaped with a verbal warning after what appeared to be a deliberate fourth strike. Referee Tony Weeks ordered the boxer from Alexandria, Virginia to keep it clean and Martinez not to retaliate.
Adequate warnings were given that the debt was due on the seventh. Martinez was stripped of one point when a left hand went low. Weeks took time to confirm that Isley was on his last warning.
Isley landed a right hand under the belt but Martinez couldn’t sell Weeks in the eighth. The balance of the round saw Isley attacking the punches in clusters. Martinez’s mouth was bloody and open but he managed to land a few counter lefts.
Another low blow by Isley ended the score early in the ninth. Weeks warned both boxers that the cancellation of the matches was the next step. Isley and Martinez squared off, but it was Isley who landed the heavy and high punches. Isley’s straight rights set up his uppercut in close quarters.
The tenth and final round followed the same pattern. Isley was a busy warrior, as seen in the final punchstat numbers. He was credited with landing 206-of-674 punches (30.6%). Martinez’s success came in the form of catches when he landed and threw fewer punches (134-of-553, 24.2%).
Isley moved to 13-0 (5 KOs) with the win. Martinez (10-1-1, 3 KOs) is coming off the first loss of his career and could be a strong buy in the near future.
ZAMORA, NAVARRO BREAK IN HIGH-END GAMEPLAY
DJ Zamora and Steven Navarro both enjoyed successful debut fights under the Top Rank banner.
Friday was Zamora’s first fight since last July 29 in Terence Crawford-Errol Spence at T-Mobile Arena. The 21-year-old Filipino native of Las Vegas showed no signs of rust in an eight-round decision over Mexico’s Jose Antonio Meza.
The scores were 80-72, 80-72 and 79-73 for Zamora (13-0, 9 KOs), who was touched at times but held the belt. Meza dipped to 9-10 (2 KOs).
Navarro of Los Angeles (2-0, 1 KO) had an easy time as he was forced to go the full distance of four rounds. The former rookie stopped Chile’s Juan Pablo Meza (7-4, 2 KOs). The scores were 40-36 on all three cards for Navarro, who signed with Top Rank earlier this spring.
AND IN THE EXHIBITION
Floyd Diaz maintained his unblemished record with a career-matching eight-round decision over Francisco Pedroza (18-12-2, 10 KOs). All three judges scored Diaz’s (12-0, 3 KOs) belt 78-74 for the bantamweight title.
Puerto Rico’s Bryan Polaco (7-0, 5 KOs) opened the show with a knockout of Richard Acevedo (6-1-1, 5 KOs). Polaco — now in Vegas — took Acevedo down twice to force a stoppage at 2:51 of the third round.
