Arce Halts Garcia, Peterson, Martirosyan Win in Vegas

By Mike Sloan at ringside: Ask and you shall receive. That’s exactly what happened to veteran Isidro “Chino” Garcia in his action-packed battle with fellow super flyweight Jorge Arce on Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, USA. Garcia continuously taunted Arce after he’d receive a few punches from the Los Mochis resident, begging and daring “Travieso” to keep coming and urging him to throw more punches. Arce obliged and eventually his crippling body assault sapped the energy from Garcia and the fight was over shortly after the fourth round began.

Garcia was brazen with his offense and welcomed everything Arce threw. He figured he’d be able to withstand Arce’s firepower and eventually score a victory of his own, but Arce’s tremendous punching prowess was too much for Garcia to handle. Arce focused almost solely on Garcia’s body with his power shots and it seemed like a matter of time before the resident of Hacienda Heights, California, folded like a business selling Y2K merchandise.

An Arce left hook to the body stiffened Garcia late in the second and finally another left to the liver sent Garcia to his knees early in the fourth. He was able to climb back up to his feet but once referee Tony Weeks allowed the action to resume, Arce finished it moments later.

Arce unfurled a vicious tsunami of punches but although virtually no solitary punch landed cleanly on Garcia’s head, Weeks stopped it. The official time was :48 of the stanza. With the sensational stoppage win, Arce jumped to 51-4-1 with his 39th knockout. Garcia fell to 25-6-2 (8).

Unbeaten junior welterweight contender Lamont Peterson had his work cut out for him against the tough-as-nails Lanardo Tyner. Peterson did enough to hold off Tyner and win a comfortable unanimous decision, but Tyner was in Peterson’s face from the outset. He’d plug away at Peterson with rapid body shots and flurries to the face, but he was a bit too slow and predictable for Peterson to be taken advantage of.

Peterson utilized his reach and size o offset whatever Tyner tried to throw his way and even though the Washington, DC native was penalized a point for repeated low blows in the fourth, he walked away with a lopsided victory in terms of scoring. Official scores of 98-91, 99-87 and 99-90 backed Peterson’s dominance, but the fight itself was a bit closer than the scores suggested. Still, Peterson kept his unblemished pro ledger in tact with what will look like a walk in the park, though he had to earn the near shutout decision. Where Peterson ascended to 26-0 with 12 KOs, Tyner, from Detroit, Michigan, descended to 19-2 (11).

Two time Russian amateur champion Matt Korobov made his professional debut a good one as he stopped game but overmatched middleweight opponent Mario Evangelista in the third round. It took Korobov two rounds to figure out Evangelista but when he did, he quickly dispatched him. A left hook and follow-up right hand wobbled Evangelista and the neutral corner held him up. Referee Russell Mora counted to eight and when Evangelista was unresponsive to his questions (more out of frustration than damage); the fight was called off without protest. The official time of the TKO came at 2:01 of the third, allowing Korobov, from Orotukan, Russia, to begin his pro career with a bang. Evangelista, who hails from Mazatlan, Mexico, dropped to 1-2-1 (1).

Junior middleweight Vanes Martirosyan made a statement as he obliterated opponent Charlie Howe early in the first round. Martirosyan needed a spectacular showing like this as he’s largely been relegated to toiling in near obscurity in off-TV bouts on major pay-per-view events. Martirosyan, from Armenia but fighting out of Glendale, California, dropped Howe moments into the contest with a stiff overhand right. Howe, who previously lasted a full ten rounds with John Duddy, beat the count but “The Nightmare” had just begun for the Grelton, Ohio native.

Martirosyan, sensing an early kayo, swarmed his foe and pummeled him along the ropes. Dishing out more punishment than a sadist at a petting zoo, Martirosyan unloaded a barrage of punches until referee Toby Gibson had no choice but to stop the mugging. The official time of the technical knockout came at just 1:20 and Martirosyan bolstered his pro ledger to 22-0 with 14 KOs. For his efforts, Howe dipped to 16-6-2 (6). On a side note, it’s now time for Martirosyan’s handlers to consider stepping up the level of this talented boxer’s opposition.

Ty Barnett eked past Johnny Edwards via majority decision after six back and forth rounds. At 5’4” Edwards had a difficult time getting inside on the lanky Barnett for much of the fight but he seemed to do enough damage to steal a few rounds. However, only Lisa Giampa saw the fight that way as she scored it 57-57. Her scores were offset by Al Lefkowitz and CJ Ross, who saw it 59-54 and 59-55, respectively. Barnett, a super lightweight from Washington, DC, improved to 16-0-1 (11) with the win while Edwards, from Aiken, South Carolina, dipped to 14-3-1 (8).

In the opening bout of the evening, Eldersburg, Maryland’s Mark “TNT” Tucker went the distance for the first time in his blossoming career as he won a unanimous decision over Terrance Wilson. Tucker used his power and speed to outwork Wilson and though Tucker seemed to fade a little in rounds five and six, the middleweight still was always a step ahead of his opponent. Tucker won the decision on scores of 60-54 on all three judges’ scorecards and improved to 6-0 (5). Wilson, from Fort Smith, Arkansas, fell to 5-4 (3).