It didn't take long for Manuel "The Punisher" Rojas (16-3, 4 KO's) from Dallas, Texas, to get into rhythm as the bell sounded for the first round against the tough and game Jose Arturo Esquivel (10-7, 2 KO's) at the "Brawl on The Brazos," at the Waco Convention Center brought to boxing fans by promoter Arnie Verbeek and "The Undercard" from Dallas, Texas. Having won his last three fights, Rojas continued with his new style of boxing, which was added to his already tough Mexican style of boxing.
When asked how he felt about his performance, he said "I felt good, I felt disciplined the whole eight rounds. I am very happy with my performance tonight.
It never fails, but for some reason, Rojas' opponents always bring their best against the young lightweight, who fights out of the Maple Avenue Boxing Gym in Dallas, Texas.
Throughout the fight, Rojas was landing punches to the head and then going downstairs by landing good body punches, which could be heard ringside, but the tough Esquivel took them in stride.
Rojas agreed, and said "Part of the plan was to finish him to the body, but he's a tough dude and he wasn't going anywhere."
It was evident as well that Rojas was picking up the pace throughout each round, and he appeared to be getting stronger after each round.
Rojas felt the same way and said "We just tried to pick it up and see what he had, and we saw he was just steady in what he was doing, and we just kept picking it up as the rounds went on.
In a tough eight rounds that went the distance, Rojas went on to win by unanimous decision to continue his winning streak.
Co-Main Event
In the Co-Main event, bantamweight Fernando Garcia (6-0, 2 KO's), who fights out of Dallas, Texas, used his hand speed and accuracy to outpoint his seasoned opponent Carlos Trevino (7-7-1, 1 KO), who came into the fight with nine more bouts under his belt. The tough and gritty Trevino (7-7-1, 1 KO) from Austin, Texas came to fight as he held his ground throughout the fight.
Although Garcia hadn't fought in over a year, he came into the fight in great shape, just as Trevino did, for what appeared to be an even matchup, regardless of what Trevino's record represented.
Throughout the fight, both fighters used their boxing skills to try to outduel each other early on in the fight. Both had crisp jabs in their arsenal but as the fight went on Garcia's jab began to get better, as he pressed the fight against the game Trevino.
At the end of the second round, Garcia's fans began to chant the GGG entrance song as Garcia began to land his punches. And at the end of the third round, Garcia landed a big uppercut that rocked Trevino, and the crowd erupted and began to chant the GGG entrance song again. And right after the bell, the DJ must have heard the crowd and he followed up and he started blasting the GGG song to the delightment of the crowd.
In the fourth round, Trevino landed a nice uppercut, but then he appeared to be slowly fading in the fifth round with blood on his face. Garcia hen landed a big body punch as the bell sounded and he stared his opponent down as he retreated to his corner. Garcia went on to win by unanimous decision, 60-54,60-54, 59-55 to stay undefeated.
UNDERCARD
In what turned out to be a second Co-Main event for the crowd, the Rocky like story fighter of the night, Ray Trujillo, who took the fight on last hour notice, and who drove all the way from Houston, Texas, with his pregnant wife, and waited an hour and a half in the hotel lobby to get a room, probably fought the fight of his career, if not one of the most memorable.
Despite having the height disadvantage, and being about 4 to 5 inches shorter than the younger David Cordova (1-1), Trujillo dropped Cordova in the first round to the delight of the large crowd in attendance. Trevino pulled off the upset of the night by defeating the local fighter Cordova and won by unanimous decision, 39-36, 39-36. Hats off to the tough Ray Trujillo from Houston, Texas.
In the middleweight division, Deandrew Lewis (2-1) caught Jeremy Hall (3-8) with a left glancing hook that put him on the canvas in the first round, but the veteran Hall got up quickly and survived the round. At the end of the second round, Lewis landed the last punch on Hall just as the bell sounded. At the end of the fourth round, Lewis landed a huge punch that sent the game Lewis against the ropes, which helped him from going to the canvas again. Lewis went on to win by unanimous decision.
In an entertaining back and forth battle of welterweights, Alexas Rosas
(2-10) and Joe Sombrano (0-3) finished up with a draw after four tough rounds.
In the first fight of the night, Cruiserweights Gabriel Resendez (1-1) and Michael Coronado (1-1) came out brawling at the Waco Convention Center to the delight of the crowd. In the second round, Resendez landed a good punch on Coronado and Coronado gestured with his hands to Resendez to "come on." In the third round, Resendez came out of the corner with a grin on his face as he marched toward Coronado. In the third and fourth round, Coronado began to fade and local favorite Resendez went on to win by unanimous decision.
In the ladies fight of the night, Sheretta Metcalf (2-3) and Ayanna Vasquez (3-3-1) came out swinging and Metcalf had a good first round as she boxed and used her jab to keep the tough Vasquez at bay. But after that, Ayanna turned the fight into a brawl, which was to her advantage. Bloodied up and forcing the action, the tough and gritty Vasquez went on to win by unanimous decision.
Champions In Attendance:
Former WBC Super Featherweight and IBF Lightweight champion, Jesus Chavez 44-8, 30 KO's) was in attendance as well as Dallas' Maurice "Mighty Mo" Hooker (22-0, 16 KO's), the current WBO/NABO Super Lightweight champion, who will be defending his title at the Omni Hotel in Dallas, Texas on August 19, 2017 against Courtney Jackson (17-0, 10 KO's).