Joel Martinez and Jake Ysasi Shine in Opening Of KO Live

At the Opening of KO! Live in Arlington undefeated super featherweight prospect Joel "The Owl" Martinez made a statement in the evening's co-main event. The long, rangy. 6'1 Southpaw, KO artist looked sharp in his return to the ring. Martinez who fights out of FHG Gym in Fort Worth, started patiently working behind a southpaw jab and stalked patiently until he found his opening late in the first round just after the 10-second clap Martinez unleashed on his opponent, Kendall Wardt with a body shot that sent him into the corner, and unleashed on him dropping him to a knee just before the bell. Ward got to his feet and started the second round, however, the writing was on the wall. Martinez, who was fighting with an injured left hand, was fighting with just a left hand hurt ward again with a right hook to the body that he put a left hand behind. Martinez trapped Ward into the ropes again and unloaded on him and a massive right hook put the outmatched Ward on the canvas for a final time, giving Martine the win, who has now won two fights in a row both by stoppage since his draw with Sean Brewer last summer. The Fort Worthian improved his record to 5-0-1 (3). 

Jake Ysasi. of Grand Prairie closed the show well in the main event and took care of Sean Hamilton of El Paso to move his record to 8-0 (2) in a scheduled four-rounder. Ysasi took a clear-cut decision and looked impressive in picking up his second consecutive win since his year-and-a-half layoff. Ysasi applied pressure brilliantly, and let his hands go, hurting Hamilton several times throughout the scheduled four-rounder. Ysasi continued to march forward despite several dirty tactics from Hamilton, including picking the Grand Prairie native up and dropping him on the canvas at one point. Hamilton hung tough and held on when needed, but Ysasi was far too classy and far too skilled as he closed the show in fashion and stayed aggressive throughout as he took the one-sided decision by scores of 40-36 and 39-37X2.

Also on the undercard was Arlington native Briana Carrera, who made her pro debut a successful one. A single right-hand dropped and stopped Jessie Clark in under one minute of the opening round. Carrera's record stands at 1-0 (1).

Gurment & Ysasi Score Impressive KO's Stay Undefeated in Mesquite

Undefeated 140-pounder and Fort Worth native Benjamin Gurment remained undefeated, scoring his third consecutive KO and moving his record to 7-0-2 (4). The rapidly improving Gourmet has won five fights in a row since his controversial draw to Jordan Jones, a fight most observers thought Gurment earned the nod. Over the past five fights, the Fort Worth native has figured out to keep on winning. Either by close decision, or stunning come from behind, get off the canvas KO fashion. Or by vicious one-punch KO. Like he did in his last outing back in January against Yainiel Alvarez Telemaco. Saturday night at the Indoor Soccer World in Mesquite, the Fort Worth native decided to make it easier on himself. Taking apart an outmarched opponent by the name of John Ross. Dominating the first and then scoring a brutal knockout in the second, to extend his KO streak. Gurment a southpaw worked behind a sharp jab in the early moments of the first round. A left hand to the body hurt Ross badly moments later. Gurment seized the moment and jumped on his opponent, unloading left hands on his wounded opponent to close out a dominant opening round. The second picked up where the first left off. The Fort Worthian pounded away with thudding body shots that dropped Ross. Gurment stayed on the assault and unloaded with a series of pinpoint accurate lefts that finally beat Ross down and into the arms of the red Robert Champa,who waived off the bout 44 seconds into round two.

In the Co-main event, Arlington-based 154-pounder, Jake Ysasi also remained undefeated. Moving his record to 6-0 (1), picking up the first knockout of his impressive career. Ysasi started aggressive landing left hooks and sharp right hands. One right hand in particular just moments into the first round landed perfectly on the side of an overmatched Simon Alejandro Heredia's head and dropped him. The loud thud from the perfectly placed shot left the packed arena thinking the fight was over. but a determined Heredia made it to his feet. However, the beating continued as Ysasi stayed patient and in control until another opportunity presented itself, and it did. The Arlington native landed a perfect left hook to the liver that put his outmatched opponent back on the canvas and this time for good. With the ref reaching the count at 2:59 of the opening round

Also on the card was Gary Hampton of Fort Worth, who moved his record to 2-0 with a unanimous points victory over Luis Fernandez, by scores of 39-37X3. Hampton landed cleaner shots through the scheduled four-round affair and closed the deal nicely in the fourth round scoring with a massive right hand to start the stanza. A collision of heads followed shortly after, which saved Fernendez from what looked like the beginning of the end. Hampton stayed aggressive and rolled to victory but could not pick up the stoppage.

In heavyweight action, Rashard Coulter survived an early scare after being rocked in the first round by an aggressive Luis Pascual. Pascual would eventually fatigue and Coulter would seize on the opportunity and dominate the final four rounds. Rolling to the unanimous decision victory by scores of 58-54x2 and 58-55. In other action, James Vick of Mineral Wells seemed to be the victim of a bad decision to Rodrigo Gonzalez. Vicks likely lost the first round but rallied and dominated the middle rounds of the scheduled four-rounder. In the fourth round, he seemed to be in control firing his jab and maintaining the distance keeping Gonzalez at bay and nullifying his aggression. The judges however disagreed, narrowly scoring in favor of Gonzalez by scores of 39-37x2 and 38-38.

Ben Gurment Scores Devastating KO Wins WBC Tournament

Fort Worth's Benjamin Gurnment an Army specialist can now add WBC champion to his impressive and growing resume. After two fairly even rounds,  Gurment turned to his opponent and had something to say to him, Yainiel Alvarez Telemaco, originally of Cuba, now fighting out of Hutto. The native Cuban turned to Gurment and allegedly mocked his power. That quickly proved to be a massive mistake as just two minutes into the third round Gurment, a southpaw,  landed a perfectly timed left hand that about took Alvarez's head off and collapsed him like a building imploding. Instantly Alvarez was out and Gurment had his second unforgettable KO in his second consecutive fight. He moved his record to 6-0-2 (4) and claimed the WBC four-round big belt championship in the 140-pound weight class. 

Also on the card Jake "The Snake" Ysasi captured the same WBC belt but in one division north. He scored a four-round dominant unanimous decision, which saw him pull all the tools out of the toolbox in what was likely his most impressive career performance. He switched southpaw at time, couldn't miss with the left hook, scored a vicious knockdown of his opponent, Sergio Augustin of Mexico, with an uppercut in the third round, and dominated the fourth to capture the WBC four-round belt and move his record to 4-0

In the main event, Marco Vazquez scored his second consecutive first-round knockout. Back in October, Vazquez stopped veteran Ulisses Jimenez in less than a minute and then completely overwhelmed Kasimu Yakubu with one second left in the opening stanza to move his record to 8-1(5) and recorded the fifth consecutive victory of his comeback, since suffering the only set back of his career to Jon Bullock back in 2016. Vazquez took over three years half. His comeback is going extremely well and Vazquez takes about moving down from 160 to 154 and making a world at an elite level at that weight class. The 6- foot- one-inch Vazques would have tremendous size at 154 to go along with the tremendous power and skills he possesses.

The card at the Southern Junction in Irving also featured two other four-round championship fights. In the first championship bout in the lightweight division, Omar Urieta of Tyler and Juan Manuel Castaneda, of Mexico City, Mexico, traded heavy artillery in the center of the ring for four incredibly exciting and event rounds. A left hook nearly dropped the Tyler native in the second, who was able to keep his footing, stay on his feet and rally back to earn a draw. Urieta has been the most exciting fighter in the series having scored two first-round knockouts in the first two rounds of the tournament.

In the featherweight division Moises Andres Sixto, scored a highly controversial majority decision victory over Haltom City's Brandon DeSpain. In a fight that DeSpain seemed to dominate the action and easily outbox Sixto, also saw DeSapin eat several low blows. The judges added insult to injury in scoring the bout in favor of Sixto in majority fashion. DeSpain suffered a controversial draw in the opening round against Luis Fernandez, in a bout the DeSapin also appeared to outbox his opponent but had to settle for a draw. Despain advanced to the next round automatically however when Fernendez missed weight.

Vazquez Continues to Impress in Comeback

Leading up to his fight in Mesquite, Texas, Middleweight prospect  Marco Vazquez was asked if, 50+ fight veteran Ulisses Jimenez was the toughest opponent of his comeback following a more than three-year layoff?  Vazquez, of Grand Prairie, responded: "it's the biggest test of my whole career." Well if that was the biggest test  Vazquez certainly earned an A+. Scoring with a vicious uppercut that dropped and finished off Jimenez in just 34 seconds. A vicious and perfectly placed shot that would have stopped nearly anyone moving his record to 6-1 (3). Vazquez was a highly touted prospect when he made his pro debut back in March of 2015, on the undercard of a Maurice Hooker card at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center in Dallas. A career that looked derailed just a year later, after an impressive 3-0 start, the Grand Prairie native took a shocking L to Jon Bullock. The loss led to a three-year layoff.  Vazquez is now just 25-years-old, and currently campaigning at middleweight but says he can still get down to 154 and plans on fighting there in the future, he has come a long way in rejuvenating his image. He has in just his fourth comeback fight molded himself into a main event fighter and his future is once again as bright as it was the night he stopped Warren Stewart on that Maurice Hooker undercard. 

The Boxing Showcase cards also featured Vazquez highly touted stablemate  Jake "The Snake" Ysasi outclassed fellow unbeaten fighter Jerrion Campbell of Jacksonville, Texas.  In a fight where someone's "O" had to go, Ysasi was certainly going to preserve displaying a picture-perfect jab and controlling the distance with the stick. "The Snake" struck like a Cobra with quick right hands. Ysasi looked sharp and composed beyond his years, in just his second pro bout, controlling distance and picking his shots like a veteran delivering an uppercut midway through the second round that stunned Campbell. Ysasi against stunned Campbell just moments before the bell with a picture-perfect left hook ending the scheduled four-rounder with an exclamation point and cruised to the points victory moving his record to 2-0 and handing Jerrion Campbell now 2-1 his first lost. 

In the evening co-main event  Refugio “Cuco” Montellano, who trains out of Del Bosque Boxing Gym, boxed circles around Juan Castaneda. creating a moving target that Castaneda, of Mexico, just couldn’t find. Cuco scored with perfectly timed counter shots and carried the decision by scores of 40-36x2 and a way to close 38-38 Even

The other young upstarts put on sensational performances  Omar Urieta, of Tyler, Texas, secured his first win a first-round knockout victory. Powered behind a tremendous left hook that staggered his opponent, Czyz Harrison, and then followed up with a barrage of power shots to secure the stoppage at  1:38 of the first stanza to move his record to 1-1 (1). 

Additionally, Keven Soto, of Dallas, dropped Orlando Colins with a perfectly placed left hook early in the opening round. The next three rounds were simply Collins serving as very tough and durable target practice for Soto's right hand. Who dominated and strolled to a unanimous decision victory by lopsided scores of 40-35x2 and 39-36  

In other action "El Catcho De oro" Merin Zalazar scored a sensational second-round KO  and Fernando Vasquez made his pro debut a successful one. He and Moises Sixto Gomez traded power shots in a phone booth over four high-paced back and forth non-stop rounds. Vazquez a southpaw battered his man against the ropes and was relentless over four competitive but clear rounds and scored in his favor 40-36x3

Soto dropped him with a left hook early in round 1. Making Target practice with the right-hand laser-like battering him again as the bell rang to end the second 40-35x2 and 39-36

Del Rio Prospect Shines in the Capital

Texas has long been a hotbed for boxing, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio, The Rio Grande Valley have all produced multiple world champions in recent years. The tiny border town of Del Rio and its population of barely 35,000 has not really made its mark on the Texas boing landscape. Until now. Hard-hitting, undefeated welterweight prospect Hector Coronado scored a sensational one-punch knockout on an absolutely thudding left hook in the second round of Saturday night's fight in Austin, Texas. Fighting a much taller and somewhat awkward opponent in Daniel Wright. Using the first round as a feeling-out process, the Del Rio native quickly exploded with the vicious left hook which came seemingly out of nowhere that dropped Wright like a building collapsing on himself to move Coronado to 6-0(5). Coronado who also serves as a firefighter in Del Rio took the fight above his natural weight class. Typically a welterweight Coronado did not shy away from fighting at 154. Saying postfight "the guy was huge and caught me a couple of times and we adapted and thank God we got the job done"  The height and size advantage seemed to have no impact on the much more skillful Coronado who does plan on moving back down to 147 in his next fight and hopes to be back in the ring in late October.

Additionally. two other up-and-comers had star-making performances. Malik "One Punch" Calhoun, who is originally from Kansas City, Missouri, and now fights out of FHG gym with coach Ray Barrera, in Fort Worth. A gym that has produced the likes of John Vera, Edward Vazquez, and Jesse Angel Hernandez in recent years. One-Punch once again lived up to his nickname and scored a spectacular one-punch knockout a body shot that knocked the air out of his opponent Alejandro Heredia and left him on all fours for the full 10-count plus several additional seconds. Calhoun moved his record to 2-0 (2) with both knockouts coming by way of one of one-punch knockout. 

In the main event of the night in the Lightheavyweight division (175 lbs) at 4 rounds, the Nigerian-based Nosa Divine who now fights out of  Austin prevailed via unanimous decision. Outworking and outhustling DeQuint Hill, Hill rallied late in the final round scoring with a scorching right hand with about 40 seconds left in the final round. However, it wasn't enough as Divine's snappy right jab and volume was enough to win what was a strategic affair by scores of 39-36 on all three cards

With any great night of boxing, it's not without its controversy as Brandin DeSapin of Fort Worth who suffered two brutal low blows had to suffer again and settle for a draw in a fight nearly everyone thought he won handily. Outboxing and throwing beautiful double-left hooks and catching his aggressive opponent, Luis Fernandez, with hard check hooks. Fernandez goes to 1-0-1 and DeSapin is 0-0-1, who, rightfully upset protested for a rematch. The Fort Worthian was an amateur standout who has an amateur victory over Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis. DeSpain had already advanced to the next round when Fernandez failed to make weight.

The rest of the results of the tournament were as follows in the heavyweight division  Dionardo Minor advanced with a unanimous decision victory over Vercel Webster. In a middleweight bout, Davelle Smith stopped Ricky Evans in the first round. In the lightweight division Atanacio "Nacho"  Perez scored a hard-fought majority decision over Nathaniel Bonner.

The next stage of The Big Belt Championship will be October 1st in mesquite and will be headlined by middleweight Marco Vazquez and welterweight Jake Ysasi

Listo Gaitan, Jake Ysasi and other local talent Showcased on The Boxing Showcase

Photo: Hector Sanchez, InTheRing.net

Local Hero Rafael "Listo" Gaitan scored a sensational third-round TKO of an overmatched, but every game, and late replacement, in Joel “El Chapo” Guzman, a muay-Thai fighter turned pro boxer making his professional debut. A large crowd gathered at the Southern Junction, in Irving Texas to support their main "Listo: and he delivered for the packed crowd.  Gaitan, an amateur stand-out, used his jabs and started off patiently. Keeping Guzman at bay and uncomfortable. Listo mixed in head and body shots perfectly and staggered with a barrage of power shots in the opening minute of the second round. The third round saw Liston staying on the attack and dedicated to the body attack, one massive hook to the body dropped Guzman who was able to somehow make it to his feet, Seeing his opponent was badly damaged from the previous body shots  Gaitan pounced and another massive body shot dropped Guzman a second time and forcing veteran Laurence Cole to waive it off giving Gaitan the TKO remained undefeated moving his record to 7-0-1. 

The co-main event featured a prospect who came up the hard way fighting some of the premier prospects in the world. Ramiro Martinez has fought Biggie Rodriguez to a draw and took a tough-luck loss in a fight that nearly everyone thought he won against Top Rank Protege Jeremy Adorno. Martinez however was no match for Friday night's opponent the undefeated Dominque Griffin of Irving. Griffin delighted his hometown fans with precise punching and outworking Martinez on the inside. It was a constant contrast in styles with the longer, rangier Martinez boxing on the outside and Griffin, trying to get onto the inside. Griffin was able to slip his way onto the inside and land the better shots on the inside and took a Majority decision by scores of 40-36, 39-37, and 38-38. 

In the fight that certainly had the most entertaining ring walk, Army hero and Fort Worthian, Benjamin "Hill" Gurmannt stormed the ring to "Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival and then outboxed his Dallas based opponent, Angel Gomez, from the outside and landed the cleaner, harder shots on the inside. Gomez hung tough and had moments with combination punching particularly in the third round he seemed to slow down the stronger Gurment with lightning-quick combos, but it was too little as the hard clear and accurate punching from the Fort Worth native stole the show as Gurment scored a majority decision by scores of 40-36, 39-37 and 38-38. 

Two undefeated local fighters also made successful debuts. First, Kansas City, born and raised middleweight Malik "One Punch" Calhoun, now fighting out of FHG in Fort Worth, Texas scored the knockout of the night. After setting up Robert James Rees, with his jab in the first round. A perfectly time left hand from the southpaw Kansas City native sealed the deal. The crowd erupted from the vicious "one punch" which gave Calhoun 2nd round stoppage victory in his pro debut. 

Later in the night Jake “Snake” Ysasi, of Grand Prairie, put on a boxing clinic, to take a UD victory over a very game but outmatched opponent in Daniel Keith Bailey. Ysasi an accomplished amateur showed the patience of a veteran, displaying ring generalship and exceptional timing. He fights in a similar style to legendary Hall of Famer Juan manual Marquez, out of a high guard, jabbing and circling his opponent until he finds his way in. The Grand Prairie native found his way in during the 4th and final round rocking him with uppercuts on the inside and dropping his opponent with a perfectly placed body shot. Bailey, who was tough as nails all night was able to survive to the final bell but the decision was academic as Ysasi moved to 1-0  by unanimous scores of 40-36, 40-35, 39-36.

In the opening bout of the night, fans were treated to 12 minutes of war in an all-out brawl. as Austin native Luis Fernandez built up a big lead in the first two rounds doing excellent work o the inside and then evenly slugged out the final six minutes of action with Arkansas-based Aryton McArthur. However the early work paid off for Fernandez, who was narrowly able to move to 1-0 In the end, the scores read 39-37 twice and 38-38 for Fernandez who came out with the majority decision in his pro debut.